Magic.

Have you ever and noticed the magical world around you? I don't mean the hocus pocus kind of magic. I mean the kind of magic that is a feeling only - a feeling of beauty and awe and inspiration.
Take a minute. Listen to the breeze. Listen to the leaves on the trees. Look at the grass. Listen to the falling rain. Feel the drops on your skin as they trickle down your body. Feel your hair cling to your face. Smell the dampness of the earth. Look up at the massive skies stretching on forever. That's the kind of magic I mean. It's the moment when you realize just how small you really are. It's the moment when you think you start to realize just how big God really is.


On April 6th, my mother bought a Lovebird. We named him Captain Flint (like the parrot from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson). I wanted to call him Pip, but that's not important. My dog, Weenie, isn't really sure what to think about him. She and Flint will both fall asleep on my lap and it's the cutest thing!! She does very well with him, so long as she's supervised. My sister has a chihuahua, Roxie, who basically just wants to kill him. =/  I was telling my best friend that if Roxie could talk, she'd be running around like a mad woman (which she already is) and yelling, "Die! die! die!" Oh well. I keep having to remind both of the dogs, "Girls, don't eat your brother!" Haha, I know, I'm crazy.

When I think of a bird, I don't think about this adorably cute animal that walks on your hand and perches on your shoulder or wants to cuddle in a blanket or hang out in my hoodie like he is in this photo (yes, he did poop in there for anyone wondering). I think of a wild animal that you'll scare if you come within 6 feet of it. Having a bird isn't what I thought it would be. It's much more fun and it's really cool because I never thought a bird would do the cute little things he does. In my mind, it's really sort of a magical thing. I think of that scene in Disney's Beauty And The Beast where Belle and the Beast are outside feeding the birds and then the birds are eating seed right out of their hands! I mean, that sort of thing doesn't really happen, does it? I've certainly never had it happen nor have I ever known anyone that it's happened to. Like I said, it's magical to have that happen, like something from a fairy tale.

Something I find pretty cool is that, as an artist, whether you're a writer, a musician, a painter, etc. you can find inspiration in anything. The world is filled with wonders and mystery and magic. Ideas don't come from nowhere. For me, those ideas come from reflecting on a part of my own being, or finding myself in aw at the night sky, or looking at how moss grows on rocks, or having a conversation with a friend, or even getting a pet bird. I know I should do this every time, but sometimes before I write, I pray to God. I just ask Him to help me and to inspire me. Sometimes I just ask Him to help motivate me. And believe me, He is ALWAYS listening to me, and I usually find my hand flowing with words faster than my mind can comprehend and I write with ease. I love those moments. Those are the moments when I begin to think about the Muses and wonder if that's how the poets of old felt.

Anyhow, if you've read about the Pillywiggins here: Cyclopedic Of Fairies, you may remember that Pillywiggins show themselves to humans with pure or good hearts. I just recently started thinking that what if wild birds only came to people with pure hearts? Animals are very good at reading people, surely a bird can tell which humans truly have good hearts. I thought maybe that would be something pretty cool and magical to add to my book, Beyond The Veil. Thank you Captain Flint! ;)