Where Magic Lives

After my 5-year-old nephew and I got through TSA, we made our way to our gate for our flight to Hawaii.

My sister and I fantasized about this day.  To dose ourselves in vitamin D after a frostbitten winter. To bury ourselves in a blanket of sand instead of snow.

But my nephew had no such thought. It was Friday to him.

As we scurry to our gate, my nephew's eyes hone in on the indoor playground. At its center is a wooden airplane, calling for its 5-year-old pilot.

My nephew looks up at me and says, "Play with me?" with a smile that would be illegal to deny.

He sprints towards the cockpit.

He adjusts the controls. He checks the wings. He looks at me and asks,

"Tower, all systems go?" gesturing a microphone with his hands.

"10-4. You are cleared for takeoff." I reply.

He gives me a thumbs up.

As the sounds of a roaring engine rumble from his mouth, another pilot jumps in the cockpit. He appears to be 6-7 years old.

Without introductions, hesitation, or timidness, my nephew and his new co-pilot immediately ran around, checked the plane, fixed the engine, and began flying to uncharted lands.

If you didn't know any better, they must've been in the pilot academy together. They must've passed the exams, partied, and graduated at the top of their class.

They were best friends.

The new pilot's mother's eyes met mine. We exchanged polite smiles as we watch both our pilots do what they do best as they soar into the infinite skies of creativity.

Then the question popped into my head,

"How could I have forgotten?"

The Old Friend

Man is on a search. He is on a search for It, but he knows not where It is.

He searches for It in distant lands. He searches for It under every rock. He even searches for It in silence.

He searches for It everywhere, but nowhere to be found.

He searches endlessly. Eventually, he forgot what he's been searching for.

Man is not in search of knowledge. Man is not in search of peace. God forbid Man is in search of happiness.

Man is in search of Magic.

She used to be with you. You do not know where she went.

But if you've seen glimpses of her.

You've felt her hands in art. You've seen her eyes in individuals. When she peeks her head you say to yourself,

“Is it? Maybe?" You want a closer look and you chase after her.

Yet, when you get there it seems the distance between you and her became greater than before.

The distance seems vast because the following realization didn't dawn on you.

It’s not you who are chasing her. Rather, she is chasing you.

She has always been here.

She sings your song, but your ears have become deaf to her melody.

She calls out for you, but all you hear is noise.

You hear songs from others and it reminds you of your song. The song you stopped singing long ago–the song you loved.

She extends her hand for you to join her. She's always seeking you.

But you are nowhere to be found.

You are hidden in a cloud–somewhere else.

Asking yourself, "How can we go back?"

The Magic you seek is not found in the new. It's reconnecting with the old friend you left.

She only arrives when she receives an invitation...the invitation to Play.

The Big Show (Inner Child & Costumes)

The World is a stage. It's filled with actors, characters, costumes, and masks.

When we were young, we wore a variety of costumes with many colors.

Then we got older.

As we got older, we put on a particular costume called "adult" and kept it on.

This costume possesses a special fabric called Ego and it's hemmed with the cleverness of labels.

• With labels came mimicry.
• With mimicry came comparison.
• With comparison came competition.

Competition brought the destruction of Play. All magic lives in Play.

"I have to be this. I need to become that."

Like Adam and Eve armoring themselves with leaves.

When children play, they share energy–not divide it.

Children have so much energy, they have to play.

The Wise have so little energy, they only play.

It's us in the middle that gave up play for competition.

"Christ-like, Buddha-like, Stoic-like, self-improvement, right, wrong, should, should-not, enlightened, not-enlightened, etc." All costumes.

All costumes are labels. All labels are words. All words are empty.

"Show me a man that has forgotten words so I may have a word with him." - Chuang Tzu

You put on your last costume and you never took it off. What was once a costume, you’ve tricked yourself into thinking it's your skin.

Children wear many costumes and remove them without a struggle. Adults wear one costume and will fight tooth and claw to keep it.

Note: There's nothing wrong with costumes, but I see you're sick of this one.

You’ve been typecasted and you're tired of this role.

It made your shoulders heavy.

The world is a stage. It's all theater and we’re all wearing costumes.

If we're all wearing costumes and we're all in the same theater, then why not enjoy it all?

Either wear the costume you genuinely want to wear or drop all costumes.

None of this is serious–least of all You.

This is not a call for hedonistic pleasure because that's another chase. All chases go nowhere.

This is a call for joy. To Live in Complete Sentences.

To do things unconditionally and wholeheartedly as children do.

This is not an advocation to reconnect with your inner child because there's no such thing as "Inner Child".

There is no such thing as "Inner Child" because there’s no such thing as adults.

There is only You or not you...and you've forgotten You. Not the image of you, but the essence of you.

There is no childhood to return to. It’s to leave the game of adulthood.

There is no inner child to save. There’s a self-image of an adult to destroy.

Self-image is not your person-ness, it’s a prison you created.

But you can leave this prison at any moment.

You don't need a key because there is no key. There's no key because there is no lock.

There’s only giving yourself permission to open the door and play outside.

After The After-Life

Religion talks about the afterlife and how to reach paradise, but what happens after you get there?

• What happens after you're settled into Heaven?
• What happens after you achieved Nirvana?
• What happens after you dined in Valhalla?
• What happens after you break The Simulation?
• What happens after The After?

"Now what?" What remains?

There are no more "to-do's". There's no more "this or that". There's nothing at all. So what do you do with nothing?

Anything you want.

Asking "What do you do with nothing?" is like asking a child, "How do you have fun?"

You follow your instincts and do.

When there is nothing, you're available to everything.

When you're available to everything, Play remains.

The universe becomes your playground as it always has been.

If Play remains, then there's no need to wait for heaven or any form of “afterlife" in the future. We can experience all the promises of Heaven right now.

• Kingdom of God.
• Nirvana.
• Escaping The Matrix or Samsara.
• Lucid dreaming.

What happens after these is what's been happening this entire time.

Play.

Play is of Creation. Creation is of Nature. Nature is of God.

God does not punish. God plays. Those who do not play, punish themselves.

Children play without thought. Adults think without play.

Play is our nature and we have waged war against nature.

Paradise was never lost. You were.

This is Eden. They told us otherwise and we believed them.

We are only here for Here.

Here is an infinite playground. A playground is not in school, but outside of it.

The Playground is not a place to leave. It's the only place to live.

Magic is all around us. So much so, we're blind to it all.

Magic is in the palm of your hands and we can paint the world with it.

They say, "Only The Real stands the test of time."

If that's the case, then it's the nature of Magic to live eternally.

Ocean Greetings

As I write this, we finally escaped to the sunkissed island of Maui.

As I rest in the sand that grants comfort to my limbs and a blanket for my toes, I watch my nephew greet the beach.

He moves with such unaware grace that the separation between him and the waves is so subtle.

He plays with the sand.

He doesn't know what he's doing yet he knows exactly what he's doing. A true artist at work.

Every time I look at him, I see the universe is not around him, but within him.

Like the universe, he is expanding.

Expanding in imagination, curiosity, love, and freedom. Creating fresh worlds with his pure hands.

I see It in his eyes.

He is a wielder of magic. He is the mystic that heals. He is the superhero that saves. He expresses wisdom without words. He is my favorite teacher.

They say children learn much from us, but it is we who can learn the most from children.

“Play with me?”

Though I have denied him plenty, I inevitably bow before his request for he is backed by The Universe itself.

We go into submarines destroying monsters. Creating many troubles and solutions across galaxies. With a sword in his hand and a shield in mine.

"Play with me?"

Though I have denied him plenty, I pray he never stops asking me this question. To share and witness his magic that will stay with me forever.

I do not know where It comes from
But I do know it's for me
A reservoir of feeling I will gladly drown in
Only then, when Its waters fill my lungs, I finally breathe.