Day 23, December 26, 9:23 a.m.

What is magic? This time of year, it’s something to make and enjoy. But it’s also not real.

I thought about magic on my walk today. As with so many words, English really lets us down on this one. Magic can be an emotion of wonder, it can be a physical act of sleight of hand, it can be herbal healing, it can be fortune telling and astrology and gemstones and prophetic dances.

It’s all magic: Difficult things—possibly impossible things—made to look easy, made to delight, inspire, soothe, amuse.

I like to think about old magic, folk magic, which I think we would recognize now as a form of guided meditation or prayer. Walking, thinking, praying, touching and eating and creating specific things, dancing, staring into the flames, listening to the birds, treating formerly living things with dignity and respect. That’s old magic. Working within and with nature and your own internal ecosystem to shape the future, make sense of the past, and live in the present.

Magic was something to be sought out and respected. Never forget to tip your magician.

But that’s not the magic we talk about now when we talk about magic. Modern magic is commercial and obligatory. Magic isn’t magic. It’s a helluva lot of work, and to opt out of the “magic of the season” is to court disdain.

Does anyone remember to tip the magician anymore? Or is the magician the one who’s always in charge of filling her own stocking? #MeetingMorning