My partner and I were walking in the rainforests of Costa Rica on our way with our tour group to a family’s home that welcomed groups like ours to stay with them. The beautiful red, rocky path looked extra vibrant against the dense green leaves around us. The sun was shining through the forest around us casting those really beautiful patterns on the ground.
We had only been dating three months before we decided to go on this two week trip together and it didn’t seem strange or “too fast” to us, but a lot of other people were really surprised. Although they may have been right, it was an excellent way for us to get to learn more about each other – and the Costa Rican landscape itself ended up teaching us a lot as well.
Everyone was walking together, chatting amongst ourselves, and looking at the view across the valley when the skies opened up and started pouring rain.
No. That doesn’t do it justice at all.
Imagine you’re walking in the sunshine and then out of nowhere there was someone with a firehose just above you that turned it on full.
To say that we were getting drenched was an understatement.
The rest of our group ran ahead to find some cover – and my partner started to run with them, but turned around to see me walking at the same pace as before.
In a matter of seconds my thoughts went from:
“what the heck?”
to
“Oh my gosh! Let’s get out of this!”
to
“Would it really matter? I’m soaked already anyway. Might as well just walk and enjoy the warm rain.”
And so I just started laughing! When would I ever get to experience the dramatic Costa Rican rain like this? Who knows. My partner came back to join me and we held hands as we walked in the torrential downpour to catch up with our group.
It’s one of my favourite memories of our relationship.
Another sparkly moment in our relationship happened on that same trip.
There was an opportunity to go to a rodeo event near the town we were staying in and some of our group decided to go. Myself, my partner, and another couple decided to stay back. Instead we went out to dinner and then back to the cabins we were staying at.
The compound where we were had a beautiful organic garden and lots of fruit trees around and lamp posts lighting the path. We were walking in the garden and decided to stop at the pool to dip our feet in the water while we talked. It was so peaceful and relaxing and we had no idea how late it had gotten.
All of a sudden all of the lamps were switched off and it went immediately dark.
Sort of.
It was like someone turned off the lights and turned on the stars. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the stars and the milky way as clearly as we did that night. The sky was absolutely covered with stars of every colour and level of brightness. It was truly breathtaking.
We laid back in silence and just took it all in.
It was magical.
There is magic in our everyday lives as well, we just have to increase our awareness to it.
When my partner and I lived in the Vancouver area, there were these cedar trees that dropped rose shaped pinecones. If I wasn’t aware of my surroundings, just completely tuned into the music I was listening to as I was walking to and from the train station, I would have missed them.
I ended up collecting them to make bouquets for myself and my maid of honor for our wedding.
There’s this tree at the end of our street that is a cacophony of sound when it’s cold out because it’s FILLED with birds chirping and keeping each other warm.
Little footprints in the snow…
When the sky comes alive during a sunset…
The marvel of science and engineering that can get a plane up in the air…
The deep belly laughs over something you can even remember anymore…
The quiet coziness right before you fall asleep…
The smile of a stranger you accidentally make eye contact with…
The warmth of a hug you didn’t even know you needed…
The freshness of a piece of fruit as you bite into it…
These are the moments I live for.
Anytime I start to feel myself drifting away from this every day magic and feel trapped in the hustle and grind, I listen to the song by Kid Beyond called “I shall be free” and I imagine myself in the song – seeing the ‘funky soldier’ showing the way to happiness, freedom and everyday magic.
The lyrics take you on a journey of being “chained to our hatred and shackled by greed, too blind to see the wonder and the mystery.”
To prying our hearts open and letting the love unfold, because “when you love without limits, unconditionally, when you love without fear then you shall be free.”
And this section reminds me so much of the Tao – that beautiful life force that is available to everyone, we just have to learn to flow with it rather than resist it. “Now I ain’t afraid of living and I ain’t scared to die because I feel this vibration that I can’t deny. I can feel it singing through me like a symphony and it tastes so sweet like destiny. It’s in everything I touch, everything I see. It’s in every single fiber of my body. Every star, every creature, every leaf on every tree is a lesson and a blessing and we shall be free.”
So, my dear friend, how are you going to open yourself to little moments of everyday magic today?
Found this helpful? Share it with someone you know: