“It was in fairy-stories that I first divined the potency of the words, and the wonder of the things, such as stone, and wood, and iron; tree and grass; house and fire; bread and wine.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

Bread has been around for quite some time. And I think it would’ve remained bread to me if it hadn’t popped up in books so much. Isn’t it amazing how a commonplace thing will remain commonplace until someone comes along and puts magic into it? Or perhaps better said: reveals the magic that is already there, ready and waiting for you to finally see it.

I find it wonderful that Tolkien said others had done this for him, especially when he did it so exquisitely for us. Makes me appreciate how magic passes from one person to the next–– once one person sees it, then they point to it and say, “Look! Holy buckets, look!” This has happened to me over and over again. I’ve read so many enchanting books and met so many enchanting people that it’s hard for me to look at anything without seeing the magic in it anymore. Even now, as I scan every little object on my desk, none of it is ordinary. In fact, sometimes I feel like there’s so much magic here in front of me that it’s all going to go up in a puff of golden smoke and I’ll just be sitting in my chair going, “Welp. I finally did it. I poofed my desk. Ah well, at least now I know its magic boiling point.”

On the same note, one must be careful when filling one’s life with joy. There’s a capacity limit. I can tell you this by experience. There was this one time where I took in too much joy and I simply poofed into the aether. I didn’t reappear for a week, and when I did, they found me at Disneyland having a waffle cup of rainbow sherbet.

Anyway, all that to say, nothing around you is ordinary. Even if it’s been in your life (or sitting on your desk) for years. Even if it’s been around since time out of mind. History doesn’t make things old, it makes them enchanted. And joy, of course, never gets old. It just makes you poof every once in a while.

So tell me! What is something that looks ordinary, but is completely enchanted to you?