About Finding Magic in the Mundane
Nobody has ever actually asked me the following question: “Mary Gordon, how do you find magic in the mundane?” It’s a good thing because quite frankly, I don’t have an answer. I can only report with great certainty that it’s there.
Where is all this magic?
For starters, it’s in restaurant bathrooms that feature the sign, “Employees Must Wash Hands.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood with my hands held out over a sink, just waiting for my employee to show up. They never come.
There’s magic in newspaper headlines: Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half and Teacher Strikes Idle Children. Grocery stores hold more magic than even David Copperfield can conjure. Especially when you shop, as I do, by letters of the alphabet. I do love a good C-shopping day:
- Carrots
- Chocolate Chips
- Cauliflower
- Cow milk
- Corn
- Creamy Creations
- Coffee
- Chocolate Chips
- Chops, pork
- Chorizo
Some products can be problematic. When you need beer or steak, and it’s your C-day, you’ve got to switch to Spanish and add Cerveza and Carne to your list.
Going to the bank is magic, especially when you ride your bicycle. For as an added bonus you get firm thighs and calves. The tellers at my neighborhood bank were not happy when I pedaled up to the drive-through window to make my deposits. But then they got a call from my friend, a bigwig at the bank, and now they have big smiles when I approach. He told them to take my money. Sometimes you need a little help getting the magic out of the mundane.
I just keep finding more and more magic. I don’t mean the turning-water-into-wine or the spinning-straw-into-gold magic. The magic I’m talking about is far more subtle and far more powerful. It appears when you’re standing on a street corner in Mexico City and run into old friends; when you find an unopened envelope containing a $500 check or $20 in the pocket of your winter coat; and when you’re thinking about somebody you miss, and they call you.
My stories are all true. Some of them have aired as commentaries on Austin’s public radio station, KUT. Others have been published in Texas Co-op Power Magazine. At first glance they don’t seem connected, but upon closer inspection, they all are. Now that’s magic if I do say so myself! Just to sweeten the pot, as public radio does when you make a contribution, I’ve added some Premiums to go along with each story. My Premiums are not mugs, T-shirts, or wind chimes, but tidbits that amuse me.
Here’s to the magic!
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| Price: |
$20.00 (tax included) |
| ISBN: |
0-9749537-0-9 |
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