About the Author
A Magical Discovery is based on the true story of how I discovered that magic is real. The characters in this book are fictional, created by observing lots of people throughout my whole life. As an example, I myself am my Aunt Lisa, who worked at 911. The Ladybug Incident happened to me and my husband when I was 36. Plenty of Paint happened when I was 38 while remodeling a house to sell. My husband is the one who taught me about OCD. Making assumptions about who’s who in my real life would be pointless, except my immediate family gave me permission to use their names and recollections. We had great fun sitting around, sharing stories, and laughing.
I am still struggling with the nuances of magic-making. I’ve noticed that the little things I wish for in passing
come to me almost immediately. The
things I really care about are another story.
The key to creating magic, it seems, is to envision your wishes
coming true without expectation. Have
a goal without caring if it comes true or not. It’s
a calm feeling, a combination of desire and indifference. Cryptic? Yes.
Kind of like Platform 9 ¾. That
indifferent desire, that surrender, allows magic to happen.
Helpful elements also include gratitude, a positive attitude, going
with the flow, and persistence.
If
a wish comes true or I receive a message confirming I’ve made the right
choice, I feel joy and familiarity. It’s
like I’ve been lost and suddenly found the path home. It rings true.
In
2009, I headed up to Eugene to attend Faerieworlds
wearing a brown woodland faerie dress.
My big bag to carry everything around with me was studded black
leather which didn’t match at all.
“Boy,
I wish I had a big brown leather bag,” I
thought. “If I had any money, I’d buy one,”
Upon
arrival at my sister’s house, her husband Jerry said, “Hey, look at
these brown leather bags I’ve been making.”
“Very
nice!” I felt astonished and excited. “Can I borrow that one?”
It’s
mine now. It took three and a
half hours for that wish to come true.
Upon
hearing my story, Jerry responded with his own. He wanted to make brown leather bags but lacked the tools or
money to buy the tools. He
voiced his wish to someone at work who knew someone who knew someone who
had just cleaned out someone’s garage and happened to have an entire box
of leather-working tools they didn’t want.
The box appeared on Jerry’s desk two days later, free of charge.
My
son, Grant, asked me to get him a red tennis ball. I didn’t think they existed.
I’d never seen one. The
next day I was doing yard-work at our remodel.
Hearing a thumping noise, I turned to look at the fence.
A large humanoid shadow was barely visible through the cracks.
Suddenly, a red tennis ball came flying over the fence to land at
my feet.
I
was going to go to school in China for a year.
My deposit was paid, I went to orientation, and I could barely
contain my excitement for the adventure.
Then the violence in Tiananmen Square happened and my trip was
canceled. I suffered crushing
disappointment. If I had
gone, I wouldn’t have met my husband, Bob.
Having experienced that, I am better able to go with the flow now,
to accept things that are out of my control and make alternate plans.
At
that time, I had had it up to here with men.
I was done. I gave up
looking for Mr. Right to pursue my education and career full time.
I vented in my diary, declared my frustration and the end of my
search. I met Bob at a party
that very night. Why?
I suspect it’s because I had given up.
Giving up control seems to be an essential part of making magic.
Haven’t
you ever lost your keys and searched for them everywhere, only to find
them the moment you gave up and started looking for something else?
You let go. You
said, “Oh, screw it.”
Well, those might be my magic words.
I
tried and tried for two straight months to upload my first website.
I could not figure out what I was doing wrong.
It seemed I was doing everything right, exactly per the
instructions that I read over and over and over again.
If I had experience, I would’ve known that it wasn’t my fault.
It was the service provider’s fault.
One day, I had a couple of vodka drinks and a sense of futility. I sat down at the computer and tried five different methods
repeatedly, around and around in a big circle.
Suddenly, after several tries, doing it exactly the same ways, it
worked. I continued to go
through the motions even after I had given up.
That is when I am usually successful.
What I need to do is figure out how to capture that feeling in the
beginning and save myself a lot of frustration and anxiety and heartache.
I
didn’t think about putting my experiences in a book until after I had
children. My son, Austin, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was
five. He is the toughest,
bravest kid I know, but I still felt compelled to join him every day
in his kindergarten class at Oak Grove Elementary. There I wrote the first five chapters of A Magical
Discovery.
I
also bonded with many students. We
played games and I pushed them on the swings.
Having lunch with them in the cafeteria, I heard their amazing
stories of harsh lessons learned at a very young age.
What’s incredible is that some of them are able to remain
positive and happy in spite of their hardships.
They are an inspiration.
Harry
Potter was told he could run through a brick wall and he saw it happen.
His mind was opened to the possibility.
Children seem better able to accept the possibilities of magic, and
therefore more capable of making it happen.
As adults, we tend to forget.
I’ve been trying to remember, but I feel like Harry when the
brick wall did not open up as he expected.
He fell on his ass.
Bob
and I have been self-employed in the construction business for the last
decade, and are now facing financial challenges like thousands of others.
Our income declined by 80%. We
took a huge loss on a remodel we bought, did a short sale on our own home,
had to downsize the house we rented, and now live in a fifth-wheel at Mom
and Dad’s.
The
week of my birthday, Bob’s work truck needed a new $1,200 transmission,
and my car needed a new $4,000 engine.
Unable to pay for everything, we bought the transmission, gave my
car back to the bank, and moved into the borrowed fifth-wheel.
We also borrowed a white hail-damaged car we dubbed “The Golf
Ball”, and I’m grateful for it. We
have no health insurance and are facing bankruptcy.
So, why am I so happy?
My
story sounds pathetic, but it could be much, much worse.
I am able to see and appreciate the positives in all of it, and I
recognize and welcome the lessons we are learning.
Finding happiness in the midst of difficulty is one of mine.
Maintaining self-esteem and optimism for the future in the face of
adversity are lessons also, plus
materialism, humility, love, selflessness, and compassion.
Our situation puts broken fingernails and long stop-lights into
perspective and we will emerge on the other side of this experience
happier and calmer.
There
is romantic beauty, character, bravery, and love to be discovered in
shared hardship, in desolate landscapes, in a vagabond way of life.
Instead of using drugs and alcohol as an escape, we do art, play
music, dance, and laugh. We try to enjoy this time, be strong, capable, and ethical.
May we at least keep food in our bellies until prosperity returns,
because it will.
It’s
up to us to be creative, ambitious, and positive to make it happen, even
from a tent city. I’m not
going to rely on the government to fix my life.
If we can’t find jobs, then we should make our own, turn
unemployment into self-employment, use this opportunity to do something we
love, barter our skills and
eliminate the need for money when we can.
I
wish to support myself by doing something that I love.
If you liked my book but didn’t pay for it, please consider doing
so now at my website. You can
also view a photo gallery. Your
referrals and links to my websites are most appreciated.
Thank you.
www.AMagicalDiscovery.com
Check out these other websites
too, if you’d like.
www.AprilMetternichArt.com
Watercolors and prints for sale by me.
www.YourGoddessArt.com
Photography, portraits, calendars, cards, and Faerie Art.
www.YourGoddessArt.com/Avril-Reussi/index.htm
Abstract nature artwork by my snooty alter-ego.
www.Whimsical-Architectural.com
Custom tile, wood, and metal artwork for sale.
I’m accepting applications for representation of your high
quality craftsmanship.
www.DianaMore.com
My sister’s art, jewelry, and Mystic Cards™ (pending).
www.RosalieMore.com
My mom’s books for sale.
www.crystalprospector.com
My dad’s website sells crystals.
He sold a crystal sphere with inclusions to the Smithsonian.
Write your own story with a happy ending. I wish you an exciting discovery of your own magic for good health, wealth, and happiness.