Have you ever wanted special powers? I don't mean sixth-sense gifts like heightened intuition or awareness, though those are great. I'm talking about actual magical powers.
I'm still on a re-reading marathon with books (always the case when I'm in laser-focus mode on a new manuscript), and a recent book included Key of Light by Nora Roberts from The Key Trilogy. Now, one thing I do appreciate about Roberts's talent is her ability to make magic feel so normal. Her Three Sisters Island trilogy does a great job of this as well, but what it all comes down to is mortals with special gifts.
So, have you ever wanted to be magical? Living a normal life, but with an little extra something?
I'd want to talk to animals. Healing would be another cool gift, but it's all about the animals for me. Wolves, bears, eagles, and of course my favorite pups and horses. It would be amazing to be able to connect with creatures on a telepathic level, to sense, know, and understand the world through their perspective.
“No two persons ever read the same book.” Truer words and all that, and while he spoke of books, Edmund Wilson could have been speaking of any form of art.
I know when I read a book, I may picture the characters differently than the author intended, or I may view a hero's rebellious nature as attractive when it's meant to be a cautionary tale, or I might find a villain amusing or even sympathetic when the author might have intended that character to be off-putting. If I don't enjoy a book, I ask myself if I didn't enjoy the book because it was truly bad, or if it was because I wanted the author to write it another way.
However we view art, in whatever form it might be, our unique perspective and interpretation is one of the things that makes art so appealing to a variety of people. Art (books, movies, paintings, sculpture, etc.) has the power to evoke emotions, and every individual has a different approach towards art and interprets it in their own way.
I also believe that to gain a genuine understanding of any form of art, be it books, movies, paintings, music, or nature, we should attempt to view it, at least once, through the eyes of its creator, for it is in their perspective that the true essence of the work can be found.
Each day presents a chance to make a difference, to learn something new, or to simply appreciate the beauty of the world around us. What will you do with your today, before tomorrow comes?
