Fantasy vs. Reality?

That was a long time ago now. And do you know what I learned out of that? I learned that we are surrounded by magic every day if we can but see it. We can pursue our dreams and fantasies, if we but think we can. No matter what our circumstances there is some bit of magic that we can reach out and grasp if we will let ourselves. I don't say it won't require sacrifice- Oh! it will! But it IS possible!

I am 45 now and a lot of people think that's old to have anything new and exciting happen to them...but just this spring I have finally started living a life I've always fantasized about: and for many years I thought it was just that: an unattainable fantasy! It all started slowly and came about bit by bit, too - about 16 years ago I took a chance, quit working for others and began selling my artwork. It was hard and required sacrifices and I was really poor at first but I have been making my living as an artist ever since. About 12 years ago I saw a need and began taking in abused and neglected animals. Without even realizing it I soon had my first horses- something I'd dreamed of having since I was a little girl (again not easy as these horses had been beaten and starved; painful to see and hard to take care of...my reward is all my horses are fat and glossy happy things now. Oh and I can actually ride one of them). Two years ago I bought a few acres of land way up in the Zuni Mountains of New Mexico surrounded by hundreds of square miles of national forest where nobody else but the animals live. I started taking trips up there and built a little adobe house - and this spring I moved there to stay. I literally "live in a cottage at the edge of the forest"!

This doesn't mean that this "fantasy life" that I'm living is easy: there is the truck breaking down, or getting stuck in the mud or snow. There is the fear of forest fire. The horses can colic. There are deer and elk but also a very disagreeable bear. And there is the isolation, which I enjoy but other people probably couldn't...

I suddenly sat up and realized one day that I am doing exactly what I always wanted to do and thought was just a fantasy! Every day when I wake up and walk out my door I know I'm in a very magical place. And life offers more opportunities for magic every day: what art can I make today? What will I find when I ride over that ridge? Not to mention the challenges of just living here that I mentioned before!

So you see when I first saw the 10th Kingdom it just reaffirmed the message for me that magic is everywhere, just under the surface...just as Virginia realized at the end. I just can't relegate this story to the category of "a fantasy that has nothing to do with reality"...reality is as magical as you make it!

What do you think? Tell me about the magic present in your life!