Bread and The Daily Magic We Create

I love magic.

I have never personally tried to master any tricks of illusion. And I’m not even that shocked when my mind’s perspective is skillfully manipulated (I mean, social media does that to all of us on a daily basis).

What fascinates me about the craft of illusion is that humans along the way had the capacity to create it.

Hear me out. If nowadays someone wants to learn to make a quarter “disappear”, they have a practiced context to refer to. They can refer to a book or a person and learn exactly how to hold the quarter, and exactly how to move it, in order to trick the observer. Usually, this means practicing a series of precisely choreographed maneuvers over and over again until finally, the illusion begins to take shape.

But at some point, someone had to choreograph the steps. Before there was any resource or expert on the matter, a human being had the capacity to not only see the gaps in our collective perception, but also create something that catered to those gaps. 

When you really think about it, that’s the magical part of magic - humans made the art of illusion quite literally appear out of thin air.

It’s not just magic that is magical.

I was recently telling a friend all about my fascination with magic, when he chimed in with a thought.

“You know what I want to know?” he asked. “Who came up with the idea of bread?”

Right?! 

Even though I now know that Egyptians invented bread around 8000 BC (woah), the question remains. Who was the person who looked at a wheat plant and thought, “You know what? I could do something with this.”

Even if you are avoiding carbs…..

This question of “Who came up with the idea of bread?” is actually a very important question to dig into.

Most of us, myself included, can really struggle with applying gratitude to the situations and perspectives that need it most. Most of us, myself included, can struggle with large-scale concepts that promise to give us a more peaceful life - such as trust, detachment, possibility, and true self-belief. 

So, we start to look outwards for the answers. Not from a place of curiosity or creation - but from a place of scarcity, grasping, and desperation. 

And in doing so, we start to lose out on the magic that shows up in our everyday life. 

At one point in history, someone ground wheat, mixed it with water, cooked it, and served it for the first time. At the time, it probably seemed unremarkable. But today, we are able to see that it was in fact magical. 

Bread is just the beginning.

When we are open to seeing it, there is magic in everything around us. And within that magic lies the peace, stability, security, and love that we are all looking for.

Take this friend for example - the one who asked me about the bread. He was introduced to me by another friend of mine after I made an off-handed remark about my increasing philanthropic interests. The bread friend then introduced me to his organization - where I have met new friends, new clients, and new role models. 

Because of these connections, I travelled to new places, experienced new things, developed new skills, and even had the opportunity to reconnect with old connections in new ways - leading to even more newness in my life.

This is only the manifestation of one moment with one connection in my life. Everything I have and experience can be traced back to a seemingly small point of origin - something as simple as saying hello to a stranger, applying to a job, attending an event. The same is likely true for you, too.

When we can see and appreciate the magic that we have already created in our lives, it becomes infinitely easier to bear witness to the magic we create every day. And when we are able to experience that level of abundance and support - it is truly, in my opinion, the best thing since sliced bread.