Make your own magic

Harry Potter Wand

I love this photo of my son. He's showing off his Harry Potter wand, boxed for safekeeping. Harry Potter is his new fascination, and I'll never forget how he gasped when he entered the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. Gripping his new prized possession, he made a point to tell his dad and me the wand wasn't really magic.

"It's fake," he said.

Even at this young age, he seems to understand the difference between the real world and the one of make-believe. When Tom and Jerry was added to the regular TV rotation, he told us Jerry was riding on his shoulder.

"Because Jerry doesn't even have a bike," he explained.

"Son, do you see Jerry?" My husband asked.

"No, silly! Jerry's not real. He's just pretend."

"Okay. I just wanted to be sure."

So I'm glad my son knows the wand won't make Oreo cookies magically appear. But fake? That felt a little harsh.

"It's okay to use your imagination," I said.

Recently, I watched an interview with J.K. Rowling on Oprah. After years and years of writing stories, Rowling explained that at age 25, while riding a delayed train from Manchester to London, an idea flashed in her mind. From that idea, the world of Harry Potter was born.

Years ago, when I went to the movies and watched Sue Monk Kidd's bestselling novel The Secret Life of Bees  come to life on the big screen, I could barely contain the tears. I was so overwhelmed and amazed a story so beautiful-- born of one woman's imagination--had become bigger-than-life and was being projected before my eyes. Before she ever wrote the book, Kidd says images of bees swarmed in her head. They followed her. The story inside wouldn't let her go.

She made her own magic.

Rowling did, too.

We're not all meant to have our stories broadcast on big screens. Our creations may not inspire theme park attractions. And we may not all become billionaires.

But I believe we're called to make our own magic. Do you?