Lord of the Rings. Harry Potter. Pirates of the Caribbean. If I could walk into a soccer game with Jack Sparrow, Legolas, Strider, and Harry Potter on my team, I’d be feeling pretty good about my chances. Strider would be busy trying to draw the six foul, while Legolas would probably have borrowed HP’s broom to get a better view of things. Harry Potter, prior to the game would explain to me that my patronus was a soccer ball, and while I distracted the other team with my patronus, Jack would have smuggled the ball over the goal line while HP was magically running time off the clock.
I would have more championship t-shirts than I would know what to do with. I might be able to sew them into a blanket, wear them all at the same time, or if I know anything about that Jack Sparrow he’ll probably be tying them together to sneak out of the window at my house, when the cracken rings my doorbell. “He’s not here to trick or treat Jack!” “I’ve got a ship and crew already manned and ready in your garage!” “You flooded my garage??” “No time!”
The craze behind those movies and books was absolutely insane. It was like the whole world was secretly waving wands about shouting spells at their mirrors, learning how to perfectly load and shoot an arrow in one swift motion (please tell me I wasn’t the only one doing those things!). Why? Why are we so inclined to think that the world of Harry Potter is any more interesting, imaginative, beautiful, adventurous, fun or exciting than our very own REAL world?
I’ll be the first to admit that if I was a master of the sword I’d be happy. I would love to be able to cast magic spells. We all would! But I suspect that somewhere along the way we told ourselves we weren’t going to get super excited about our own world. Did we get let down after getting our hopes up? When we used to feel much did we get hurt lots? Did we shut it off?
This goes both large scale and small scale. I know a girl who plays the piano. She doesn’t just play the piano, she PLAYS the piano, and it melts my heart. I can say that listening to her play for me, is one of the most meaningful things I know. It creates an ache in my heart. It is magic. People who know me well, hear me refer to this often, as a “piano moment.” And life is FULL of them, full of seemingly small moments that are actually so big! Sneaking out of your house at 3 in the morning with your roommates to go sledding. The time Flu made it in and out of every room in the house by only climbing furnature and scaling walls. Setting up a middle school kid for a goal at the after school program. A sunset. Someone telling you they love you. Holding someone’s hand. Laughing! These things are magic!! Life, real true life, is full of moments like this.
And big picture? There is no greater adventure than chasing after the people you love and the people that love you. Sure magic, and pirates , orcs and wizards are cool… but Daniel Carter, Lance Atkins, Hannah Payne, Jordan and Sammy Archuleta, my cousins, Rachel Larsen…. (List continues)… are much, much cooler. It is as simple as that. They ARE my adventure.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with LOTR, Harry Potter, etc. Anyone who gets excited about those movies and books and celebrates them: I am on your side. But can we get just as excited about real life? Look for the piano moments! Tell people about them! Celebrate them, and experience them!!! Get hurt, laugh, play the piano, listen for the piano, watch a sunset, and climb around the walls of your house. But most of all, live the adventure, and go out and love with a big heart and reckless abandon. Your story is better than Harry Potter’s story. If you guys surround me with that kind of enthusiasm, I think I will be happy for forever.
