3/25/2016 (Day 85) Magic, Magic Everywhere

Recently I was pondering my belief system and it occurred to me that I could not recall a time in my life when I was not drawn to the supernatural nor a time when I did not believe in the existence of magic. Despite the fact that I was never intentionally taught about either one during my childhood (I wasn't one of those lucky enough to have had familial traditions and teachings about such handed down), I have always been drawn to all things mystical and magical, and when I stopped to think about it, I realized how my early childhood programming through exposure to these themes through television and books seems to have provided a solid foundation for these beliefs without necessarily having intentionally doing so. 

I was born in 1965 and raised as part of a typical Americana circa 60's-70's-80's household where the television was (quite literally) never turned off. So many of my family childhood memories stem from all of us gathered around the tv watching the latest episodes of our weekly shows. In 1964, the year before I was born, the show "Bewitched" came out, it ran until I was 7, in 1972. Also, the year I was born, another popular sitcom, "I Dream of Jeannie", debuted and aired until I was 5 years old. 

In 1966, a daytime soap opera called "Dark Shadows" came on and aired every weekday for 5 years. The show revolved around a handsome and heroic vampire named Barnibas Collins, and included a cast full of witches, warlocks, werewolves and other creatures involved in all sorts of supernatural happenings and adventures. My mother LOVED this show, and some of my earliest memories of time spent with my mother are of us sitting down to watch it every afternoon....which, of course I loved too! 

Sesame Street came on air in 1969. By then, I was already 4 years old, had been exposed to 4 years of Samantha and Jeannie's magic before even meeting Big Bird; and had known Barnbas Collins for 3 years prior to learning to count with The Count (I won't get into my fascination with vampires here...lol). Of course, Sesame Street had it's own elements of magic, and taught me much about other aspects of life as well, but what I realized, in thinking about it recently, is that through my early exposure to the supernatural and magical characters on television, I began to form my belief system to include an acceptance of magic and the supernatural as something that existed and was real, because, of course, at that young age, I did not know that what I was seeing on the television was not real, but simply made up. So, I accepted, from the very beginning, that magic and the supernatural exist early on and have since, never really even entertained the idea that they do not. 

By the time I started kindergarten, at Holy Trinity School, I was already able to read and had begun to explore the world of books, which provided me with a whole different kind of magic, that of visualization and imagination. I loved the library, with it's mahogany wood paneled walls and all of those books, just waiting to be explored. I couldn't wait to go there and pick out new adventures each week and would read the books over and over. I loved the solid bricks and cement of the big, drafty three story building. I can still hear the sound of my shoes echoing in the quiet hallways...reverberating off big, closed, wooden doors and high ceilings that reminded me of some far away castle. I could just imagine all sorts of mystical happenings wandering among its peaceful hallways. I remember how I loved being alone in the quiet of those hallways where I could just feel the mystery of the place surrounding me. On the rare occasion that I was asked to go over to the convent where the sisters lived, I was always in awe of the sense of holiness and reverence I felt when I entered the place where they lived. And, through my experience with the Sisters, I developed a great sense of Spiritual reverence of my own, that I cherish to this day.  

As an adult, I used to love to go to the ''Candy Cane Carnival" they had every year at Christmas time, just to go back into my old school and revisit the happy days I spent there from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Sadly, last summer they tore the beloved school down. Many were sad to see it go, but I guess expansion for Baystate Franklin Medical Center was deemed more important than a failing Catholic school. I still miss seeing it when I ride by that way. 

I came to the conclusion that I am thankful for Samantha and Jeannie teaching me to believe in magic and for the sagas of the Barnabas and the Collins family teaching me all about immortality and the supernatural...(not to mention the poignant tragedy of vampires that has always intrigued me about them...lol). And, while I have my thoughts and opinions on the affect of television on young minds, and some part of me shudders to think that I was allowed to watch so much television, at such a young as as to have such a profound affect on the development of my belief system, I am glad that what I took from that early ''programming'' was a belief in magic, immortality, the supernatural. And I am thankful for my time at Holy Trinity School, which taught me about reverence of Spirit and swept me away to places faraway as I learned to visualize and explore my imagination within it's walls. And for the magic of reading I am eternally grateful! 

I feel blessed to have maintained this belief in magic and mystery throughout my life and to have continued to explore my imagination and utilize the visualization skills I began to develop in those early years...these are things that carried me through the challenges that came in later years and for this I am thankful <3 

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