Q: Real or Magic? A: Both.

‘I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say ‘I’m bored.'” ~ Louis C.K.

Question: Real or magic?  Answer: Both.

Question: Do miracles actually exist?  Answer: Definitely.

Question: How do you know this?  Answer: you just read the Louis C.K. bit above and/or On Magic and Miracles. Or Walking Through a Land of Wonders, Unwondering. the latest in my philosophy for the people ebook series, On Life and Living. Or Conversations Between Me, Me, and You. The following is an excerpt. Enjoy!

It might be a frightening pill to swallow but it’s certainly not a bitter one: Miracles have happened.

We are a miracle, and we are definitely sustained by a number of preceding miracles. The cosmic, the quantum, existence – all miracles. Every human conception, given that a sperm has to swim a distance equivalent to from here to the moon, uphill, in total darkness, at breakneck speed, without dying of starvation or attack, just to have a chance at an egg – every human conception is a miracle. (Seriously, I think the mathematical probability that a sperm would successful jump through every hoop and avoid every sniper involved in fertilizing an egg is smaller than a bumblebee being able to fly – which is calculated to be physically impossible.) Of course pregnancies and conceptions happen all the time, as do flying bumblebees. We need to stop interpreting their frequency to mean that they are easy and/or that no magic or miracle is involved. Magic and miracle are definitely involved.

And that means they definitely exist.

Now that might feel scary, but I’d like to suggest that what you’re feeling is not fear, but the feeling of being alive. This feeling is, to be fair, in part scary; but, to be equally fair, it also ambrosia. It is a nectar without which, should you not consume it regularly, you will undoubtedly wither and waste away. Like it or not, there is more to the laws of reality than Newtonian mechanics. – And who are we kidding? We all definitely like it.

Fear doesn’t like it. Establishment and bureaucracy don’t like it. Status quo doesn’t like it. But each human individually has to like it. For some it is the only real hope of living somewhere and being something other than the inhuman situation they were born into. For all of us it is the best shot we have at getting out of our own personal cells and hells. Not as a patriarchy obviously, but as people – we have to like being closer to having power and efficacy over our lives than what the secular world gives us according to our race, age, gender and marital status, sexual orientation and socio-economic position. Most of us anyway. What is it, 80-90% now?

For all of us, egos not included, it is really good news that, unless the laws of the universe radically change, the fact is: miracles do actually happen and they are definitely possible. I’m going to repeat because it’s a significantly reality-altering piece of information: Not only are miracles possible, but they are actual. Magic happens too. You could say that magic makes them happen, or that magic is the(ir) happening. Or you can say that genetics, electro-magnetism, or ‘the laws of physics’ make them happen. You can say whatever you want – and even describe to me in scientific detail the means by which light enters my eye and my brain reconstructs the entire external world, and one cell transforms into an entire human being, and a universe with an incomprehensible number of galaxies and 5-10 times more stars than there are grains of sand on this planet not only exists, but was formed in an instant from nothing – you could tell me all this and still not make a dent in taking the wonder and magic out of what is. In fact with every detail you’d probably see a little more drool drop off the corner of my mouth. (‘And then what happens? Whaa –whhaaaat?! – For real?’)

The answer is always: ‘Yes, for real.’ – And that is the point.

How do we even get by allowing ourselves to be told, and allowing ourselves to pretend, that the reality in which we live is not magical? Because the world we live in is insanely magical. (Oh wait – drugs, right! Now I remember.) The reality we live in is fantastical to a degree that far exceeds my, or your, or Prince’s (rest in peace), or Einstein’s (you too!), unbridled imagination. Literally. Recognizing this does not make me a freak, it makes me observant.  

This was an excerpt from On Magic and Miracles. Or Walking Through A Land Of Wonders, Unwondering. Click here to purchase On Magic and read more about why mysticism is the only reasonable response to reality.