Taking a moment to find the magic

"There's a rainbow in the sky all the time, don't be blind."
Rainbow in the Sky, Ziggy Marley

Even on the dullest of days, weatherwise or emotionally, a rainbow can cheer us up. In Chapter Two of my novel, Split, one of the main characters is pulled from the misery of a rainy day in this way.

"The lights changed and he was jostled along with the flock of pedestrians crossing the road, grey normal people going about their grey normal lives, all in a state of denial. He turned a corner and the sun came out, so bright he had to close his eyes. A warm hand touched his own and he yelped.

The child couldn't have been more than seven years old. Her dark blonde hair was tied back off her face with a yellow ribbon and her long purple coat, an ill-fitting hand-me-down, almost touched her boots. She beamed at him with sky-blue eyes.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"Sorry?" Steve was still kicking himself for crying out like a baby.

"Up there."

He blinked into the sky. Above the heavy, dark clouds, the sun could be seen and between the two, a vibrant rainbow crossed the sky. Despite his stiff collar and sodden trousers, Steve found himself smiling."

One of the issues I want to identify in my book, is the way that often we get so bogged down with every day life, we fail to notice the magic around us. It could be a rainbow caught in the arch of sprinklers, the sound of birdsong, children laughing, the enjoyment we find in talking to a friend we haven't seen for a while. In fact anything that pulls us from our blinkered mindset and causes us to simply enjoy the moment is a little dose of magic.

So take the time tomorrow or next week to look up from your work and, just for a moment, look for that rainbow, that magic. As Ziggy says, it's always there.