Abracadabra

“Abracadabra,” says the wizard and the magic occurs.  We are all wizards, each one of us, capable of performing miracles in our lives.  The miracle is different from those that take place in fairy tales, as Mr Lamb says in Susan Hill’s story of Derry.

Derry is an adolescent boy with an ugly scar on his face.  One side of his face is burnt by acid.  Derry thinks that the scar makes him repulsive to people.  Hence he keeps running away from people.  He does not like to look at himself in the mirror.  Unlike most adolescents, what he sees in the mirror is a repulsive image.

Derry suffers from an extremely poor self-image because of his attitude towards the scar on his face.  He thinks that physical appearance matters a lot in social acceptance.  Mr Lamb tells him that he can give a magical kiss to himself and a miracle will happen.

It is not like the fairy coming from nowhere and transforming the beast into a beauty with a kiss.  “You have to give the kiss to yourself,” says Mr Lamb.  You are the fairy.  You are your own wizard.  The magic wand is in your hands.  Rather, the wand is in your attitudes.  Change your attitude towards the scar on your face.

Let people think whatever they want about the scar.  You tell yourself that you are a normal boy with two hands, two legs, and whatever else that a normal boy has.  You start doing what you want to do and forget the world that stares at your scar.  Forget your scar.  Focus on what you want to focus and the scar will disappear into oblivion.  There are the flowers to look at, the birds to listen to, a world to conquer.  You choose what you want in life.  You want people’s stares, you’ll get them.  You want the music of the rivers, you’ll get that.  It’s your choice.

Derry makes his choice.  Abracadabra, he utters the magic spell.  And the magic happens.  He sees the beauty of the flowers, he hears the music of the bees, he smells the freshness of the air in Mr Lamb’s garden. 

A whole new world unfolds before Derry.

It is not the world that has changed; it is Derry’s attitude to it that has changed magically.  Our attitudes determine our perceptions.  Our attitudes can distort what we see or they can sweeten what is perceived.  The magic wand is ours to wave at any time.  Miracles happen every moment provided you choose to make them happen.

PS. This is the first post in the #BlogchatterA2Z venture which I’ve joined to keep the trigger in my back unfailingly.