Is The Feeling Of 'everything Is Magical' A Common Human Need?

[West]

The feeling that everything is magical is something I remember from when I was a kid, but has since faded away. I think everybody knows the feeling. It's like a combination of wonder and happiness. Things seem fresh and exciting. I love that feeling, and I want to find out how to experience it on a regular basis, because I feel like this is a deep need.

I think there could be a connection between the magical feeling and nostalgia. Sometimes I feel nostalgic for old games that I played when I was a kid. The times that I've tried playing them again years later, the memories of the game are triggered and I get those same feelings for perhaps 20 minutes, depending on how long ago since I played. However, after those initial minutes I am in full grown-up mode, looking for the most effective and efficient ways to succeed at the game, while not feeling the magic. If I try to mess around like I did when I was a kid, I still don't get that feeling. It feels like it isn't the game itself that I'm craving, but the feeling that everything is magical.

The same thing can happen if I'm re-watching series or movies that I watched when I was younger. When I re-watch a film after many years, I can suddenly see the bad image quality and that it's all acted.

Being outside is kind of like that too for me. When I went out in nature as a kid, things seemed magical and alive. If I go out in nature now (especially if I didn't meditate earlier) it's mostly thoughts spinning around instead of enjoying the moment. It takes time for my mind to calm down, but when it does I kind of naturally seep into that feeling again. I'm not out in nature that much though.

Perhaps we grow used to the content of our world? "I've walked in forests hundreds of times", "I know how movies work now; they don't surprise me anymore". Perhaps it doesn't matter whether you are thinking like a kid or a grown-up, but that it matters whether you believe thought that says "I've already experienced this before".

I have also glimpsed the feeling during meditation. I experienced it once when contemplating "Does the future or past really exist?". I couldn't find any future or past, and I stayed with that for a few minutes until I got this feeling that existence really is a mystery, and I don't know a thing about it. That made it magical. I think I've lost that feeling in my everyday life because as I've grown older I have assumed that I know things about the world.

Actually, check out this meditation/contemplation for experiencing the Now:

• Be aware of the thoughts that appear in your mind.
• Say to yourself "I will trust my direct experience, and only that." Don't believe your thoughts just because they tell you stuff repeatedly.
• Contemplate: When do these thoughts appear?
• The thoughts about what you are going to do in 5 minutes, when do they appear? Do they prove the existence of a future?
• The thoughts about what you were doing just 10 seconds ago, when do they appear? Do they prove the existence of a past that existed 10 seconds ago, or is that just your mind strongly insisting so?
• Think of a historical event that happened long ago. Do you know anything about this event except from the thoughts that are currently appearing in your mind? Do these thoughts prove the existence of this past, or is that just your mind insisting on it?
• Repeat until the magic happens.

(Some of the questions seem to be pointing to a 'correct' answer, but it's just to provide some guidance.)

Do you long for this feeling? Do you think that most of humanity do? Have you found a way to get that feeling back?

My best bet for getting the feeling back is meditation (especially about time, perhaps) because it has worked before. Now that I realize that, I kind of feel like meditating.

Edited April 21, 2017 by Rider

[HelloThere]

The magic is curiosity of the unknown. It's why humans have explored the earth and are now looking outward towards space travel more probably. Games that we've played before aren't as interesting as the first time around because we have little left to discover. You might try a different approach this time around though to discover if that changes the result in the way that you expect which is also unknown. People like discovering and trying new experiences and as a kid everything is new so you are submerged in magic basically. Nostalgia brings back some of the old feelings and excitement for me but it doesn't really fully bring back the awe and desire to discover the unknown that makes me lost in the moment since I kind of already know it (even though I might have forgotten some of it). That's my initial take on it anyway.

Edited April 21, 2017 by HelloThere

[aurum]

I can definitely relate.

As I've gotten deeper into this awakening process, I've started to realize just how magical the world is. We're essentially all wizards with amazing powers that would blow the average person's mind.

You know how this sometimes makes me feel? Afraid.

We like staying small. We like saying "this is possible, this isn't possible". It gives us a sense of "realness".

I look back and realize that as a kid I would have killed for this. As a kid, we all want to believe we're in a magical world with super powers like Harry Potter. Yet now I push it away.

I also used to use my imagination all the time. What happened to that? Now I "seek the right answer".

So yeah. So much of this process is almost like becoming a kid again. But now you're a grown-up kid.

 

[sa-mu-el]

Your right - existence is magical! And try to see that the past and future are just mental words and images in your mind.

That curiosity that you get when raising your consciousness will get you back to this happy and free state that you experienced as a child, where you had no expectations about reality or notion of whats going to happen whatsoever.

As Leo once said:

Enlightenment is not about knowing. It's about not knowing so deeply that it goes full circle into a profound non linguistic knowing.

cheers  

Edited April 22, 2017 by sa-mu-el
Missing stuff

[West]

On 4/22/2017 at 11:12 PM, sa-mu-el said:

Enlightenment is not about knowing. It's about not knowing so deeply that it goes full circle into a profound non linguistic knowing.

Oh shit! It took me a couple of days to realize this.The feeling of not knowing (that I've experienced during meditation) is actually exactly the same feeling as the magical feeling. It's just so incredible when I see through the content of my thoughts and really see that I in fact don't know anything about the relative world for sure. It's the ultimate stress reliever, I stop worrying about so many things.