Do You Believe In Magic?

Loading the dishwasher tonight, a few random lyrics danced through my head. They're from a song by my future husband Don Henley, off the Inside Job album, called "Everything Is Different Now" and they go a lil' somethin' like this:

She said, I dont care what you do for a living.
She said, I dont care what kind of car you drive.
All I want to know right now is what do you believe in
And what it means to you to be alive.

An interesting question - what do you believe in? Which of course took me to Robert Fulghum, the guy who wrote "All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten." Great book, as are its successors (not predecessors, but successors, Dear Sir!), and in the first one, he also talks about, as I recall, his Storyteller's Creed - "I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -That myth is more potent than history. I believe that dreams are more powerful than facts -That hope always triumphs over experience -That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death." Now, in and of itself that's good enough to end this post and say that my work here is done. Except it's not, because I haven't put anything of myself out there. So here is a partial list of things I believe in.

I believe that you owe respect to everyone, not just your elders, but if they do something to lose that respect, they need to earn it back regardless of age.

I believe in forgiveness, though I'm not always perfect at practicing it.

I believe that the person who makes dinner shouldn't have to do the dishes.

I believe that sometimes the person who makes dinner should do the dishes anyway, just because.

I believe that sometimes, what's kind is more important than what's fair.

I believe that most times, what's right is more important than what's kind.

I believe in magic, and in angels, and in spirits, and in God, and I don't believe any of those things excludes any other.

I believe that for each of us there is at least one someone out there who is the yin to our yang, the bread to our butter, the Sonny to our Cher, and the Jekyll to our Hyde - and that's not always a significant other, that might just be a treasured friend.

I believe in buying Girl Scout Cookies, magazines, wrapping paper, and anything else sold as a fundraiser by earnest children with a hopeful smile.

And I, too, believe that love is stronger than death.