The trick is looking for the little magic. In the midst of this past winter’s snowmageddon I had to keep driving to work. The windshield would be covered in salt spray and dirt most of the time. One day I must have gotten the bright idea to do the window washer when I got to work, before I went inside. My memory’s not the greatest and it was such a small simple thing that I had totally forgotten about it by the end of the day.

It took me a few blocks to pick up on what was different, since it seemed like everything was. I could read the bumper stickers on the car in front of me. All of the houses and buildings were in sharp relief. I could make out the individual branches of each tree instead of just seeing a tall gray blob. It slowly dawned on me that all this was because my windshield was clean.

My past self had inadvertently created magic for my future self. Not magic in finally having a clean window or somehow making the snow and sleet stop. Magic in those few brief moments when I could see things more clearly than any other time in the cold winters of my life. That brief moment was like walking out of a door right at the end of a summer rainstorm. Petrichor filling your nostrils and everything in front of you so sharp and full of color.

Remember it’s probably not the world you’re unhappy with, it’s the people on it. Look past the people and find the magic in your surroundings.