Whimsy


Whimsy.

It’s one of my favourite words lately. Not the wedding decoration trend or all that, I mean whimsy the way Bob Goff uses it in Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. It’s that magic that happens when we dare to do something courageous, or when we notice a spark of life out of the corner of our eye.

When I think of whimsy, I think of the wisps in Pixar’s Brave. The wisps lure Merida down a darkened path tempting her to follow a dangerous, but adventurous, path. (Wisps, as it turns out, have ancient and ominous roots in English folklore…)

But that feeling, that moment of temptation and uncertainty, heeding for a moment the lure of the wisps, you know that feeling?

When’s the last time you followed the wisps? They appear daily, if we’re looking for them. They usually look like saying hello to someone, helping a neighbour, asking a question, or jumping into a puddle with both feet. Not difficult or earth-shattering, but for some reason the tiniest steps can feel terrifying in the moment. I think Goff is onto something, that taking risks, however small, makes life more magical.

May you find the courage to take a small risk, embrace whimsy, and make some magic.