> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://heyvirgil.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # You Need Magic in 2026 🧙‍♂️🧙‍♀️ - URL: https://heyvirgil.com/you-need-magic-in-2026/ - Published: 2026-10-19T13:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-19T13:00:00.000Z - Description: We all need a little more real magic in our lives! Join us as we discuss the importance of finding that feeling of energy, excitement and joy through applied creativity and play. - Author: Jon Saltzman - Tags: Magic, Books, Library, Fun, Play, Vocation, Erasure, Space If you happen to be a fan of the television show *The Librarians* [\[1\]](#references), the premise of the show is that magic is alive and well in modern times, and somewhat of a guarded secret. At Hey Virgil, we are big fans because... well, a story about *libraries*, *books*, *mysteries of history* and *magic*... it's right up our alley! Yes, we *are* seriously talking about *magic* 🪄 in 2026! This is no joke - but it is meant to be fun and enlightening. If you take nothing else away from this, take this: a few minutes of restorative and serious *fun*. By going back in time to consult our old friend, Webster's dictionary from the year 1913 [\[2\]](#references), we find something interesting about the meaning of *magic* and its closely related terms: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/57/15/571545e5-57d2-4db7-8dc0-9a4067deecf7/content/images/2026/10/magic-websters-1913.png) Definition of "magic" from Webster's dictionary c. 1913 Alongside the familiar supernatural and occult meanings, Webster's 1913 *Revised Unabridged Dictionary* describes something called **natural magic**: > The art of employing the powers of nature to produce effects apparently supernatural. [\[3\]](#references) Now, isn't that interesting? Think about the world back in 1913, on the precipice of World War I, during a period of enormous political, industrial and cultural change. Now think about 2026\. Actually, we need not ask you to imagine it, because we're right here living in it with you. Perhaps this is exactly why we could all use a little more magic in our lives. And what if that magic is *not* supernatural at all? What if some of the most extraordinary things we experience come from our own natural capacities - our creativity, play, imagination, curiosity and our ability to connect and journey with one another? That is the kind of *real magic* we're interested in. ## Finding Your Magic It turns out that, while trying to deeply internalize what it meant to find and have a *vocation*, I came to an understanding that meant something to me. That understanding closely lines up with one of the most important things that Hey Virgil is about. For me, *vocation* is about finding that deep thread of energy, excitement and joy within ourselves that we can draw upon throughout our lives. Vocation does not have to be a single *thing*, or even a career. It can be a *feeling*, *inspiration*, *idea* or *emotion*, or multiple of those. It might stem from an experience that was meaningful in your life, early or later. You might already know what it is, but find it difficult to say out loud or write down. And when our work and life align with it, something changes. I found mine in my 40s. I did that by disconnecting from the system I was participating in, taking a real sabbatical for about 6 months, and resting, experimenting, *playing*, letting the pressure off, and thinking and reflecting on my life - *a lot*. > It is never too late to try to find your *vocation*. You know how sometimes you feel good shivers running down your spine? The ones you get when something just *feels right*, when your imagination starts running and you feel something almost electric inside? That's the feeling I'm talking about. But let's be clear about something important that I do not want to ignore. *We all get tired*. Most of us are tired *right now*. We get frustrated, confused, hurt, and sometimes find ourselves in very dark places. Even when we have found something deeply meaningful in our lives, we aren't necessarily going to feel excited or joyful every single hour or every single day, week, month or year. The magic we're talking about isn't an endless supply of happiness on demand. It is something more profound: **a deep reservoir of possibility, freedom and** ***agency*** **that we can build within ourselves and return to throughout our lives.** Sometimes we may lose touch with it for a day, a month, or much longer. Sometimes we need help finding our way back. But knowing that this part of ourselves exists, and that we can work toward reconnecting with it, that we can align with it and use it to propel us forward, can itself be a source of hope. There is something extraordinary about rediscovering that feeling - the feeling that we have choices, that we can imagine another way forward, and that, even in difficult circumstances, we may still be capable of things we once thought impossible. That, to me, is *real magic* 🪄. ## A Little Magic in Practice Sarah and I experienced a wonderful little example of this while working together on Hey Virgil. During one of our early collaboration sessions, after plenty of talking and exploring ideas, I suggested that it was time to build something. We both knew how to do that. We had years of professional experience with the tools, processes and frameworks for turning ideas into products. But Sarah froze. Whoops! Didn't mean to cause that reaction. Instead of pushing ahead, I squiggled a bit. I suggested something we'd talked about trying earlier: *erasure poetry*. We pulled out some old technical software engineering books of mine (blah!), set a timer for ten minutes, and started making poetry by removing words from the pages. And we laughed. We explored. We surprised each other with what we'd made. Something changed. Sarah lit up. "This is how I feel when I do poetry!" she told me. I encouraged her to go and do whatever she would naturally do to explore Virgil in her own way. She went outside, wandered around, came back, and began writing. What emerged helped us see that Virgil could be more than a product we were trying to build. It could be a way of helping people explore, create and discover possibilities in their own ways. You can read Sarah's wonderful account of the experience in Hey Virgil's [Canto 5](https://heyvirgil.xyz/pages/canto-5.html?ref=heyvirgil.com) [\[4\]](#references). Nothing supernatural happened. We simply gave ourselves permission to play, to think differently, and to explore without knowing exactly what would happen next. But something important became possible that hadn't been possible just a few minutes earlier. **That's natural magic.** ## Making Space for Magic Here at Hey Virgil, our purpose is not to focus on all that is wrong with the world and our lives - although that is often where we find ourselves when we start. We meet you where you are now, wherever that may be. We partner with you on a journey, as your companion (your *Virgil*). Through the very serious application of creativity and play, we explore ways to restore that positive fire of energy, excitement and joy within you. And most importantly, we make *space* for you to rediscover and exercise your own agency. Not power over everything that happens to us, and certainly not the *occult* kind, m'kay? Rather, the freedom to imagine possibilities, make choices, experiment, and find our own way forward - even when the path isn't clear. The secret of natural magic may be that it isn't particularly secret at all. It's something we can learn to recognize, nurture and share. And wouldn't it be wonderful if we all had a little more of it? If your *magic* is feeling a little rusty, or you want to join our secret society of *real-life magicians*, consider this your invitation to continue unraveling these mysteries together. **Onward, companion!** --- ### References \[1\] [*The Librarians*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5FLibrarians%282014TV%5Fseries%29?ref=heyvirgil.com)[(2014 television series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5FLibrarians%5F%282014%5FTV%5Fseries%29?ref=heyvirgil.com), Wikipedia. \[2\] [*Webster's Secondary School Dictionary*](https://archive.org/details/websterssecondar0000unse%5Fh0c0/page/416/mode/2up) [(1913)](https://archive.org/details/websterssecondar0000unse%5Fh0c0/page/416/mode/2up), Internet Archive. \[3\] [*Natural Magic*](https://freedictionary.org/search/natural%5Fmagic?ref=heyvirgil.com), FreeDictionary.com. \[4\] Sarah Dzida, [*Canto 5 - Exploration Leads to Adventure*](https://heyvirgil.xyz/pages/canto-5.html?ref=heyvirgil.com), Hey Virgil.