Pennies in fountains and wells, birthday candles blown out, chicken bones, ladybugs, eyelashes, and of course, my personal favorite – stars. All means, carriers of wishes we send out into the universe from time to time, hoping that crazy dream we have, that burning desire, that love, the one that’s just out of our reach, will somehow, magically find its way to us. Or at least that some higher power might be listening in and lend a helping hand for us to find a way to get whatever it is we long for.
We all have our own little “talisman” we turn to when we need just a bit of magic. And, truth be told, there’s usually one thing we wish for each and every time. When you wish upon a star… what is it that you wish for?
Star light star bright, first star I see tonigh.
I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.
This week, here at Pillowfights, we asked our readers what that wish is.
I’m going to start with the minority for a change. Of our readers, 6% voted that they don’t wish for anything. More specifically that they don’t wish on stars. I get it. Dreamers wish on stars, people who believe in magic, in miracles, in things that have no substance and no proof of existence. They’re rational, clear-cut logic ruling their lives. Far be it from me to judge – their argument is reasonable. It’s also sad. Sad simply because it’s a shame when one doesn’t have anything to wish for. I mean, even if you’re a skeptic, even if you’ve been disillusioned to such an extent so as not to be a romantic at heart, even when you’ve given up on love, there’s always that little sparkle in your heart, that miniscule “What if?” that leads you to make that wish, if nothing else, just to prove a point. There’s always something to wish for, even when you’ve lost all hope.
Okay, so you’re not a romantic, your proverbial heart isn’t aching, and you’re not a dreamer. Who said a wish can’t be pragmatic? Like wishing for your dream job, for example; which can lead to happiness in professional ventures and also a comfortable life in general. 20% of our readers saw it that way, at least. Professional evolution, happiness in a job –and earning a satisfying living– is an aspiration; maybe an aspiration for their life that surpasses any other. Hard work and persistence can only take you so far. You get fed up, it seems like it’s never going to happen. Opportunities must present themselves and sometimes a divine intervention, so to speak, is the only solution you can see. There are a billion stars up there, one might just do the trick.
Speaking of happiness… 27% voted for just that. Well, that and health. It doesn’t really matter what you have in this life, if you’re not healthy. You can be surrounded by loved ones, swimming in money like Scrooge McDuck, working in a job that fulfills you, travelling the world and living the life of your dreams in general – if, that is, you’re healthy. Because if you’re not, none of that matters. They add up to nothing in the grand scheme of things in the face of illness. There is no happiness without health. And happiness, in general, could mean any number of things; or even a combination of them. Strangely enough, though, it’s not what most people would think to ask for. Sure, if we were talking about a genie and three wishes, health would probably come up in one, but on a star, when we only get one wish, we tend to think of what’s burning our heart at the moment.
Yes, burning. In our heart. You know where this is going.
Ending our results, we have our majority. A whole 47% of our readers voted that the one thing they wish for, when sitting outside and looking up at the stars, is love. Love to come into their lives, or if they’ve found it, for it to never leave. A love that fills their days and warms their nights. A love that loves them back.
And you know, strangely, I think all of the above are connected. If you have love –the real kind, the true kind, the kind that moves mountains and travels across seas– then you can work out anything and everything else that might find itself in your way. Because somehow love has the ability to gift you with patience when you’re going through a shit storm of a life. When nothing seems to make sense, it’s the only thing that can make you see reason. When there’s chaos all around you, it’s the only thing that can really bring you peace. And when you’re walking through hell, without the strength to take another step, it’s love that will keep you moving on. So, ultimately, wishing for love is just as pragmatic as wishing for anything else.
No matter what you choose to wish for, and where you choose to make that wish, one thing is certain: it’s a flame, a desire, something your very soul yearns for. It’s a part of you; the deepest part, one that leaves you utterly naked and vulnerable once it’s been spoken. Someone once told me a wish spoken out loud will never come true. It drifts out into the world and dissolves into nothing, losing its magic, its power. Ironically enough I took that to heart as a fact, never once uttering a wish out loud.
There are things that cannot be explained using clean cut rationality. And then there are times that any kind of explanation doesn’t quite cover it. That’s when we need the hope that magic exists. It doesn’t matter if you 5 or if you’re 50. It doesn’t matter if you’re a radical realist or a hopeless dreamer. Everyone needs to believe that dreams sometimes do come true. Everyone needs a little magic every now and then. Whether it’s a shooting star or the first one to make an appearance in the night’s sky, there’s a little magic out there every night; if only you believe in it.
So next time you’re out at night, take a look up into the sky, pick the brightest one up there and make that wish.
You never know, right? What’s there to lose?
Author: Nikól Peri
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