If you are like me and live in the Northern Hemisphere, today is the Summer Solstice, or the longest day of the year as it features the most hours of daylight all year.

Since ancient times, the Summer Solstice has been celebrated in nearly every culture as a moment of fertility, a pivotal moment when anything can change or happen, a day when you can “make a wish” that will come true, a time of magic and dreams.

Most cultures see this as a time for falling in love or having a magical, romantic encounter (and is why June is considered a month traditional for weddings).

In both Sweden and Greece, it is said that on this day that a young woman would dream of her future husband, and through this magical day she would be able to see the “man of her dreams.”

This theme of dreams and love is captured perfectly in one of my absolute favorite plays, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Shakespeare – a story of fairies, mischief, eroticism, alchemy, and spells that takes place on the Summer Solstice.

One of the plots in this play involves a magical elixir applied to the eyelids that makes a person fall in love with whomever they see upon waking, capturing the idea of being hit by “Cupid’s arrow” which causes you to fall in love with the next person you see.

To me, this theme is a reminder that love happens in the “eye of the beholder”, and in order to find this beauty and magic one only need to look for it and open their eyes to see it.

Today, on the Summer Solstice, I hope that all of you will take some time to contemplate your wishes, your hopes, your dreams, your deepest desires, and realize that magic does not always happen in the “land of fairies”, but is rather happening all the time, in our ordinary, daily lives.

And in order to find this “magic in the ordinary”, you need only to open your eyes and see it.

Happy Summer Solstice!