Why I'm Surrounded by Magical Creatures

 Today I'm celebrating victory.  I finally got "5 Minutes with Mulligan" released on YouTube.  Like many of my daily activities, this new video series is an experiment.  It's my opportunity to learn new technology and share my life lessons with you.  If you get a chance to watch the video, you will see a reference to my magical forest and the magical creatures I'm surrounded by.  For those of you who are new to my blog or my videos, you may be wondering where all this magical stuff came from.  The answer is simple...I'm not allowed to share my family on social media so I can up with make-believe characters as stand-ins.  This keeps harmony in the family while giving me a tribe to help me with my messages.

I have a few rules I follow when it comes to family, friends, and magical creatures.  Family stories are published when permission is given or the family member is dead or nearly dead.  The same is true of friends.  I find that when people are dealing with death they no longer care about certain things that consume most of our waking hours.  That leaves the last group, my inanimate magical creatures who reside in my magical forest.  The most famous of these is Wilson.  He may not have a soul but he has a way of expressing himself in such a way that sometimes I think he's more real than some people I know.  Most often he's inflated.  There are sad times when he's deflated.  He's mostly pumped up.  He dribbles.  He's a great listener.  He saved Tom Hanks from loneliness in CASTAWAY.  Yes, Wilson is magical.  There were a few times when I almost lost him, like the time I set him on a ledge and the wind gusted.  He bounced all the way down the embankment and landed in some boulders a few feet from the Mississippi river in Evansville, Indiana.  Another time we were in Aruba and I placed him in the ocean for a picture.  Once again, the trade winds picked up and blew Wilson away so fast that I had to swim full speed to save him from being lost at sea.  I was so out of breath that I had to use Wilson as a floating device while I caught my breath.  Wilson has been in New York City with Erin, a friend who is dealing with stage IV cancer.  My hope is that Wilson brings Erin some comfort at this challenging time.  Well, that's my magical creature story for today.  Don't forget to check out "5 Minutes with Mulligan" on YouTube.  Have a great day.