Odds are you've come to this site because you're curious. Most likely, you found one of our calling cards in a book. You want to know one thing... is this for real?

Yes, it is.

Of course, telling you that is the easy part. The hard part should be getting you to believe me. However, I think you want to believe me. Each of us grows up reading fairy tales and watching fantasy movies. As children, we believe in magic and fairies and hope. When we get older, we're told to put away childish things and move into the real world. We are supposed to stop thinking about wizards and start thinking about paychecks, and stylish clothes, and the evening news.

I'll tell you something important. I was lucky enough to learn this when I was 14. I know people who learned it much later.

You don't have to stop.

Believing in magic will not stop you from living a full life, despite what people may tell you. It doesn't mean you have to be constantly off in a make believe world. There is more than enough magic in "reality" if you know where to look for it. There are organized religions that practice all sorts of magic, but you don't have to belong to one of these to believe in magic. Even more amazingly, there are people all over the world, many of them adults, who will tell you they are elves, werewolves, dragons, and vampires. When you let yourself explore what you feel and believe, you might even discover that you fit one of these names.

You may wonder how it is, if this magic is real, people don't notice it. You can try this experiment sometime, if you're curious: Dress up in the fanciest clothing you have, or wear that pair of wings you have left over from Halloween, or something otherwise out of the ordinary. Now go down to the mall and do a bit of shopping. A few people will stare - mostly children. Most people, however, will completely ignore you. Even if they look now, they'll have forgotten about it by the time they leave the mall. You know you exist, and yet no one acknowledged you because you were not what they expected to see. Magic is the same - people don't understand it, they don't expect it, and so they don't see it.

But once you expect it... as long as you remain willing to see what's really there... there's entirely different levels of being that most of humanity doesn't seem interested in.

You may be worried about what your parents or your school counsellors will think. You know what? You don't have to tell them. If you don't think they'd understand that your "imaginary friends" are real, then don't tell them. Keep your journal hidden. Tell your adventures under the cover of "fiction".

Though I will say that you might be surprised how much your parents do understand. I can't tell you the answer, because there is no answer that's always right. You know your parents better than I do. You know whether they'd panic or listen. It's a very delicate line, because until you turn 18, they have a lot of control over you. Whether you feel like you can trust them with a little, or with nothing at all, just remember that they can't make you change what you believe. They can make you put on a nice front, a good acting job, but the real you is inside, and they can't really touch that.

So. This is where I ask you a question. Do you want this? Do you want to keep believing in what you know in your heart? Or do you want to take the easy route and believe as you are told? I won't hold it against you if you want to forget. Not everyone's cut out for magic; that's just the way we are. Some people can't do pull-ups, some people aren't good at drawing, and some people just can't hold on to their magic.

How do you know the right answer? I can't tell you that. But think about giving up the hope and the wonder of believing as you do now, as you feel when you read your fantasy books or when you see fairies in your garden or vampires on the streetcorner at night. Does it make your heart ache? Does it make you want to scream? Or does it simply make you a bit sad, like outgrowing the playground in the park? If it's the former... if the thought of giving it up makes you feel like you're dying... then hold on. Hold tight, and believe.

Remember, you're not alone.