This week I visited Hilton Head Island with my family to enjoy one another’s company, relax, and take some time off before the madness of school starts up next week.
While I was here, I encountered a few lessons I thought had some interesting parallels to magic, so I’m sharing them here. Be warned, I promise this will get way too philosophical. 😆
Connect [and disconnect]
When you’re at the beach or in nature, it’s so much easier to feel “connected” to the things that are important, and “disconnected” from the things that aren’t. For example, you might go barefoot on the sand, soaking in the feeling that only the waves and the sun and the wind can bring. As a plus, the distance from the closest cell phone tower means you’re not doomscrolling on your phone - you’re present and in the moment.
“How does that apply to magic?” you might be asking. I think when we want to be intentional with our time, it necessarily means disconnecting from one thing and connecting to another. Without getting too zen here, I’ve often found that I make the most progress reading my magic books when I disconnect from everything else pressing in around me and competing for my time and attention. That’s right, leave your phone in another room, go to some place that doesn’t have a digital device designed to grab and keep your attention.
Not only should you disconnect from other distractions, but I recommend you ‘connect’ with your books to really give them the time and attention they deserve. What do I mean by connect? Take one off the shelf, hold it in your hands, turn its pages and let your eyes admire the paper, the drawings, and the technical text that someone cared enough to pen for you.
Be predictable, but flexible
One of the more interesting things about the beach is the tide schedule. Unlike the sun, the tide isn’t high or low at the same time every day. But if you want to do certain activities, you need to know when the tide is going to hit those points. It’s predictable, but not identical.
That reminded me of another key item I find in my own magic practices - to be steady in my study. The more frequently we engage in study, reading, practice, and performance, the more we get into a virtuous habit or rhythm. Even if it’s not always at the same time, doing your reading, practice, or performance regularly yields many benefits.
Even when we miss one of our ‘normal’ times to engage with our magic, we need to hop right back on the bandwagon and hit the next spot in the schedule.
I’m not advocating you need to practice [or read] every day, but I am saying that the more regular it is, the better it will be. Just like the tides, we’re looking for some consistency, something to which we can return when we’re unsure what to do next.
It’s OK to unplug for a while
Notwithstanding everything I’ve written above, it’s ok to just unplug and relax. For most of us, magic is a part-time hobby, and not tied to feeding our families. Like anything in life, you’ll go through some seasons where it’s appropriate to pull back, prioritize something else, and then come back when it feels right, and that’s OK!
I know I put magic on the back burner when I went to college - I was more interested in dating, sports, college studies, and getting my career on track than I was about learning new card moves. But you know what? Magic was waiting for me when I came back.
And even more short-term than that, we don’t all have to obsess over magic 24/7. Like this week, I took a break. And in case no one has specifically said it to you, I’m giving you permission to take a break and decide when to come back.
But before you take a break, you might want to check out the trick I’m sharing below…
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