The Secret Behind Magic (and Writing)

The sun is setting earlier.

The temperature is getting lower.

The bugs are getting lazier.

The kids are getting restless-er.

It is not an infection.  It's the beginning of the end of summer.  At least here in Canada.  So to celebrate the end of Summer Reading Club, our local library hosted a program today featuring 'Kip the Court Jester'.  It was a one man show combining juggling, magic and international song and instrumentation (Kip told stories of all the different countries and cultures he's visited to learn new music and skills).

And he taught the kids a few things - the basics of juggling, the disappearing quarter trick.  But then he did something that really struck a note with me - he told them the real secret behind magic and music and juggling.  One word:

Practice.

He told the kids that they should never again proclaim, "I'm bored!".  Instead they should say, "I have time on my hands!" and then start practicing the skills he showed them.  And then they should practice and practice and practice, at least 1000 times.  Only then, he promised, could they be an expert.

Isn't that what we sometimes fail to remember?  Every contest, every rejection letter, every sacrificied fifteen minutes when the rest of the family is sleeping.  It's practice.  It's growth.

That's what the D.E.W challenge has been about this month.  Encouraging ourselves despite our hectic summers to take a moment to practice.  Because you don't go from throwing one ball in the air to juggling with a snap of the fingers.  It's a progression that takes at least 1000 tosses.