The Curious World of Artists & Magicians
3 Observations That Will Restore The Magic In Your Life
There are certainly more than two types of people in this world, but never less than two types. There are those people who drink their coffee black, and then there are those people who don’t drink coffee. See what I did there?
I’m sitting at your local coffee shop, you know the one. You know it because: Starbucks. Now, we may prefer our downtown shop with Pour Over offerings and badass minimalistic branding, but it all started with Starbucks.
Either way, I’m sitting here reflecting on the life and times of, wait for it, people. I am struck by the notion that there are people on this planet and in this coffee shop who create worlds of wonder, contribute to human flourishing, and risk a friendly question to a stranger for the sake of pure joy. And then, there are people who are so committed to their five-year plan that to deviate, even for a brief conversation, would mean devastation. They simply won’t do it. They can’t.
Who am I? Who are you? Maybe we share a bit of each?
He walks to the coffee bar, avoiding eye contact and pleasantries. He orders what he has always ordered. He turns, waits. He takes. He vanishes. He leaves virtually everything exactly the same, except 16 ounces of coffee are missing.
It’s possible to be a magician and lose the magic.
Then, someone in the corner catches my attention. Her hands are sketching; her mind translates something onto paper, everything intersects with her sixty-ish years of life experience. She pauses, sips her latte, smiles at her neighbor and does something remarkable, she says, “Hi. How are you?”
I immediately discover that I am in her world, right? That’s a sobering thought.
She’s an Artist. She pours magic into the world.
I too quickly forget that we share this world. We, being “Artists” and “Magicians.” We walk past one another, mostly, but I sense that we want to be connected.
Three observations.
A magician never reveals his secrets; An artist lays bare her soul.
Oh that we would be people who abandon our co-dependencies to embrace others, jump into conversations, share our work, laugh out loud! Yes, it’s risk and leaning in and embarrassing ourselves for a moment, perhaps — but it allows others to see who we are.
Magicians need to hold back in order for everything to “work right.” By this line of thinking, artists would be extinct, and magic with it.
The work of a magician is leading you into disbelief; The work of an artist is inviting you into surprise.
Disbelief can be a helpful reminder of realities around us — but it can also become an end in and of itself, which is a danger. Rather, that we would draw out the Artists in others by surprise and delight!
Our neighborhoods long for a hopeful, honest community; we do not need to “impress” others with our big words and magical endings, as it will likely lead to disbelief from those around us.
Magicians, by nature, entertain; artists entertain nature.
More forest, less iPad.
Too often, we walk in order to get somewhere like a Magician crossing the stage; instead, let us be walking in order to feel the ground beneath our feet so as to remind us that we are Artists.
In our walking, let us see; in our seeing, let us observe; in our observation, let us feel; in our feeling, let us respond; in our response, let us create; in our creation, we will surely live.
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Speaker, Designer, Photographer, and Futurist who specializes in creatively making things happen, Justin is a Pastor known for his love of people and passion for identity.