Living in Astonishment
As I've mentioned before, my father is a magician, and introduced me to magic when I was four years old. What we've learned from my Art of Astonishment post is that astonishment is similar to a child's state of mind. Let's go back in time to 1994 when I was four years old. To me everything was still wonder. Sure I was starting to learn about the world and who I was, but at the time everything was still mysterious. And then on top of that, my father was showing me magic effects. I was still young and genuinely believed that what my father was performing was real. I was living in a special state of astonishment, and did so for a few more years.
I can't remember exactly how old I was, but psychology tells us that most children start losing their sense of astonishment, and start to understand reality around the ages of 7-8; magic is no longer magic, it's a trick. I'd like to think I caught on sooner, but I digress. Even though I don't remember the age, I distinctively remember the moment.
My Dad took a handkerchief and poked it into his closed fist. With a wave of his other hand, and a snap of the fingers, the handkerchief vanished! With another wave and snap it reappeared! As usual I was in awe, but I had him repeat it. Finally after multiple times I saw the "gimmick". Magic wasn't ruined for me, my world wasn't destroyed; in that moment I realized that the sense of wonder I've experienced during my childhood could be shared with others. Even though my world changed, an entirely new one was created.
In this new world, I've traveled the nation, met all sorts of people, learned from many great magicians, and it's these years of studying, dedication and most importantly passion, that I share with you.