January 2, 2018 | Kunal Newar
Magic relies on Misdirection or you can say Distraction. Smoke, Fire, Mirrors, Dancers are all a deception in disguise.
Human mind is very easily distracted.
In our everyday life we get easily distracted almost all the time. Day dreaming, does it make sense? But sometimes, it is such kinds of distractions that direct us to a new path or results in the birth of a new idea. So in a way it is a direction, not a misdirection. So we can say that distractions might take you to a new path. The same thing happened to me. For me too, Magic came as a distraction. A distraction from the things I normally did for years and years. My parents called it a distraction too. They had a different vision of the path that I had to take and like a good boy I was running on that path. But somewhere along the way, distractions or as I call it - a Detour guides you and the road finally feels right. And mind it, it doesn’t mean your Mom and Dad are wrong. It’s just that they had a different path in mind to reach the same destination : SUCCESS.
I started to trust these detours and instinctively started implementing them and now I am a performing artist.
We all are bound by the idea of a path that has already been set for us. We sometimes wonder what it would be like to step out of our comfort zone. We are like a fleet of sheep that blindly follow society as it is. We are social animals that follow the herd. Very less people choose the road less taken.
Few years back I would not have even considered MAGIC as a full time job. Magic as a career is really very interesting but also it is sometimes looked down upon because it is sometimes compared to the likes of cheap tricks. People normally don’t go out looking for magic. Magic finds people and when it does, the wall comes down, the gap is bridged and there is a child-like amazement.
This brings me to another important point: Magic brings out the child in you. Children see the world as a place of unlimited opportunities. There is so much to explore, so much to learn. It never ends. For a child, impossible is just a word. Children are not bound by fear. They let their imaginations run wild. They are not afraid to dream. In a way, Magic makes us believe that anything is possible, if you put your efforts/hearts to do so.
‘A Magician plays with all kinds of impossible feats and opens the world up to new possibilities.’
How do I get Support from People: Never did I think that my Mom and Dad would be using a smartphone or Whatsapp. But now I can’t get them off it. People are changing. Times are changing. People no longer care what you are doing as long as you are the best at it. The only way to prove yourself is to let your work do the talking. Some people call it ‘A Struggle’. I prefer to call it ‘Recess of a Lifetime’. Why? Because that’s when all the magic happens.
So, keep getting better and better. Once you reach the peak, you will have all the support that you always wanted. But until then you are on your own and know that nobody will hand you your dreams. Get a little distracted and take the road less taken.
Sometimes, you need to get distracted and stray out of the straight path to take the road, which is less likely taken. As beautifully said by Robert Frost:
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference."
And indeed that has made all the difference.