There’s some future of magic stuff going on here, I can feel it.

Maybe we’ll do a review of what we found throughout the process. I think it was interesting to field these responses and compile them in a manner best fit for the material and type. Go back on through to Part I and see if it all makes sense to you.

If it doesn’t, I welcome your response as well: What does magic look like to you? Go on, don’t be shy.

— J.R.

So, as I thought about what to write today, a memory flashed through my mind that really only a handful of people “in the know” as it were would even have the chance of appreciating. For efficiency purposes, I’ll just talk about it here and in classic FS manner, will not be mentioning any particular names, it’s the takeaway that’s the most important anyways, regardless of who we’re talking about. 

“Trust me, I’m an expert.”

Recently, the team and I were doing a lecture of sorts, with one of our associated specialists talking about one subject in particular, somewhat tangential to magic. In the crowd were a few “known magic names” people we’d all probably recognize and listen to, but probably not very well known outside of the magic community. They always come across as knowledgeable, and they’re all the type of people who would have the ability to “hold court” at any sort of gathering of magi-folk. You get the point. Gravitas, knowledge, etc. Anyways, in this particular subject area that our specialist was talking about, one of these “known names” decided to speak up and command the floor. If our specialist friend was a magician, and this more “well-known” name decided to speak up, we might bow to the known name, and think to ourselves how we were just illuminated by their grand wisdom…

HOWEVER, this area was not in magic, everyone was a bit confused as to why this person stood up and started speaking their mind given that this lecture wasn’t about them at all, and only the magicians in the crowd witnessed this insight into this particular persons mentality. They’ve been so used to being the crown of the court, that they just have to chime in on things that they may not even have an expertise in. In other words, they’re just used to being the person that people listen to, regardless of expertise. Here’s why that’s a problem: they sound like they have an expertise in everything, which is physically impossible. (Further review into the statements they made only proved this. They simply didn’t know everything they claimed to know.) 

Do they have skills in certain areas? Yes, certainly. Do they have as many skills in as many areas as they claim to? No. It doesn’t matter who this person is, but the fact that I KNOW so many of you reading this would know their name is the point here: you need to practice discretion when you learn from people, especially people who are recognized. Question everyone. When the people you think demonstrate that “social proof” of being labelled an expert somewhere, and your own knowledge and experience start to weigh the same on the scale, you’ll know you’re getting somewhere. Independent from what someone tells you regarding their experience, develop your own basis of knowledge, do your own research. 

— J.R.

It’s been a wild ride for me, and for Four Suits in general, this year. More on that (officially) in the End of Year Report for 2018. But right now I myself preemptively reflect on the year as a whole and, while it’s been great as a whole, I can’t help but lament at some occurrences in the past few months. I can’t stress how much great things have happened this year, and these things are still happening, yet I also can’t help but feel some sort of loss for the relationships, not even necessarily with myself, (but more so in my working groups) that haven’t worked out so much this year.

It’s a funny thing, when you first jump into a group of friends, which is how I end up treating many of my co-workers and collaborators (magic being a very loose profession where social and professional boundaries are often blurred), you’re extremely hopeful for all the things you can potentially do together. Often, here is where our reach exceeds our grasp and we end up falling short of those expectations with some, and going beyond those expectations with others. We grow our influence in some areas, and shrink it in others.

I suppose I’m just coming to peace with this expand/contract cycle in professional entertainment. We’re always so wrapped up in our dreams and amazing visions that sometimes, when we get dropped back into reality, we find it lamentable, when in actuality we should’ve felt blessed to dream such big dreams together in the first place. I think about changing reality and living in a fantasy so often that, sometimes, reality is a very necessary thing to remind me how everything can’t always be fantastic. Not everyone will get along, not every dream will come true.

Yet... still I dream. And I’m grateful for every person in my life, professional, friend, or somewhere in between, that allows me the faculties to realize these dreams. ...And for those of you who I haven’t been in touch with in a while: I look forward to the next time we dream big dreams together.

— J.R.