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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is that there is no such thing as magic.

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Speaker 1: What looks like magic is generally skilled labor that is

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Speaker 1: kept invisible. So if you want magic, it's up to

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Speaker 1: you to make it happen. But the good news is

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Speaker 1: that you probably can make it happen. And on those

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Speaker 1: occasions when we see magic, sometimes it is even more

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Speaker 1: magical when we acknowledge this. Today's tip comes from an

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Speaker 1: unexpected source. Longtime listeners may recall that in twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: three I wrote a sonnet every week, that is a

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Speaker 1: fourteen line poem in Iambic pit Tame with a certain

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Speaker 1: rhyming scheme. Late in the year, I wrote one of

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Speaker 1: those sonnets about the seeming magic of Christmas with beautifully

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Speaker 1: decorated trees and wrapped packages amid the bleakness of winter.

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Speaker 1: Here are a few lines from that poem. I sit

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Speaker 1: in silence, gazing at my tree, all trimmed with baubles,

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Speaker 1: softly glowing lights, a beacon in the window greeting me,

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Speaker 1: acknowledging the lateness of these nights. When I was wrapping presents,

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Speaker 1: tying bows. All magic is just labor hidden well. The

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Speaker 1: poem goes on from there, but I heard from a

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Speaker 1: lot of readers about that last line, all magic is

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Speaker 1: just labor hidden well. My Christmas tree was beautiful, magical seeming,

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Speaker 1: with the ornaments and lights and presents underneath, but it

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Speaker 1: wasn't actually magic. I made it happen. I decided I

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Speaker 1: wanted a particularly showy tree, and I made sure we

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Speaker 1: got one. I spent hours figuring out what my kids

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Speaker 1: wanted and ordering and shopping for gifts, and I spent

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Speaker 1: lots of time wrapping the gifts in bright, shiny paper

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Speaker 1: with extra bows and ribbons. All of this was not magic.

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Speaker 1: At times it felt like a slog, but with the

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Speaker 1: effort in late nights behind me, as I sat looking

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Speaker 1: at my tree on December morning, it felt like magic.

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Speaker 1: I think it's empowering to realize that apparent magic results

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Speaker 1: from labor, because that means we aren't dependent on something

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Speaker 1: outside of ourselves to make magic happen. We can do

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Speaker 1: it ourselves. We may need to invest a lot of effort,

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Speaker 1: but when we do, delight can ensue. It feels great

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Speaker 1: to make magic for other people whether that's with Christmas

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Speaker 1: decorations and gifts, a transporting dinner party, or Halloween costume

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Speaker 1: that makes a child's dream a reality. Now this is

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Speaker 1: not to say that we need to do more invisible labor.

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Speaker 1: I bet a lot of people listening to this podcast

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Speaker 1: are already doing a lot of thankless invisible labor. But

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Speaker 1: we do have the power to use our creativity, time

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Speaker 1: and effort to delight those we love by making magic

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Speaker 1: for them. And we can make magic for ourselves too.

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Speaker 1: If you want a show stopping vacation, you can dream

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Speaker 1: up how to make it happen and execute on it.

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Speaker 1: If you want a gorgeous Thanksgiving spread like you see

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Speaker 1: in magazines, you can figure out how to gussy up

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Speaker 1: your dining room, create an autumnal tablescape, and make all

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Speaker 1: those elaborate dishes that look so scrumptious. If you are

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Speaker 1: wish wishing to be celebrated for a particular accomplishment, well

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Speaker 1: book the venue, invite the people, and create the party

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Speaker 1: of your dreams. As a corollary, when you experience something magical,

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Speaker 1: you can repeat that same phrase, all magic is just

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Speaker 1: labor hidden Well that magician has practiced to make his

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Speaker 1: tricks look effortless. That sequence of pyrotechnics at a concert

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Speaker 1: was rehearsed until they simply couldn't fail. That teacher who

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Speaker 1: can get a rambunctious little kid interested in a book

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Speaker 1: is not actually possessed of magical powers. She is just really,

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Speaker 1: really good at her job. So let's acknowledge that humans

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Speaker 1: can do utterly amazing things when they think it through

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Speaker 1: and work really hard. I find hard labor more impressive

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Speaker 1: than magic. Actually keeping this phrase in mind empowers us

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Speaker 1: to keep attempting ambitious wonders. Have you made any magic lately?

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear about it. You can reach me

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Speaker 1: at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.