Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that there is no such thing as magic.
Speaker 1: What looks like magic is generally skilled labor that is
Speaker 1: kept invisible. So if you want magic, it's up to
Speaker 1: you to make it happen. But the good news is
Speaker 1: that you probably can make it happen. And on those
Speaker 1: occasions when we see magic, sometimes it is even more
Speaker 1: magical when we acknowledge this. Today's tip comes from an
Speaker 1: unexpected source. Longtime listeners may recall that in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three I wrote a sonnet every week, that is a
Speaker 1: fourteen line poem in Iambic pit Tame with a certain
Speaker 1: rhyming scheme. Late in the year, I wrote one of
Speaker 1: those sonnets about the seeming magic of Christmas with beautifully
Speaker 1: decorated trees and wrapped packages amid the bleakness of winter.
Speaker 1: Here are a few lines from that poem. I sit
Speaker 1: in silence, gazing at my tree, all trimmed with baubles,
Speaker 1: softly glowing lights, a beacon in the window greeting me,
Speaker 1: acknowledging the lateness of these nights. When I was wrapping presents,
Speaker 1: tying bows. All magic is just labor hidden well. The
Speaker 1: poem goes on from there, but I heard from a
Speaker 1: lot of readers about that last line, all magic is
Speaker 1: just labor hidden well. My Christmas tree was beautiful, magical seeming,
Speaker 1: with the ornaments and lights and presents underneath, but it
Speaker 1: wasn't actually magic. I made it happen. I decided I
Speaker 1: wanted a particularly showy tree, and I made sure we
Speaker 1: got one. I spent hours figuring out what my kids
Speaker 1: wanted and ordering and shopping for gifts, and I spent
Speaker 1: lots of time wrapping the gifts in bright, shiny paper
Speaker 1: with extra bows and ribbons. All of this was not magic.
Speaker 1: At times it felt like a slog, but with the
Speaker 1: effort in late nights behind me, as I sat looking
Speaker 1: at my tree on December morning, it felt like magic.
Speaker 1: I think it's empowering to realize that apparent magic results
Speaker 1: from labor, because that means we aren't dependent on something
Speaker 1: outside of ourselves to make magic happen. We can do
Speaker 1: it ourselves. We may need to invest a lot of effort,
Speaker 1: but when we do, delight can ensue. It feels great
Speaker 1: to make magic for other people whether that's with Christmas
Speaker 1: decorations and gifts, a transporting dinner party, or Halloween costume
Speaker 1: that makes a child's dream a reality. Now this is
Speaker 1: not to say that we need to do more invisible labor.
Speaker 1: I bet a lot of people listening to this podcast
Speaker 1: are already doing a lot of thankless invisible labor. But
Speaker 1: we do have the power to use our creativity, time
Speaker 1: and effort to delight those we love by making magic
Speaker 1: for them. And we can make magic for ourselves too.
Speaker 1: If you want a show stopping vacation, you can dream
Speaker 1: up how to make it happen and execute on it.
Speaker 1: If you want a gorgeous Thanksgiving spread like you see
Speaker 1: in magazines, you can figure out how to gussy up
Speaker 1: your dining room, create an autumnal tablescape, and make all
Speaker 1: those elaborate dishes that look so scrumptious. If you are
Speaker 1: wish wishing to be celebrated for a particular accomplishment, well
Speaker 1: book the venue, invite the people, and create the party
Speaker 1: of your dreams. As a corollary, when you experience something magical,
Speaker 1: you can repeat that same phrase, all magic is just
Speaker 1: labor hidden Well that magician has practiced to make his
Speaker 1: tricks look effortless. That sequence of pyrotechnics at a concert
Speaker 1: was rehearsed until they simply couldn't fail. That teacher who
Speaker 1: can get a rambunctious little kid interested in a book
Speaker 1: is not actually possessed of magical powers. She is just really,
Speaker 1: really good at her job. So let's acknowledge that humans
Speaker 1: can do utterly amazing things when they think it through
Speaker 1: and work really hard. I find hard labor more impressive
Speaker 1: than magic. Actually keeping this phrase in mind empowers us
Speaker 1: to keep attempting ambitious wonders. Have you made any magic lately?
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear about it. You can reach me
Speaker 1: at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.