Journals (Part I of III)

Welcome to the first EVER article in our latest column “Pillars of Stone.” The purpose of this column is to help you build and recognize pillars that will bring you closer to success in your quest as a magician/entertainer.

There will be various authors each month. There will be interviews and articles written by various magicians thus allowing you to see a wide variety of opinions on what makes for a successful pillar of magic.

This month, we kick it off with a subject that is of crucial importance to anyone who wants to grow as a magician.

http://www.stonecoldmagicmagazine.com/images/brad-gordon.pngJournals (Part I)
Tips and Ideas to Expand Our Natural Pathways of Inspiration
By Brad “Scarnecky” Gordon

I am quite sure that many of you already make use of a magic journal in some way or another and if not, I would like to make a humble attempt at moving you towards doing so at this moment.

If there exists in your mind some fantastic reasons why you are not taking note of all of your amazing brainwave patterns, permit me to respectfully address the issue.

Allow me to state strongly that you do not have to be an inventor or self proclaimed creator to justify keeping a journal.  In addition, the fact that you may or may not be a working professional should not deter you in any way.  The main reason for “journaling” is to simply create a focal point of self administered inspiration.

Please allow me to point out that I am not writing from an academic position, in actuality I am simply writing from a position of pure personal experience. Keeping multiple journals for a small handful of years now, (around 15 or so), and seeing the amazing content created in that small amount of time,  I can only imagine what the next fifteen years will produce, as we continue “journaling”.

So I will speak from the applied attention given to the upkeep and maintenance of my own journals, communicating and sharing some of the personal experiences and thoughts based solely on that.

In this 3 part mini-series we will cover the following 11 concepts:

  1. Begin by using images
  2. Always date your ideas
  3. Make one journal the center “The Core”
  4. Purchase a fairly small journal
  5. Include a few medium size journals
  6. Make NO rules for what you put inside
  7. Choose a larger journal for your unique script
  8. Create your secret file on the computer for the final work and or presentations
  9. Exercise
  10. Challenge yourself
  11. Share your thoughts with a trusted peer

So let’s dive into the first four:

Begin by using images:
I based this idea on one that is so very helpful for the imaginative mind.  Someone suggested to me that I create what is called a book of images.

Special images that you find inside of your favorite magazines or even you’re not so favorites will be cut out and pasted/glued together in a little sketch book of sorts. Cut these out and put them in a box or folder for safe keeping, then as time goes by you will find your special box filling up. Finally revisit these cutouts, arranging them however you wish to create a little visions journal in and of itself.

I cannot express to you how powerful this is and how it will spark that all too elusive part of the brain which holds so much creative energy. As we all know this special place can sometimes be challenging to reach, which is why I feel creating powerful tools such as “journals” is very essential.

By adding images to your magic journal in a similar way as mentioned above, you can create a very visual experience for your own eyes each and every time you browse your work. This also tends to create strong connections of images to thoughts and helps the reader recollect what you have written in more of a visual manner.

In my experience this has also been helpful in assisting with plots or presentations for ideas which previously had none. I recommend the purchase of different colored pens across the whole spectrum, so that at any given moment you can jot down a specific idea as a different color.

For me this really adds an individualistic nature to journals, and sometimes having limited time to skim through all of the ideas, the different colors help to identify and recall concepts more comfortably. Personally the specific colors help me to remember the basic theme of an “idea” which allows for more focused attention when the time is perfect.

Always date your ideas:
Your neat thoughts and quirky things you see others do, such as clever one-liners you hear, either from magic performances or your favorite television shows should be written down.  Remember to write who it was and how you came across the specific element.

By doing this you allow yourself the opportunity to recall where you heard something and if permission is required you will have this information dated and listed to be able to approach it with precision.

Also if there is something you have heard that is very clever and original, take some time before revisiting this idea that you have enjoyed, because you may have attained new experience that will allow you to change the idea and carve it into something that breathes fresh for you as an individual.

Make one journal the center The Core:
The focal point should be a journal that consists of (almost) purely magic.  I would like to refer to this as being the core. Hold onto this one, keep things simple and brief, make sure there is enough information recorded to ensure, that when the years pass by you will be able to look back and remember what the heck it was that you scribbled about. Trust me, I was a little too brief with a little too much, and now all is lost on some very interesting posts made over the years.

Purchase a fairly small journal:
This smaller flipbook will serve to capture all of the wonderful quick thoughts and quotes etc.  Held within this idea, I personally set out to capture the momentary stuff, the one word stimulation, quotes, and short descriptions of wonderful concepts.

This is the one that will contain all of the sloppy writing and funny bits and pieces that more than likely won’t really have anything to do with magic. The idea is to meld who you are as an individual (the everyday things you enjoy) with your magic and mentalism.

There is no way anyone should consider anything they do outside of magic and mentalism as being insignificant. The information you continue to jot down will often times make powerful connections on their own with your conjuring ideas, sometimes at the least expected moment, which is ok because you have kept good record of your miracles.

Thoughts for Now:
Next month, we’ll cover information about having multiple journals, what to put inside of them, and what to do with the information once you’ve captured it.

Until Then…

Warm Wishes,

Brad “Scarnecky” Gordon

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