#2 What is your "magic touch?"

A good place to start is to define what we are looking for. What is a magic touch? To put it plain and simple, a magic touch is inspiration. But when I say inspiration, I don’t just mean what music, movies or anything else gets you excited. I’m sure that’s basically what came to mind when you thought of inspiration. No no no, inspiration is far more than that. It’s who you aspire to be, the things you want to grow in, the person you simply love being. It’s a way of doing things that feels really “you.” Your magic touch creeps into everything you do. It’s the sauce that marinates your interactions, your movements, and every little thing about you. If you were to ask 100 people to do a certain task, each one would have a specific “oomph” to doing it. That is the magic touch. 

Let me show you what I mean. For better or worse, my magic touch is something I like to call my “beastliness.” Whatever I do, I do it loudly and proudly. And when I get started with something I usually tend to do a lot of it. One time, I was on vacation and I decided to buy a bar of soap. I thought it was a funny thing to do, so I made that trip the “trip of the soap,” and bought probably another seven or eight bars of soap. All the while I was laughing like a maniac as my bag filled up with bar after bar of soap. I sometimes will come home from the gym and tell my roommate to guess what I did today. No matter what answer he gives, I always tell him he’s wrong, and that the correct answer is “too much!” It makes me laugh every time. 

And as much as I wish I could say it’s my sense of wisdom, insight, or self-control, I’d be lying if I said any of those things came first. I’m learning to incorporate them into my personality, but that obsessiveness is still at the core of who I am. I like to joke with all of my Dungeons and Dragons friends that I’m a natural-born barbarian (if you don’t get that reference, sorry. It would take me too much time to explain. Just go look it up.) 

And to take away your magic touch is to take away the core of who you are. It may seem small or trivial, but taking it away would feel like embracing death itself. Think of Lewis and his love of words or his signature pair of goggles. When he takes them off halfway through the movie, it starts to feel like we’re looking at the shell of a former person. He’s less of a character because he is in denial of his true self. And it's a tragic thing to watch. Then when he uses his unique quirks to cast his first spell, his newfound family looks on with excited amazement and says 

“How wonderfully weird that boy is!” Folks, I think we all need to be wonderfully weird. I know that can be a little cliche, but what better way to live than learning to harness your inner weirdness. I think we all have a little bit of weirdness in us. It may not be something as over-the-top, like we might think of when I say “weird.” No, yours may be as simple as wanting to help others, or being just a wee bit spontaneous. Whatever it is, embrace it! Cling to it! For it is the very essence of real life itself!

I’d say you have found your magic touch when you feel comfortable and at home in whatever you are doing. It will feel like you are doing it “your way.” And honestly, you probably won’t need to go hunting for it. It’s just a natural part of who you are. But if you are, you could always ask some friends what really stands out about you. Ask others what traits define you as a person? Then really chew on what they have said. If you agree, then congrats! You have landed on your magic touch. If not, then push back. Tell your friends that you don’t see it, or perhaps don’t embrace it. 

So that’s your spark: the way you are inspired to do things. The way you like to do them, and the way you would always do them if you only could. So unleash that inner spark and go through the world in the way that suits you best! And don’t be afraid if you get into a little trouble along the way. At the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world. 

I pray you learn to identify your spark, and that you begin to tap into it for motivation. 

Until next time

May Peace be your Guide.