Summer Magic
There are two ways to change situations, with and without magic wands. A lot of time people choose to use magic wands even when they don’t have to. Magic wands are easy.
People think magic wands are their only option because it’s the most visible. It’s hard to forget magic. Witches casting spells and wizards conjuring something from nothing are memorable events.
Let’s set the stage with the most famous wizard of the 20th century, Harry Potter. Potter’s problem was this; the most powerful wizard of his lifetime split his soul into seven pieces and Harry has to find each piece, destroy it, die in the process (part of Voldemort’s soul was in him), and live to tell the tale to his friends and the love of his life.
Harry used his magic wand.
What Harry needed though was a non-magical person, a Muggle, to help out. That person could have seen through the muddle of magical solutions and gotten to the crux of the Horcruxes.
This happens in real life too. Bystanders offer different, and sometimes better perspective on what we see. Now, let’s exit stage left from Potter and to reality.
There is magic in the world. There are magicians and they practice Alchemy, but it’s not what most people think. Most people use the magic wand of money and like Harry Potter it often works but it isn’t the only way.
In a YouTube video called, Robert Rodriquez’s 10-minute Film School, the director teaches moviemaking 101. The clip is full of interesting advice but his comments on magic/money were the best:
“You’re gonna come up with problem every day on your set and you can get rid of them one of two ways. You can do it creatively or you can wash it away with the money hose.”
The ‘money hose’ is a magic wand that becomes a crutch. You’ll lean on it when other, different, and sometimes better solutions surround you.
Rodriguez says that people aren’t born creative, that’s baloney, but he’s right about people not thinking creatively. When I talk to friends, advise clients, or give talks, a common question is about constraints. Often the solution is money, or time which is purchased with money.
That’s not right at all.
There’s many solutions to every situation. We don’t always see them because we’re blinded by too many spells.