Can You See the Same Magic That I See in Books and the Arts?

Books and the arts are amazing sources of practical magic.

Photo by Mikołaj on Unsplash

I have no idea how old I was when I learned to read. I’d guess I was probably 3 or 4 — since I believe that I was able to read the famous text crawl at the start of Star Wars ( Episode IV: A New Hope, if you must) before I was 5 years old.

Reading has been a love for as long as I can remember. I fell in love with books and the idea that not only could I be a reader — but I could be a writer, too.

At age 9, I wrote my first sci-fi book. Wildfire is 50 pages, illustrated by yours truly, and will never be shared. (I really wonder what child psychologists would have thought of it at the time. But that’s another story). I continued writing in fits and starts for the next 3 decades.

Over the years, I gained an interest in other arts. Acting and working behind the scenes in plays and musicals in High School led me to major in Theatre in college — mostly focused on directing. Deeply fascinated by Gothic architecture, I minored in Art History. My love of music took me to being a DJ for the college radio stations, and another minor in Audio Production.

Why did I focus my college career on the arts? On reflection, nearly 30 years after graduating, I…