lessons from being a wizard when no one asked #1
radical self-allowance to be however you please
It’s true, no one really asked me to be a wizard. In fact, that is definitively true! I would like to say I just woke up one day and declared my wizardship to the unexpecting world, so that’s what I’ll say because that’s part of the truth that I want to share today.
no one really asks why you’re a wizard, but they do ask how
For those not in-the-know, since 2021, on a semi-regular basis, my performance friends and I dress up as wizards and roam the streets of Vancouver with mischievous joy in our hearts. We tell riddles and jokes, we play the wise fool, we gift little hand-crafted trinkets, and one time we blessed the aqua-bus captain in exchange for a free ride around Vancouver Harbour.
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Why I am a wizard is quite obvious to most people. Because it’s fucking awesome. Come on (to this date I’ve never been asked that) But people more inclined to test my metal tend to narrow their eyes and deepen their tone and ask, how, exactly, did you become a wizard?
And I tell them the truth. I felt it was true, so I started acting like it.
that’s really as far as it needs to go
As an openly schizoaffective person I must admit, the world is a confusing place. I spend plenty of time trying to discern social dynamics, assess my safety, and lead a meaningful life - I haven’t met someone who doesn’t. But being open about something like this, coupled with my wizardry, attracts people who don’t just want to be multi-dimensional beings together - but want me to go through “a program.” Their trauma healer camp, or ayahuasca temple, or join the Intergalactic Council for Liberation from the psychic vampires behind “so-called COVID-19” (that one deserves its own post) All because I’m a very special person, yes I am, no other reason at all, they swears it, really they do…
Self Portrait, Nate Nate Nainers
I’ve had some out-there-ly sober experiences while roaming around as a wizard - internally, externally, and a bit of both. But that’s generally true for any artist caught up in a flow-state. Somehow the musicians follow along the unannounced key shift during a jam session. The improv team acts out an entire scene without missing a beat, as if it were scripted. The poet goes somewhere else yet is present while sharing on stage. And then it doesn’t happen like that at all.
I’m not entirely sure why these things happen, but plenty of us have experienced these magical moments. They can forge friendships and they can be fun stories around the campfire, and they can add rich threads to the tapestry of our lives.
this is a buck-wild movie that’s quite relevant today
allowing myself to be a wizard
I will say yes, there’s lots to learn out there - including in the world of wizardry and performance art. There’s people that know much more about it than I do, and I know a little more than some others as well. But becoming a wizard didn’t start with some formal initiation of elder wizards. It started with a dream. Then it really started with allowing myself to pursue that dream.
I simply thought to myself: Hey, that would be really fun. I think I’ll go do that now.
And then I did go do that now for 5 years and it’s been a blast with many memorable experiences that I’ll cherish for a long, long time.
No, I’m not writing you today to encourage you to become a wizard.
I’m simply reminding you of what you already know: if you want to live out a dream, no matter how silly, weird, or wild, take this post as a nod to not wait for someone to say you should, could, or can. Just go do the thing. It doesn’t need an Oscar-winning story-arc. Just open yourself up to it looking different than you expected and it changing over time. Accept it may not last forever. Have fun with it, and make some friends along the way.
You got this!
