Tag Archives: magic

Nudged: Learn how to do card-shuffle-fan thing

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Backstory: I have always wanted to learn how to do that fabulous trick where it appears you are tossing a desk of cards from one hand to the other in a long stream.

My first stop will be Google, where I hope to determine what it is actually called. (Pretty sure it is not called “card-shuffle-fan thing”. Sheesh.)

Then I am going to peruse tutorial videos on YouTube.

My ultimate goal is to be able to intimidate…eh…impress my friends with whom my husband and I play the card game Hearts every few months. I lost, by quite the margin, at our last session, so I am looking for every advantage.

Our next tournament…eh…friendly game is scheduled for late summer, so I have plenty of time to practice. This week is about doing the research, taking the first steps, and having fun pursuing something that has been on my personal to do list for ages.

What are you going to nudge yourself to try this week?

What Happened: Get ready to be impressed! 😉

First up, I googled for information and learned the trick I wanted to learn is called a “waterfall.” Cool!

Next, I searched for training videos and found this one.

Deck of cards, training video, ounce of courage…I was good to go.

Here is a typical representation of my Day 1 attempts:

Hmmm…I think there’s another name for that “trick”. 52 Pickup, anyone?

On Day 2, I determined my hands were too small to be successful, so I was pleased to discover we had a smaller-sized deck in the games cabinet.

Um…it didn’t completely solve the problems. But every day, for five to 10 minutes, I stood at my desk (figured out that was a good way to catch the falling cards) and practiced.

Slow and steady. Deep breath. Patience, determination, and optimism. Repeat.

Here is the video Thor took of me tonight: card waterfall video

If for some reason you can’t watch it, well, let’s just say The Magic Castle won’t be calling any time soon. But it’s better than where I was just a few days ago!

The Ah-Hahs: Earlier in the week I caught up with a friend who is also revisiting her childhood passions. What did she love doing? What would keep her occupied for hours? And how might she incorporate some of that former joy into her life today?

This Nudge was that for me. I didn’t have any grand revelations about life, I just had some fun. I took a few minutes out of my insanely busy workdays and fed my inner child.

Oh, and I’m not giving up. I still have time to perfect this trick before our next game of Hearts.

P.S. This is interesting. I just inserted the tags for this post and was reminded of my earlier post about wanting to find my Mojo, to find or reclaim my magic. This was not at all what I had in mind for myself at the time, but cool!

Nudging: Find my mojo

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Backstory: This Nudge didn’t come from the bowl. This is one I dropped in because I’m struggling today. Maybe it’s the post-holidays blues. Maybe it’s the cold and gloominess of the season. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a real affliction, in case you didn’t know. Maybe it’s the ongoing frustration of not having a clear path, a clear purpose.

I’m not sure what’s up (or down) with me right now, but I feel the need to find something to get me up in the mornings. Something other than piles of laundry that need to be addressed or bills that need to be paid. I am dragging through my days, so much so that yesterday, as I lay in bed dreading my day (and it was a Saturday!), I had a small fantasy about pulling everything off the top of my desk and burning it in the fireplace. Yes, I know that wouldn’t really solve any problems—likely make some worse—but the idea of having a clean start is appealing.

Where is my magic? What happened to my mojo? I need to find it and put it back to work.

P.S. I did check in with myself and know it isn’t chronic depression, lack of sleep, or illness causing my malaise. If your blue mood is lasting longer than is okay, please schedule a checkup with your doctor or reach out to someone for help. xo

52+: What does “52” mean?

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A few weeks in, I received an email from a long-time friend who had just checked out the blog.

“Oh, I get it!” she wrote. “You’re doing 52 things because this year you’re turning 52 on 5/2.”

Whoa.

Hand to God, I had not put this together.

My birthday is indeed today*, May 2nd, 5/2, and it is with much gratitude that I am celebrating my 52nd anniversary on Earth. But when I started this whole #nudge thing, the only thought I had in mind was to run it for 52 weeks, or one full year.

As I mulled over this fun bit of serendipity, I started to think about the “magic” numbers I’ve had in my life. Forty-six has always been a big one. My paternal grandfather passed away unexpectedly at that age, and every time a member of my family passes this milestone, I let out a sigh of relief while thinking about all the bonus years I have enjoyed. For many years, 17 was the biggie, marking the number of spinal taps I’ve had (long story) and the number of times I’ve been in a wedding party. (I’ve since exceeded 17 for both of those, and I’ve stopped counting.)

For fun, I googled “52” and was reminded it’s the number of playing cards in a deck and the number of white keys on a piano. If you count both caps and lowercase, it’s the number of letters in our alphabet. In combinatorial mathematics, 2, 5, and 52 are all Bell Numbers (don’t ask me to explain that one), and all three numbers are untouchable numbers (and my head is spinning). It’s written “LII” in Roman numerals.

So what’s up with 52? As I look back on past generations, it seems to be an age when women were “done”. They had finished raising families and were settling into the role of grandmother, had retired from any work outside the home, were generally considered “old”, and had given up pursuing new dreams. I can’t wrap my head around any of that. I feel like I’m just getting warmed up!

Anyway, I’m thinking 52 is my new magic number. And I’m thinking I need to pop out and pick up a lottery ticket. Guess which numbers I’ll be playing? 😉

 

*I share this birthday with Catherine the Great of Russia, David Beckham, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Princess Charlotte of England, by the way. I am kinda proud to be a member of this cool club.