If you can dream it you can build it… or can we?
When we have an idea in our heads, the one thing that usually prevents it from becoming real is our own belief that it CAN or CANNOT be done.
Over the years, I have stopped many of my idea’s forming simply because my brain would say,
“That’s a great thought, but you have no idea how on earth to actually make it real. So, is there even a point in trying?”
Soon after my brain has decided the outcome it believes to be true, I give up on an idea simply because I am made to believe that I never will be able to achieve the end goal.
And yes, I am one of those people who has an inner voice in my brain talking to me. And no, apparently not all people experience this.
If you want to read more on this visit this page. https://irisreading.com/how-do-i-know-if-i-have-an-inner-monologue/
Why having an inner monologue is bad for ideas?
Lots of people love that they have an inner voice, telling them everything they wish to hear. It can even be a positive, reassuring experience. As I get older (and perhaps somewhat wiser) I realise that my inner voice is not always my friend. In fact, it can sometimes be quite damaging in terms of my confidence and perceptions of the world I live in when navigating life.
Already I have shown with the example above that, if an idea surfaces in my head, my brain can choose to crush the hope of that thought ever seeing the light of day. Before even trying it.
What if this idea was the next best thing since sliced bread? What if this idea was one that solved a problem many in magic faced. One that took a concept to the next level and it never became something simply because my own brain said it was impossible!
When I said this thought out loud to myself, I realised that this is a terrible system that needs rebooted!
How do we ultimately put a stop to our brains being in control of our thoughts? Especially in the creative process.
An audio book that has helped me to begin thinking about my brain and how it thinks (you might be interested in listening too) is “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson. Briefly, in the book he dissects the ins and outs of the feeling and thinking brain in relation to our every day decision making.
Kick your heels up and shout!
The only way we know if something works or not is to take action and do. And even at that, something might not work the first time. It might be the case that you need to do something more than once for it to be a success, or a complete and utter failure. But to get to that conclusion, you must try it more than once.
If I did not follow this logical process, I would not be the magician you know today and you would not be following my journey here in this blog.
After my very first magic show, if I had listened to my brain or rather my feeling brain alone on how I felt after my first show, I would never have put myself through anything like that ever again. But thanks to my logical or thinking brain working out that I needed to try it once more to make sure these ‘feelings’ were real and not just made up fantasies in my head, I performed another show. And another… and the rest is history.
So with ideas, as they begin as emotional thoughts inside our brains, the only logical way to see their potential is to physicalise them. To realise them. And one way to win this battle is to simply put pen to paper and draw.
This is Art Attack!
As a kid, I loved to draw. I suffered from insomnia (to my sisters delight) when I was a child and didn’t quite know how to deal with not sleeping. Whilst the whole household was far off in the land of nod, I watched hundreds of cartoon shows on television. Soon, I became bored just watching them and I began sketching the characters on screen. I became remarkably good at drawing cartoon characters and soon became our household champion at Pictionary. I even managed to cover the entire kitchen once in bright blue paint in an attempt to recreate a technique I saw Neil Buchanan doing on C.I.T.V’s “Art Attack.”
As an adult, sadly I haven’t had much use for drawing until these last few years when I’ve realised that if I want to make a prop, or if I have an idea for one in my head, it’s better to begin by sketching it out on paper to see it’s potential for building it.
Rather than waiting on my brain to judge if it will work or not.
Empowering your ideas
The desire in making a physical prop for myself happened when I wanted to learn a routine with thimbles. However, every thimble I tried on was way too big for my fingertips. There was no point in buying another set online for them not to fit. I wanted a thimble that fit my fingers perfectly, rather than making do with what was already on the market.
So, I began with the sketch in my notebook above. I took exact measurements of what I needed and compared them to what was already on the market. I made a guess at the height I wanted it to be as the thimbles I needed had to be slightly longer in order for my thumb to reach and grab it from my fingertips for particular moves.
The Journey
Remember, If an idea remains a thought in mid air, you simply don’t know if it CAN be done. But if you physically sketch it down on paper. Then a design process can begin.
Let’s explore the process of making a thimble for example.
- You start by thinking about its shape and sketch it.
- Next you get out a ruler and examine the measurements for it.
- Then you begin to think are there any specific properties you wish it to have.
Once complete, if you happen to know someone with a 3D-printer and supply them with copious amounts of candy, they might just agree to taking your drawing project on and turn it into a real object.
Sketching an idea on paper first, has more potential to become a real thing simply because it is now physically on the page in front of you. Idea’s only become real if you say them out loud, write them down or draw them. You are more likely to perform, do or make something if you put them down on paper first.
It also makes the process of 3D printing slightly easier if there is a drawing for your friend gobbling up the candy you gave them, to work with and refer to.
Creating from scratch like this, you get a prop that is specifically designed for you. This can’t be bought on the market. I think it is such a worthwhile pursuit in our craft. Building personalised items to work with. Or rather, personal tools. Our magic and performances only become better from this.
Don’t be discouraged by small failures in this process
Even when you think the idea if perfect, you can still tweak it and it doesn’t make it a failure. It might take more time but, the only thing little tweaks do is make something become better for what you need. Take a look at this image below…
This is attempt one to three in my thimble journey.
- The first thimble (furthest to the right) was a good start. But it wasn’t long enough for my thumb to reach it. (To place it into thumb palm position).
- The second thimble attempt (middle) was longer but still not perfect in terms of reaching it. Also the material thickness was crunching against my fingers and perhaps didn’t need to be that tight in order to stay on my fingertips.
- The third attempt (left) I could happily manipulate. The material thickness of the thimbles wall was lesser and more comfortable to wear and I am now happy to play and work with these for a while until I discover any more little nuances that I wish to add in the future.
I should say that these three attempts took an entire 48 hours to complete. Much time was put into this however, I believe in the long run it is worth it. More so than buying a marketed product and making do. In just 24 hours, after sketching my thimble needs on paper, I was able to physically make a personalised thimble that fits me.
The result of an idea forming without my brain getting in the way is… A thimble built for Nikola Kind!
I hope you agree, they are fabulous.
Now to make them in ALL the colours!
And just for fun here is a couple of links to a few fun things I came up with once I printed these thimbles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeQH651CeLM
https://youtu.be/C6cJlGQ0Eu4?si=L9DS5VGBpiGzR_xz
https://youtu.be/6jJwsqCkvCY?si=XKLl4HYbHMct4B1g
I must admit, this was such a fun project!
Great blog!! I love how the thimbles story genuinely is the perfect example of everything you started off writing about!
Thank you 😀
When I did thimbles, I had to add spongy medical tape inside because my fingers were too small. 3D printing solves so many problems!
Haha yes I realised that too playing with thimbles on the market.