What I Learned When I Learned To Juggle
Guest post by magician, writer, & engineer Dan Ward
Welcome to a guest post by friend, fellow writer, and creative mentor, Dan Ward!
Dan Ward is an engineer, a juggler, and a punk... and was Time Magazine’s Person of the Year twice (2003 and 2006, look it up). He served for more than 20 years in the US Air Force, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee and the British House of Commons, and authored four book. He’s a co-founder of The SparkLit Group, a small consulting firm that helps people ask bolder questions and build better futures.
Today, we have the absolute pleasure of featuring Dan as a guest contributor! So, I’ll pass it off to Dan…
I worked my way through high school and college as a performing magician, doing shows at birthday parties, libraries, and hospitals. While my friends were flipping burgers or waiting tables, I spent my weekends spreading happiness and wonder. Not a bad way to make a buck.
My shows involved making things appear, vanish, and float through the air, but I always opened with a magic-adjacent routine: juggling. I juggled balls, of course, but also clubs, knives, and – for my outdoors performances – flaming torches.
These days I do fewer card tricks and more juggling, although seldom for an audience. I keep several sets of juggling props in my office, and regularly take short juggle breaks throughout the day. It’s a playful, meditative way to do a little reset, mentally and physically, and it never fails to brighten my mood and unlock my creativity.
If you don’t already know how to juggle, I highly recommend giving it a try. There’s even a technique called functional juggling that makes the hobby accessible to people with a variety of physical and mental abilities. Juggling really is for everyone.
When I learned to juggle in the summer of 1986 (wow, 40 years ago!), I struggled at first. Not because juggling is hard, although yes, juggling is hard. My core struggle came from a misperception about how juggling works. I was focused on the wrong thing.
The struggle got easier and the breakthrough happened when I decided to accept the following advice:
