My Magical Moment

Although it may sound somewhat corny, I believe that everyone experiences a magical moment in their life. This moment usually comes as a profound realization, spiritual epiphany, or powerful experience for an individual. Some people experience multiple magical moments, and in my case, I've been lucky enough to have had a few.

Imagine a large room (or in my case, a bar) full of people silently and anxiously listening and watching your every move. Some stop their conversation to judge whether or not to pay any attention to you, while others just carry on with what they were doing. The room is very dim, except for bright lights shining down on you, and a microphone stands before you, your medium of creativity and expression. My guitar hangs from my shoulders as I hesitate for just a split second to quickly analyze the crowd as the silence is broken by the crack of the drums. As the music starts, I join in with my guitar and words begin to flow freely out of my mouth. I can see the crowd is getting into it. People are dancing and drinking, smiling and rather conspicuously whispering "hey these guys are pretty good." I slip into the groove and I am in the zone. My magical moment begins. Each carefully crafted verse, once scribbled down notes and scratch outs in a beat up notebook, resonate through the speakers, and much to my pleasure, are greeted unanimously with drunken grins and bobbing heads throughout the entire bar. This same music was tediously rehearsed, re-written, and tweaked hundreds of times before I was satisfied enough to play it live. The feeling is indescribable when you see people enjoying your own creative work. The fact that other people dig my music is the fruit of my labor, the food for my soul, and most importantly, the recognition I so desperately worked for to keep my nose buried in that worn notebook, hammering out tunes late at night in my room. Every one experiences magical moments throughout their life, and mine occurred on the stage of Penguin's Pub in Arbutus, Maryland during the finals of a "battle of the bands" contest that I am proud to say I won. Ironically enough, we left early to start a party of our own after having such a good show and the prize was awarded to the runners-up. However, all that studio time and free gear doesn't remotely compare to the feeling I had when I walked out of that bar. I won the greatest prize of all: my magical moment. My voice was heard and received well, and that's all I needed to consider myself a winner.

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The Point: Throughout the course of life, people experience magical moments that define them as a person, inspire them to perform well, and satisfy their need for recognition and success.