The Five High Truths I learned from the Five Coin Rollout

Coin manipulations are considered to be of the most difficult skills to practice and master in all of magic. Coins are small and require a tremendous amount of dexterity and ‘flight time’.

Over the years, making my living as a professional magician, I’ve been drawn deeper into the art and have grown more fascinated by the sublime composition of a well-crafted magical effect. The path to learning the Five Coin Rollout has been long and lovely.

Reflecting on what this ‘practice’ has taught me, I recognized Five powerful truths about life that have come out of this collaboration with my fingers and the round edges of coins.

Below I'll outline The Five High Truths I learned from the Five Coin Rollout and then offer a brief description of each truth with a book recommendation in case you care to expand upon that truth for your own ‘practice’.

Truth #1

• You can achieve a thing that you thought was truly impossible if you just begin.

Truth #2

• Mindful progression requires the tiniest adjustments along the way.

Truth #3

• Consistency may well be the holy grail of life.

Truth #4

• You know you’re on your bliss path when constant failure evokes no charge or reaction.

Truth #5

• Learning new things that align with your true nature, makes you feel high.

Here is a brief description and a book recommendation:             

Truth #1

You can achieve something you thought was truly impossible if you just begin.

I never imagined that I would be able to perform the Five Coin Rollout.

I eyed it from a distance with awe for 10 years before ever attempting. But the day finally came when I began it.

The small victories continue to be many, as long as I keep growing in the practice.

Book Recommendation: Letters to a Young Poet, Ranier Maria Rilke

Truth #2

Mindful progression requires the tiniest adjustments along the way.

In areas that require subtle distinction, moving quickly will not do. Some avocations require a microscopically slow execution, which lends the gift of savoring the work in its intricate beauty.

Book Recommendation: The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

Truth #3

Consistency may well be the holy grail of life.

I’ve recently come to the highest truth of all for a self-employed professional:

 “Life is about the Practice of Refining Lock-down PROCEDURES for Focus.” The deeper I dive into this ‘reveal’, I see that the operative words are “Practice” and “Refining”.

Jim Collins talks about the “20 Mile March” no more, no less, every day, making the biggest difference between companies that are successful and those that capitulate.

Book Recommendation: Good to Great, by Jim Collins

Truth #4

You know you’re on your bliss path when constant failure evokes no charge or reaction.

I have been fascinated to notice that each time the coins pattern crumbles between my fingers and fall away, instead of being discouraged, it only makes me more energized. I’ve learned that every drop of the coin is bringing me that much closer to the taste of a perfect coin roll out.

Book Recommendation: Failing Forward, by John Maxwell

Truth #5

Learning new things that align with your true nature gets you high.

It is amazing how many endorphin rushes lie just on the other side of a little effort.

You know that you have ‘chemistry’ with what you are doing if your brain releases very expensive chemicals into your bloodstream, making you feel a bit like flying.

Instead of arguing with the part that makes us resist our bliss-path, why not just go for a swim in a craft that grants ‘heart-retrieval’ as well as real accomplishment?

Book Recommendation, My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte Taylor