The Tale of Smoke and Mirrors

“Do not tell me that this is the truth. I ask about many details and they don’t add up. You can make things appear as though they are, but it is the furthest from what is going on.” I hang up the phone.

Smoke and mirrors first came about as a magic trick by Schropfer, a 19th-century magician, and led to a biography on How the Good Guys Won, a national illusion that led to impeachment. Smoke and mirrors is the ultimate facade that gives people permission to be duped because it is a strategic form of persuasion. It provides us a warm blanket that blinds us from the truth, even though the whole purpose of the blanket is to provide us comfort from the lies that we are surrounded by.

The phone rings.

“Do you really expect me to believe this is all a matter of coincidence?” There is once again silence. “I think you’ve got this all wrong…” they say. The silence is enough, an explanation is no longer necessary.

I apologize in the morning for being irrational as if a good night’s sleep has brought me to my senses.

You see, we are not fooled by these tactics… actually, it only highlights our loyalty to a beacon of faith that rallies behind a value that we cannot abandon. We see things for what they are.. but then we water down the facts with a gin and tonic and with a swig, we “drink the Cool Aid”.

We take magic and turn it into reality. I’m not saying that the magic is not real or legitimate, I’m just saying, like Alice in Wonderland, we drag ourselves down the rabbit hole and are quick to carelessly drink and eat, following the labels as if they were gospel.

“It’s ok. I know you are a passionate person.”, they say. The smoke settles and when I look in the mirror, I see everything for what it is.

I AM a passionate person.

I AM NOT naive or blind.

I swallow my pride and say, “Thank you.”.