Dear Reader,
Welcome to the Magic Shop! You can get anything here: good grades, perfect body, infinite wealth, anything you want! Trade your shortcomings and insecurities for what you truly desire – a world where your insecurities are nonexistent, a world where you have achieved your perception of “perfection”. Now you might be wondering if such a place truly exists, can I really become some else, a god? What is the magic shop?
“Magic Shop is a psychodramatic technique that exchanges fear for a positive attitude,” – BTS Fake Love Teaser. Psychodrama is a structured form of therapy (usually with a group), dealing with theatrical elements in which a person dramatizes a personal problem or conflict. This technique was developed by psycho-sociologist and psychiatrist Jacob Moreno to help people gain insight into their life. In a Magic Shop, a therapist “masquerades” as a “shopkeeper’ ‘ who helps “customers” buy things or aspects that they want to change about themselves. “There aren’t many rules except that people pay for things they want to get or the things they want to get rid of,” according to Professor Earl Koile at University of Texas.
It’s a helpful tool that provides confidence and knowledge for those who try it. In some cases, fantasy and imagination can be tools for positive change. In spite of that, in this technique, these idealistic illusions can also obscure the truth, making this magic shop not really magical at all.
In this teaser, the members of BTS approach a magic shop, run by a masked figure. They trade items with the silent shopkeeper. But, not all the items traded seem to offer true happiness to the members. In addition, the masked figure does nothing to help the members, seeming more sinister as they indulge in all of these untrue things. He offers items that provide false happiness, a fake magic shop.
I’ve found that this concept of a fake magic shop exists in the lives of high school students as well. On the journey to get into the most competitive colleges with acceptance rates in the decimal points, we often enter it, wanting to be more sellable to colleges. We join a ridiculous amount of clubs and don’t go a second not studying, volunteering or boosting our extracurriculars. We become some of the most busiest and stressed people just to get into college.
Despite how detrimental it is to our mental health, the reality is that we can’t control this phenomenon. We can not do as many extracurriculars or take as many APs, especially when everyone around us is telling us to keep accelerating, even if we get burnt out, even if our brakes are broken. In order to participate in this twisted system, we also have to become twisted in some messed up way.
My only wish for you, the reader, and for myself is that despite having this idealistic dream of college, that we don’t forget to find the true magic shop. The true magic shop doesn’t lie in how we want to change ourselves and become a better person, but rather in how we connect with other people and share our stories. BTS writes in their song “Magic Shop”:
“I won’t say obvious things like ‘cheer up,’
but I’ll rather share with you my story
…
you’ll be alright oh here it is Magic Shop
So show me (I’ll show you)
Lyric Translation from Doolset lyrics
Over time, a part of my magic shop has been built upon these lyrics. Watching the sea of purple lights and chorus of fans singing “I’ll show you,” allows me to forget my worries and pressures. I can simply drink a cup of tea and enter this magic shop built on understanding and familiarity instead of the idea of changing ourselves.
I believe that the mystical thing about a magic shop isn’t the possibility to change yourself, but rather the intimacy and connection it provides.
I want to use this column to help myself discover more of my magic shop. Likewise, reader, I hope that amidst your busy moments and stressful lives, you open the door to your own magic shop, valuing the connections you have with people and sharing your story. Don’t get lost in illusions of the future, or things that you want to change about yourself; build a door connecting your mind and heart, enter your magic shop.
From my magic shop,
Mayukhi Katragadda
