Into the Magic Shop – James Doty

Thanks for such a wonderful meeting in June. We really had a great discussion on Into The Magic Shop, by James R. Doty. The book takes us back to when the author was a young boy who didn’t have a whole lot going for him. He comes from a poor and dysfunctional family and does the best he can, but it’s just not quite enough.

One thing he really loves is magic tricks, so during one summer when he’s twelve, he enters a magic shop and befriends the owner’s mother, Ruth. She takes him under her wing and begins teaching him a series of tricks/exercises that teaches him how to calm his body, change his attitude, have a goal and believe in his ability to achieve it and open his heart to other possibilities. Through these exercises, he is able to change his destiny and his life.

As he becomes an adult, he is not without mistakes, but he returns to the lessons from Ruth and is able to turn things around again. Today, he is the Director of CCARE, the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. CCARE is a research and educational program that focuses on compassion, altruism and empathy.

If you haven’t read Doty’s book, please grab a copy and just start at the first page. It’s an easy read and you’ll get so much more out of it than you put into it. Promise!!