2018-10-01_Reader_s_Digest_AUNZ

34 | October• 2018

HOW TO CREATE AN AHA! MOMENT

In the decades that followed, Lovell

turned his gift for smooth patter

and sleight of hand into a success-

ful one-man show that ran for eight

years off-Broadway. After he suf-

fered a stroke, good wishes and cash

donations for his care poured in from

friends and fellow magi-

c i a n s. In his professional

world and beyond

it, Lovell had

become re-

spected, even

loved.

His re-

habilitation

was complete.

hat moment

in the hotel

hadbeenLovell’swake-upcall.But

what is a wake-up call – or an epiph-

any or anaha!moment? What could

possiblyexplainaneventsounex-

pected,forcefulandtransformative

that it cleaves a life into two parts:

before and after?

M

OST OF THE TIME,ideas

develop from the steady

percolation and evaluation

of thoughts and feelings. But every

so often, if you’re lucky, a block-

buster notion breaks through in a

lashofinsightthat’sasunexpected

asitisblazinglyclear.heserevela-

tionscanbedeeplypersonal,even

existential, prompting the realisa-

tion that you should quit your job,

move to another city, mend a broken

Lovell was in Europe when he
spotted his next victim in a bar, plied
him with drinks and drew him into
a ‘cross’ – a classic con in which the
victim is made to believe he or she is
part of a foolproof, get-rich scheme.
The con went perfectly. “I took him
for an extremely large amount of
money,” says Lovell.
After he was done,
Lovell hustled the
drunk man out of
the hotel room where
the fleecing had oc-
curred, intend-
ingtoleave
him in the hallway for
security to deal with.
But then something
unexpected happened. he mark went
to pieces. “I’d never seen a man break
down that badly, ever,” recalls Lovell.
“He was just sliding down the wall,
weeping and wailing.”
What followed was a moment
Lovellwouldlookbackonasthe
hinge point of his life. “It was as if
alightsuddenlywenton.Ithought,
his. Is. Really. Bad.For theirst time,
Iactuallyfeltsorryforsomeone.”
Lovell’s next move was hard for
evenhimtobelieve.Hereturnedthe
guy’s money and declared himself
done with the swindler’s life. “here
wasanabsoluteepiphanythatIjust
couldn’tdoitanymore,”hesays.he
next day, he felt different. Lighter.
“Ihadbecomearealhumanbeing
again.” He never ran another con. PHOTO: PREVIOUS SPREAD: PESHKOVA/SHUTTERSTOCK. SKY: ELENAMIV/SHUTTERSTOCK

What could

explain an event so

transformative that it

cleaves a life into

before and after?