Carolyn Hunter
“The T. A. Barron Podcast.”

T. A. Barron
And I have the great delight of conversing with my fellow Rocky Mountain artist, Carolyn Hunter.

Carolyn Hunter
And I am so happy to be here with best-selling author and nature lover T. A. Barron.

We are right here in his writing room, and I am just looking around and noticing an abundance of turquoise. What’s with the turquoise?

T. A. Barron
It’s true. Well, pretty much every square inch of wall space in this room that’s not covered with bookshelves or open for windows, is turquoise. [Laughter] And the answer is, I just love that color. Always have. In fact, my rock collection, which I began as a seven-year-old with a shoe box and has now swelled to cover many shelves in my house, is, I would say, more than half about the colors green and blue minerals bring into my world. And so that’s turquoise and azurite and malachite and chrysocolla and one of my most favorites, dioptase that’s a greener than Emerald green mineral that’s from Southern Africa.

Another way to think about it is that I knew that this writing room was going to be my creative space, a sacred space, and I wanted to give it every advantage to coax out of me the best stories that I could produce. And part of that is the colors I’m surrounded by. So it’s almost as if I think of this place as a turquoise lagoon [Laughter] somewhere in French Polynesia, and I get to plunge into it for a swim, creatively, every time I walk into this room. And somewhere in those beautiful, mysterious waters are the elements of the stories that I’m seeking.

Carolyn Hunter
Gosh, you have so much knowledge about crystals. Where did that come from?

T. A. Barron
That’s thanks to my mother, Gloria Barron, who was a geologist as well as a teacher and a great appreciator of nature’s wonders. So as a kid, when I’d go on hikes with her stomping around in the hills of Colorado, and I got to carry her rock pick and the bag of little tools that she would bring, I was learning a lot from this wonderful, enthusiastic lover of nature.

Carolyn Hunter
How amazing is that? Gosh, what a nice adventure to share with your mother.

T. A. Barron
You know, I feel grateful every day for that. And that’s a pretty good segue for where we’re going to go today, to Merlin’s Crystal Cave. In this episode, I’d like to share some aspects of one particular book that Merlin inspired, the book that’s known as The Wisdom of Merlin: 7 Magical Words for a Meaningful Life. Now it’s my smallest book. If you were holding it, you could easily have it in the palm of your hand. But in some ways, I think of it as my biggest book in the ideas that it holds.

Carolyn Hunter
So what was the spark that led to this book?

T. A. Barron
I was invited to give a speech, actually, at Oxford University, and rolling through my mind were all of the deadly boring graduation talks that I had been to. And I didn’t want to go there. At the same time, I did want to say something meaningful and helpful to these bright young people as they move on from Oxford and go out into the world. So, the question was really how to say something authentic and possibly even helpful, but how to make it fresh at the same time. And I thought about that quite a bit and then decided, you know, the answer is to do what I do, which is tell a story. And furthermore, let Merlin, not me, do the talking.

So here’s the opening idea. Basically, as I said to the students at Oxford, “You are out for a stroll one day somewhere out in Oxfordshire, and without warning, you fall into a cavern. And what do you know? Sitting there is an ancient fellow with a long white beard, a gnarled staff pointed hat. And you know exactly who he is. And with a twinkle in his eye, he says, “Welcome, young lass, or lad. Now that you’ve found me, you can ask me any question you’d like.” And you say, “Well, Merlin, great wizard, I’m here at this time in life, lots of questions swirling around in my head. So tell me, how do I live a meaningful life?” Now at this, the elder man scratches his beard thoughtfully and thinks for a moment. And then he says, “You know, that is a very big question. But you’re in luck, because the answer has just seven words, and they are the most magical words in the entire universe.”

Carolyn Hunter
Well, now I have to know the words.

T. A. Barron
“In a moment young lass.” [Laughter] But first, let me say as a storyteller, there were two things I had to decide. First of all, what are the seven most magical words? Merlin’s seven greatest hits in the words realm, and also, what should be the order of the words?

Carolyn Hunter
So what are they?

T. A. Barron
So the first of Merlin’s magical words is gratitude. Would you like to hear a little about what Merlin says about gratitude?

Carolyn Hunter
Yes.

T. A. Barron
“Gratitude is the first among the magical words, for it is a good place to begin to make a meaningful life. To be wholly alive is to be grateful for every breath we take, every song we sing, every person we love, every day we discover.

“Just being grateful helps us to notice and appreciate all the blessings and opportunities around us.

“All we have, truly, all we have is our time and our souls. Even if you live as long as a wizard, that time is really very brief. It’s never long enough to do all you can do and be all you can be.

“So be grateful for the miracles of the moment, the miracles that surround you every day, every embrace, every breath.”

Carolyn Hunter
Can you tell us another?

T. A. Barron
How about courage? Here’s what Merlin has to say about that.

“Courage is essential. How else can we dream of who we can become and what we want for the world? And it also takes courage to turn those dreams into reality.

“You see, life can have great meaning, but only if we discover that meaning for ourselves. Meaning can’t be bought at any store, and it can’t be handed down like a coat that someone tells you will fit perfectly before you’ve even tried it on. No, meaning must be sought and earned and made one’s own.

“All of which requires courage.

“Have you ever stopped to wonder why we have free will? To make our own choices? Some wise and gracious, some just plain foolish, some catastrophically bad? Because our choices matter. They really matter. They define who we are, what values we live by, and what aspirations we honor. And if our choices matter, then we ourselves matter.

“So I invite you. Think of your life as a story. A story of which you are the author, no one else. You. Using whatever materials you have and whatever inspiration you can find, make it a story that truly belongs to you. Tell it with honesty. Tell it with passion. And make it the very best story you can.”

Carolyn Hunter
Wow. Can you give us another?

T. A. Barron
Certainly. How about knowledge?

“Knowledge, surprising as it sounds, begins with the unknown, with accepting how little you know. A few drops of humility, I have learned, can save me from an ocean of arrogance. Then, with a touch of curiosity, a person can learn and grow endlessly.

“There are two universes to explore, one inside yourself and one outside. And here’s the best part. How far you travel in each, and what you discover, is entirely up to you.

“The first universe is yourself. Know who you are honestly and deeply. Examine your passions, your hopes, your fears, your strengths, your weaknesses, and especially your dreams. Seek only what is true, not what is just comfortable.

“Your vulnerabilities and your virtues are two halves of the same whole. Embrace the qualities in yourself that might seem like opposites. Just as there can be no shadow without light, there can be no joy without sorrow.

“Then at last, you will know something of great value: what you truly love.

“The second universe is everything outside yourself. Be alive in your world. Notice its many riches, struggles, delights, tragedies, patterns, revelations and mysteries. Engage all your senses all the time. Lengthen your attention span, walk sensitively, mindfully, wherever you go.

“Remember as you explore how much of the world you can see and hear and taste and smell and touch and how much you cannot. Sometimes mindfulness means accepting the mystery of what lies beyond the reach of our minds.

“And remember, too, what I tried to teach young Arthur when he began Camelot. A tool by itself is not good or bad. Only how it’s used determines that. A hammer can crush someone’s skull or build someone’s house. The tool isn’t as important as the purpose.

“Then at last, you will know something else of great value: what the world really needs.

“Now… connect those two great discoveries, what you love and what the world needs. Combine them with care, and you are sure to live a marvelous life.

“That, my friend, I know.”

Carolyn Hunter
Okay, so we have gratitude, courage, and knowledge. Can we hear about the other words?

T. A. Barron
I can tell you what they are.

Carolyn Hunter
Perfect.

T. A. Barron
Belief, wonder, generosity, hope. And one more word that Merlin just couldn’t resist slipping in. It’s a mystery word, and it’s a very special word because it’s the one that gives all of the others their power. That word is love.

Here’s what Merlin has to say about that especially magical word.

“Love is an invitation, not a command. But if you truly open yourself to its power, you will be swept away as if you had plunged into a mighty river where that river may carry you, no one can predict.

“Khalil Gibran put it well: A truly loving person doesn’t feel that God is in his or her heart, but rather that he or she is in the heart of God.

“The paradox of love is that it beckons to us to go deep within ourselves, to find a sole level connection with another person. But once that connection is found, we are bonded with that person so that we expand far beyond ourselves, so we are at once deeper within and further without.

“Love also carries great peril. I must warn you, to open yourself to the power of love is to risk being hurt, perhaps deeply. Yet to resist that power is akin to going through life with your eyes half closed and all your other senses diminished. You may not suffer the greatest pains, but you will also not savor the greatest delights. You won’t feel agony, but you will also never experience ecstasy.

“How do you express love? Through words and music and touch, really, through any kind of communication? The most powerful way, though, is simply how you live. And as many good people have shown the world, that power is truly limitless.”

Carolyn Hunter
Wow. Now I know what you mean about this small book having some huge ideas. You really sound like Merlin. Like he’s talking to us.

T. A. Barron
Well, actually, that’s how it feels to me. As if I’m really, truly talking with Merlin or any other character in my books. Let me explain. When I’m crafting a character to make that character really feel authentic to an intelligent reader, I need to know a lot about them. Right? I need to know the obvious things. Like what do they look like? What do they act like? What are their greatest desires? What are their deepest fears? But ultimately, the most personal thing I can ever know is their voice. It’s so revealing about who they are. And when I hear the voice, the true voice of a character, I really know them. And that’s when the greatest fun begins. We are talking, writer and character. And that’s when I need to really listen, listen to my characters. And then at a certain point when it all feels just right, I always ask a character one last question and it’s the most revealing one. What is your deepest secret?

Carolyn Hunter
So did Merlin tell you his biggest secret?

T. A. Barron
Oh, yes.

Carolyn Hunter
And…

T. A. Barron
I can’t tell you or Merlin will turn me into a stone. Sorry. [Laughter]

Carolyn Hunter
[Laughter] Now, is there anything else you’d like to share with us about your book, The Wisdom of Merlin?

T. A. Barron
I could share with you how Merlin ends the book.

Carolyn Hunter
Perfect.

T. A. Barron
He says, “I wish you, all of you, a life inspired by the seven most magical words and by all the love that flows through them.”

Carolyn Hunter
What a perfect close to this episode.

T. A. Barron
I agree. And I have a feeling that Merlin, wherever he is, also agrees.

Next week we will take that deep dive into the blue lagoon of creativity. We’ll explore the mysterious process of creative writing, of bringing characters to life, of bringing places to life and of bringing stories to life, and more.

To everyone out there. Let me just say thank you so much for joining us for “Magic & Mountains.” We’ll see you next week. And in the meantime, may you have magical days.

Carolyn Hunter
We hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of “Magic & Mountains: The T. A. Barron Podcast.” Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a five-star review, and share this podcast with your family and friends. For more information and to find all of T. A.’s books, visit TABarron.com. Have a magical week.