WEBVTT

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Somewhere around the year 100 BC,

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the very first documented use
of wrapping paper was found.

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It was sort of a cloth-like paper mixture
used to enclose money as a gift

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in China.

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Now, this tradition has actually
continued throughout time

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to modern Chinese culture,

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where money is traditionally given
in little red envelopes like this.

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But why, in the year 100 BC,
did they feel that need?

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In current years, we seem to feel
the need to wrap our presents.

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And among many cultures,

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we feel the need to conceal
our gifts to others.

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Staying true to form, I've chosen
to conceal something in here today

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for all of you,

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but I'll show you in a couple minutes.

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First, let's try something.

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Let's try to answer that question.

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I want you to try to imagine
something in your hands right now.

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Imagine anything.

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It could be a pen, a notebook,
a sweater, air - it could be nothing.

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But imagine it in your hands right now.

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And take that item and place it in a box.

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Seal it up.

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Wrap it in a very beautiful
gold-foil wrapping paper

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and then tie an elegant ribbon
right across the top.

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Now you have that item
in that neatly wrapped package.

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Take that same item
and hold it in your other hand,

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bare, all by itself.

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And give them both a friend.

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What are we really giving someone
when we wrap something up and conceal it?

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I think that we're giving
something more than what's inside.

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Because both literally and figuratively,

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we're giving something
in addition to the gift.

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We're giving the idea of a gift.

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We're giving the unknown,

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anticipation,

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which leads to excitement,

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and we're giving what
Albert Einstein would describe

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as the most beautiful thing
we can experience:

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we're giving the mysterious.

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And if that sounds heavy-handed,

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it's still true.

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And as someone who practices and performs
the art of mystery through magic,

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I've become obsessed with that idea,

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of giving that experience,

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giving the unknown.

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And when you start to think about that,

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you start to pay attention
to not only what you show

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but, almost more importantly,
what you don't show.

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But what does that look like?

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Well, I'll need the help
of a beautiful assistant

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and these.

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Sir, you're looking quite beautiful today.

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(Laughter)

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Will you assist?

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(Man) Yes.

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Wonderful. If you could
just select a card, okay?

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You're just going to place your finger
on one of these cards.

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Perfect. That one? Okay.
Great. You can have a seat.

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And you didn't see the card.

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I didn't see it.

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No one else saw it as well.

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So I'm leaving it right here.

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I'm just going to place this
inside my jacket pocket,

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leave it sticking out a little bit
so we can all keep track of it, okay?

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Now, we can have a guess,

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we can have an idea
of what is inside here,

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but we don't really know.

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Whether this has been manufactured or not,

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we have created something essential
for the traditional gift -

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anticipation.

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Now, anticipation occurs
in a lot more places than this.

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Every day when we wake up,

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when we look into the day,

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we have an idea of how it may end.

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We have an idea of what may happen,

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what's inside it,

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but we don't really know.

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We're giving ourselves a gift:

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the gift of a day.

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A gift of the present.

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(Laughter)

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So you might not always know

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what is inside
this gift, this day, for you,

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but you do know how it's all wrapped up,

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what it looks like on the outside.

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Brown postal paper.

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Gold foil.

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A red envelope.

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And sometimes, how it looks on the outside

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matters a little bit more
than what you think

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because how long does a present sit,
waiting to be opened?

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And how long does it take
to actually open it up and discover?

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So consider this:

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the next time that you receive a gift,

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any gift,

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pay mind to how you feel
when you hold it in your hands,

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when you're holding the unknown,

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when you don't know what's inside.

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Because sometimes,

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no matter how many
possibilities can occur,

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no matter what the chances,

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the beauty of our life
is not in knowing what awaits us.

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The beauty of our life is in finding ...

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It's in finding out.

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(Applause)