I appreciate the PM, I apologize for being harsh as well. And actually, I/we were not placing you in the Noob category, far from it. If you were a noob in terms of magic ability, we probably would not really care, but the fact of the matter is since your skill in magic is obviously quite high, a lot of us wanted to warn you on the attitude you were taking with it.
To be quite honest, the reason why I was able to say so much, is because I went through the same stage. I thought that since I was able to do magic at a high level, it put me on a higher level socially. I thought that since I had reached a stage where I could make money, my status immediately went from amateur to professional, from beginner to elite, etc... and I ended up being cocky (unintentionally). I think that when some of my friends warned me, I became auto-defensive and thought "wait wait, this is not the kind of attention that comes with being elite!!!" and I would defend myself.
Let me put it another way... Think of learning magic as being a university student (you will get there soon, hehe). From freshman to senior, your social status is different. As a freshman, you think everything is cool and new, and you want to try it all. Sophomore and Junior, you encounter some difficulties and have a hard time balancing everything and choosing a path to follow. Senior year, you figured most everything out, worked hard, planning your graduation, doing really well, feel confident and on top of the world (most likely). Then... BAM!!! You graduate. The moment you graduate, your entire world changes! You are immediately humbled by the world you live in, and your only choice is to take on a humble attitude to play catch up again.
I think what I am trying to say is, you are living in that senior world where you on top of everything. You understand how magic works, you are well rounded in your performances, have been very successful with shows etc... but your attitude just seemed to be a bit much of the, "but I am a varsity senior guys!! I need the respect!" when it should be, "now that I have made it this far, there is still a world of wisdom for me to learn. can you guys point me in the right direction?"
I just didn't want you to become the guy with the attitude who wears his varsity letterman's jacket to the first day of classes at university. (I am no being literal, this is all figurative).
I had some really dedicated friends that stuck with me during my, "give me attention guys," phase. Like honestly, I started seeking it in everything I did. I remember one time, the guys were talking about some really good pizza parlors near their hometowns, and I thought I would say, "Yeah, well the best pizza I ate was in Rome next to the Pantheon!" and one guy literally punched me in the back of the head and said, "I get it! You have been to Italy! What is with the need to get attention in something so simple as pizza!!???"
This is what Prae, Myself, Steer, Sabor, etc... probably want to prevent happening in you.
You are absolutely correct, being able to buy a truck with your own money is extremely rare and it is an amazing accomplishment. But information like "he probably has a lot of money saved up," is information we can all derive for ourselves from knowing that you do professional shows. And, believe me, a few weeks ago, a lot of us were without a doubt impressed that you were getting so much recognition without you having to bring it up. I actually thought, "great job man, you are doing better than I and at an earlier age." You were talking about being featured on a school show and asked very politely for things you think you should do. It was a great humble attitude to take. But then, I felt a change in attitude. A shift from, "that was me then," to "this is me now guys!" Afterwards, you still got a lot of attention from forum users, but in a different way. I would love to go back to being able to say, "keep up the good work man" but I wanted to be harsh to help you break down the barriers you were creating for yourself. I am really glad to see they are coming down. With a fresh outlook on how difficult a professional wold can be, and with a new start of university coming up, you can really make an amazing future for yourself. That being said, with the wrong attitude, you can be taken down very quickly.
So in summary, definitely be proud of that level you have reached, but remember that you can always get to a higher level and that the easiest way to reach it is humility, and not pride. From someone who learned the had way. TokyoUW, aka Eric.
