That's a bit of the problem I am having too: trying to balance magic & cardistry. I haven't been able to work on sleights or my routines as much as I should all year. I've been practicing quite a lot of cardistry. IT's ridiculously hard to do both because both require MUCH different skill sets.
I think if you try to balance them out, you end up not practicing either as much as one could or should. For me, it's rather all-or-nothing, and I've been working tirelessly on working on a couple cardistry projects. I'm not sure what my future in cardistry will be after they are done.
So with that, I'll ask this: What do you intend to achieve with cardistry? What do you want to do with it?
As a child, I had many interests. Dancing, Drums, Guitars, etc... All of these interests I just quit for one reason or another. In the mid-90's I was really into magic. I tore apart J.B. Bobo's Modern Coin Magic book and learned everything I could from David Roth about coins. As with all of my other childhood passions, I quit magic as well. There are very few passions in my life that I have made a serious commitment to and stuck with it.
Then six months ago I discovered cardistry and reconnected with that sense of passion that I have not felt in a long time. That passion for cardistry has also helped rekindle a passion for magic that I lost so many years ago. I've been amazed by the likes of such talents as Jason England, Paul Wilson, Ricky Jay, and even Daniel Madison. So in a sense my passion has evolved into an overall love for what one can do with a deck of playing cards.
For the first time in my life, I want to commit to growing a passion as far as it can go and STICK with it. Challenge myself to stick with something that I love and NOT QUIT just because it gets to hard or for whatever excuse I may come up with.
I want to be the best cardist that I can possibly be. Note, that I define a cardist a little differently than others. To me. a cardist is not just one that does fancy flourishes but can do practically anything with a deck of cards. From doing an amazing Sybil Cut to cold stacking a deck and dealing a Royal Flush. You are an artist and your cards are your paintbrush.
That's who I want to be.
To serve as a creative outlet that I so desperately need in my life. I want to have a YouTube channel that I can use to express my passion cards and share with the rest of the world. Then see if I can possibly build a brand off of that passion.
I know those are some lofty goals but the bottom line right now is that I just want to go all in into something that I am extremely passion about, see how far I can take it without quitting when I reach those proverbial bumps in the road.