Dear Reader,
OK, I confess. I am a dancer, and I tend to experience the world through movement and sensation. So I really shouldn’t have been surprised…
Louise and I went to a food and craft show over the weekend here in Shetland, and eventually we wandered into a cooking demonstration. Aside from enjoying the sizzle of vegetables in a hot pan, along with the smell of unknown spices, I found myself fascinated by watching the chef’s movement.
He clearly knew what he was doing, and was intent on one thing – preparing a great dish.
He worked quickly, without flair or excessive dialogue, and moved directly from one task to the next to the next. He was centered in his movement, and relaxed but attentive. No action was wasted, no extra steps were performed. His focus was incredible.
His segment started late, and he had thirty minutes to work. When he told the host what he intended to accomplish in that time, I thought “No way!”
He did it. Step by step by fluid, methodical step, with an unwavering focus (even while answering the host’s questions about why he relocated from Canada to Scotland,) he just kept working. Suddenly he was serving up tender scallops in a half-shell, encased in a prefect, flaky pastry shell to members of the audience.
When do you have it all working for you like that, dear reader? What are those situations when your movements, your intention and your focus all align so powerfully that you go into a zone?
Beautiful, isn’t it?
And the result is often magical. You can help yourself create that state when you want to by recalling past times when you’ve done it successfully. You can visualize those moments, what they looked like, how they felt, and how you felt when you were finished creating something amazing. You can go through the same preparations, take some of the same actions – it’s what the Olympic athletes do.
We are all Olympians, in our own way – why not act like it?
I honor your loving heart,
John
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