Being in the Zone

We've all experienced some time or another 'being in the zone'. Athletes speak of it often. Artists experience the same. Weeks, months or years of practise, research and experience leads to a moment where all that work seems to slip away. Stripped bare of the preparation the thing you seek comes naturally, almost unconsciously. Pure joy, pure art, the zone. 

It is easy to identify this place because it has been a goal. We've worked toward it, wanted it. So when we are there, we know it. Often from that moment we dedicate our lives to pursuing it. It's like a drug.  

What about getting into the 'zone' though down a path that we haven't prepared? Can we identify ways into the zone that we haven't sought? Do we see the art in the things that we didn't expect? Often we are so caught up in reliving the thing that brought us so much joy that we miss the opportunity that comes as a result of the experience. 

Part of the reason we miss the boat is our anxiety toward the unknown. Overcoming that anxiety is the path back to the creative space, back into the zone. You cannot return by retracing the steps that got you there the first time. Overcoming anxiety is not a mountain to climb it is a habit to form. It is the creative habit.