Stories from Lockdown

May 27, 2020

Del Mar, CA

 

 

Back in the Zone

 

                                                                                  

 

 

Today I spent some zone time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my zone.  Vicki and I played golf with Rob Schannon, a retired psychiatrist from Kaiser Permanente. If he didn’t make a putt, he was close. His stroke was smooth and effortless, and his speeds and lines were good. He couldn’t miss. He was in the zone.

 

                                                        

 

 

Years ago, when I taught at CSPP, I sometimes would find the zone. Zones I think go hand in hand with creativity, and this was so in my case. If I felt secure and engaged with the class, I discovered a phenomenon. Student questions seemed to slow down and drift across the room. By the time one reached me, I had several responses at the ready. I could use humor, go Socratic, or move in other directions. Such times were fun and effortless. I was in the zone.

 

                                                                            

 

Steph Curry of the Golden Steph Warriors is a zone guy. Watch him. When he moves to the basket, he doesn’t know what he is going to do. He creates as he goes. It is as if he is on another frequency than the other players on the floor. 

 

                                                                                        

 

Listen to Take Five by Dave Brubeck. If that isn’t zone work, I don’t know what is. Create, improvise and create and improvise. Jazz in the zone! Torvill and Dean, the famous English ice dancers, who won Olympic gold in Sarajevo in 1984 were residents of the zone. They flowed across the ice and seemed to surpass human limitations. The created magic in the moment.