In the Zone

When this morning dawned, I had every intention of sitting down and writing a post for The Creative.   It was Wednesday, I had remembered it was Wednesday, and I was even coherent enough to realize that Wednesday meant it was a day to post on The Creative. 

So why is it nearly nine o'clock at night and I'm just now posting?  In short, I got in the zone.

We often hear about athletes getting "in the zone," but what does that really mean?  What does that really look like?

At least for me, the zone is a place where time has no meaning.  For that matter, neither do pain, pleasure, hunger, or thirst.  The zone is a small place, a sparsely-populated place, a place that holds only me and my project.  It is a magical place, a fantastic place, sort of like Disney World if I could get everyone out of the park except for me and whatever piece I happen to be working on at the time.  Much like I enjoy spending time at Disney World, I like spending time in the zone.

This morning, I was working on an arrangement, and everything was just clicking -- ideas were flowing, chords were making sense, melodies were taking unexpected and delightful turns.  It was a place that was so nice, so wonderful, that I didn't want to leave.

Now, of course, I did finally leave the zone ... and then life got in the way, enough to drive the thoughts of a post here clear out of my head until the evening.  Despite all of that, despite how hectic my day was otherwise, I still have that happy thought of the few hours I spent in the zone, and the magic that was there.

Keep an eye out ... if you're creating and everything just seems to be going well and you find you don't care about anything except what you're working on ... then you're probably in the zone.  Enjoy your time there, because it's a wonderful and rare place to be.  Here's hoping you'll find yourself there soon.