The sound of the city, baby, seems to disappear, oh when I can hear music, sweet, sweet music (The Beach Boys)

Wie geht's?

I've enjoyed reading Jenny Boyd's interviews with musicians discussing their creativity.

One of her questions was about how they feel in a peak moment. So many of the musicians say that it is like an out of body experience, that they are not consciously thinking - it's all instinctive and it's as if it's another person playing their instrument.

Jazz musician Paul Horn: In playing, what I have transcended is my self-consciousness, my mind drifting on to other things. I'm unaware of myself, I'm totally absorbed in the music, and as I get more absorbed in the music, then more can happen. 

This reminded me of when I've played sport. My focus becomes such that I didn't hear anything because my tackles or passes while playing football or shots (tennis/ squash/ badminton) are instinctive. I didn't think about it, let alone overthink it. If I do that, become self-conscious, the moment will pass and I will fail.

I can well remember playing certain games - making a slide tackle or whatever and then sort of snapping back to consciousness and it's that point I could hear the crowd. That happened once in a game long long ago and I had a kind of epiphany about awareness/ unawareness of self.

One of my favourite pictures is that double exposure of myself wearing my University of Auckland sweatshirt in the late seventies. It's the one I have chosen for my blog's profile picture - me looking at me self-consciously reading a book by Henry Miller, self-consciously wearing that sweatshirt. That was exactly my idea at the time.

Love and peace - Wozza