I Believe I Can Flow
I think anything that takes a one-point focus is mesmerizing to watch. I’m not into golf, but if it's on, I love watching the intensity on the player's faces as they set up their shot. You can tell nothing else is seeping through. The rest of the world fades away. It's them, the feeling of the grip of their club in their hand, the air on their face, a deep breath and swing on the exhale. Then the spell is broken. What's the score? What are the chances of the next chump’s shot? But a moment ago there was nothing but that moment. When there is no future, no past, that is when we are truly free. So we are drawn to it
That's where you want your barber. In one of those moments, in a collection of those moments that add up into that sick fade bro. To be what I consider a good barber. That's where you need to be. There is only you, the stroke of the clippers, the flow of conversation between you, possibly across the room. I'm not always a good barber. Sometimes I find myself thinking about some bullshit that has nothing to do with the haircut I'm currently in or the words swirling around me. I search and dig deep for as many of these moments I can flow into.
It started when I started riding my bike again a few years ago. THE FEELING ON MY BIKE, it's a drug I want everywhere in my life. I want it with every haircut, so I actively sit in these moments where everything fades away except what's right in front of me, no matter what it is. If it's good, soak it up. If it's what I have deemed bad; can I shift my perspective? Or can I see more clearly how the manipulation of variables could make it what I have deemed is good? Can I let it lie?
What is your one-point focus? Where in your day does everything else fade away. Can you push it? Extending it. What activities split your head in 10 different ways? Why is that?
What is there to be done about it? Nothing you say. The brain just works that way. Nay good sirs, ladies, and unicorns everywhere! The mind is a muscle. When I notice I am not really where I am. Maybe my hands are technically cutting this peep's hair, but my mind is already on my impending spa day, 2 edibles and 3 saunas deep. I hit pause.
In the recesses of this energetic fireball, the awareness pops out. “Hey, you are in two places at once right now. Pick one.” The key here is that once you notice your brain splitting, you don't judge yourself for the fact that it happened. Just acknowledge it and try to pick one of the ten places your brain wants you to be. This is the push-up for the brain. When you start doing this it's okay to only be able to successfully redirect your thinking once a day.
If you have taken time off at the gym, say fifteen years like I did. When you go back it's okay that you can only do one push-up on your knees. We all have faith that if we keep doing those push-ups on our knees, one day, we will be able to do one with our knees lifted high and proud. It's the same with your brain. Cut yourself some slack. People have been telling you all your life that you are subject to your thoughts when it can be the other way round. It's fucking hard. Just like the last rep. Enjoy the process, laugh at yourself when you fail at this and keep going. Anything else is a waste of your precious time.
your irreverent pope