Getting Out of Your Own Way

"Nijinsky dances best when Nijinsky is not there."

-- Nijinsky

In case you don't know, Nijinsky was a famous Russian ballet dancer of the early 20th century. He realized, as many great athletes, artists, actors, and performers of every ilk do, that the best performance happens through you, not from you. In learning theory this is sometimes referred to as "unconscious competence." You become so adept at what you do, that you don't even really do it anymore, you just get out of the way and watch it happen.

It's almost like channeling except you don't have to make up some goofy fake name like Ramalamadingdong, and pretend he is bringing it from the other side. If you want to personalize it at all, I guess you can call it your Higher Self. Your lower self, your self-consciousness, or ego, gets out of the way and your Higher Self, or Spirit, comes shining on through! And what comes through is a whole lot better than what you could do if you were thinking or trying.

To reach this stage of unconscious competence, though, you've got to practice, practice, practice. Or play, play, play, depending on how you look at it. You've got to get so good that you don't have to think about what you're doing any longer. And you've got to trust that when "you" get out of the way, brilliance will burst right on through!

Here's your challenge: To get that good, not just at dancing or painting or singing, but at life. Can you get so good at living that your life is a spontaneous expression of Spirit rather than a petty collection of fears and desires? Some call it enlightenment. Author Robert DeRopp called it "the master game," the only game worth playing. Paradoxically, we "win" the master game when we no longer play it, but when it plays itself.

Huh? Think about it. Look at how you live your life. Choose one activity or area that you would like to develop to the level of unconscious competence. And then practice and play, over and over again, until practice and play are just happening. And, if you're lucky that attitude, that no-self, will begin to bleed over into other aspects of your life, and you will find that you don't have to be there to make those parts work either, and yet, everything will be going swimmingly.

And so, I wish you all the luck in the world at losing yourself in life. May life happen, beautifully, brilliantly, perfectly without you.