This is my latest painting. I am stuck, and I can't get motivated to finish it. I am stuck at a point on this one where I usually begin to deeply enjoy painting. At this point, usually time begins to be meaningless, my surroundings fall away from my awareness and I am “in the Zone”. I know that everyone has something they do that allows them to feel invigorated and wide awake. For my father that’s running, he runs marathons and gets in his “Zone” within a few miles. A friend and colleague is a programmer, he gets in the zone when the program begins to show promise, when his confidence in what he is working on goes from maybe to certainly. He says time stands still and clarity hits him and his coding fingers fly. Another friend is a writer, he has the same experience as I am sure you do when you are into something you enjoy or that challenges you.
After working on this painting several evenings in a row I just couldn’t continue my motivation to do more. I know why. It’s simple. I don’t like pine trees. I never have. They provide little shade unless they are densely packed and then they are almost uninviting because very little underbrush will grow beneath the canopy of a pine forest. I realize that this seems silly, but it’s the only excuse I could come up with.
The zone is the point at which we are singularly focused on the task at hand. We are “in the moment” and mindful. But I find that I can’t just turn it on, it has to happen, I believe that the Zone is a mix of emotions. It’s a cocktail of feelings that your served when you are just enjoying life. You get it when you are doing something that feeds your soul. I know many artists who go through the motions every day sculpting, painting, turning bowls. Each piece they complete is good but when you ask them to show you their best, those pieces are usually associated with how they felt at the time. My point here is that sometimes when we do something we really enjoy it begins to become stale. That thing you loved for whatever reason doesn’t do it for you today. Running, diving, canoeing, basketball, painting, and playing the (shakuhachi) flute can all get stale and tasteless. But that’s ok, keep at it! This is something that you love to do afterall. Change your activity a little. Do something you haven’t done before while doing whatever it is you get pleasure from. For me I am painting a few oaks with my pine trees, I hate pine trees but the challenge of painting them may turn in to that elusive joy I can only get when I’m “in the zone”. Maybe it will happen soon, if I only just keep going.

Zoning out.