To much Thinking...

When doing pottery, there is a time at the wheel when I have done a few pieces, and scrapped a few pieces that the better pots start coming out.

When I begin I have things on my mind like the texture of the clay, the stiffness or firmness, the size of vessel I want to throw, the centering technique, the speed of the wheel, the position of my hands, the wetness of the clay. Too many things are going through my head and they are louder than the muscle memory in my hands, which know how to throw a pot better than my mind does.

It is only when I have become a little tired, a little distracted that my hands take control and the piece just makes itself on the wheel. It is magic.

Now every time this happens I tell myself that the next time I sit down to throw I will not think about throwing and just let my hands and body do what they know to do, but you know me. Again I have to go through this dance until my mind is a bit more quiet again....

I had a friend who placed Bronze in the Javelin for his country many years ago and when he was describing what happened in his most successful throw it was almost exactly what I just described about my pottery.

Why is it that we let our minds get in the way of pure performance? You would think we'd know better than to think we know better..