flamingdog

Caffeine is a drug. And I've experienced it on ecstasy and magic mushrooms. Especially mushrooms, in low doses. I felt the same sense of enlightened control and enigmatic euphoria when I was on them, was such a trip. My typing was flawless, my mind was racing, but totally under my control.

Inducing it at will... the only way I could think to do that is to just put yourself in the shittiest position possible then will yourself out of it. If anything will bring 'the zone' on, then that will.

I remember one time about 18 months ago, I left all my work for that week's paper completely until the very last minute. Like, I didn't even start on it till deadline day. In one day, I produced five page lead articles, including a full page feature, which by itself necessitated photography, at least four separate interviews and writing time... that was on top of the other four pieces.

I worked on all five simultaneously, switching between as the info I needed came in. Was fucking brilliant.

That day, every phone call I placed was picked up straight away. I got great quotes. My shorthand was blazing. I was purely, simply, a machine tasked with producing those articles. Nothing else was important. I didn't eat, or break, save for making one cup of tea in the afternoon.

I was exhausted by the end of it, and I never did it to myself again. I get it with other things too, illustrating, writing, sometimes (rarely) gaming. You lose all sense of the world around you, except for what you're doing, and you can't help but do it right.

The times I've played drums in front of a crowd, I had it then too. Totally focused, totally in control of my movements, can feel the rhythm pumping through me, I know exactly where my sticks are going next, what's coming up in the song, dynamic phrases, pauses, places I need to fill, and even when I dropped a stick, nobody even noticed, my flow was so good.