I find driving fills me with a self-confidence or smoothness that I have no where else in my life. The act of guiding a ton and a half of metal down an asphalt path at high-speed seems to fit me like no other activity does. I seem to have an almost symbiotic relationship with vehicles of any type. Admittedly when I first get to know a new car or vehicle I’m horrible. But soon that changes and given enough time I become a virtuoso. I can feel how much or how little pressure it takes to change direction or to alter the weight of my foot on the accelerator to get just enough acceleration to pass someone else without going all out. In return I can “feel” when the engine makes an odd noise or when the pavement changes or if that driver to the left and behind me is getting too close to my bumper.
Perhaps it’s the affinity of someone who spends a lot of time around vehicles. Perhaps it’s the stillborn soul of the jet pilot that I never grew up to be screaming for release. The awkward and unsure clod melts away and in his place is a confident and suave operator manipulating the control with a minimum of effort and creating ballet like results on the road.
In Japanese there is the concept of mushin no shin, or loosely translated into English, no mind. This is a state of mind where someone has so thoroughly mastered a skill or a movement that he can do it without thinking. The individual does not think at all about the action but the body follows the action perfectly without any need to think.
This state of mind (state of being?) mainly applies to physical actions such as various martial arts or sports where an individual will practice and practice until the actions become innate.
This state however can also be found in other activities that are not physical. For example, some chessmasters that I have seen play can readily dispatch opponents of lesser skill with the minimum of concentration and very few moves. Some painters I know seem to go through their painting process seemingly not even drawing a breath but deliberately and systematically painting a scene as if they’d done it a million times.
This is the state of mind that I want to achieve not just in one aspect of my life but in more if not all aspects. Being so self-confident and so sure of my actions that I can proceed ahead without thought or without hesitation.
If I can focus my intent to this degree then what could I not achieve?
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