Page 150 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

CHAPTER 18

MAKING SANDALS

To walk a thorny road, we may cover its every inch with leather or we can make sandals.

Anger. Fear. Desperation. Excitement . Happi nes s. Despai r. Hope. Emotions are
part of our lives. We would be fools to den y such a rich element of the huma n
experience. But, when our emotions overwhel m us , we can get sloppy. If fear
reduces us to tears, we might not act effectively in a genui nel y da nge rous

situation. If we seethe when someone crosses us, we may make de cisions we
come to regret. If we get giddy when thi ngs are looki ng up, we will pr oba bl y
make some careless mistakes that tur n o ur go od s ituat ion ups ide d own.
Competitors have different ways of appr oachi ng thei r emotions in the he at

of battle. Many either feel that their natur al movements are irrepressibl e or fail
to consider the question altogether. Thes e are not ideal appr oaches —i f we do n’t
think the issue through, chances are we will be cont rolled by our pa ssions .
There are performers who recognize the disrupt ive potential of emotions and

try to turn them off, become cold, detached, steely. For some personal ities thi s
might work, although in my opini on denial tends to melt down whe n the
pressure becomes fierce. Then there are tho se elite per formers who us e emotion,
observing their moment and then channel ing everythi ng int o a de epe r focus

that generates a uniquely flavored creativity. Thi s is an interesting, resilient
approach based on flexibility and subt le int rospect ive awareness. Ins tead of
being bullied by or denying their unco ns cious , thes e players let the ir int erna l
movements avor their res.

Over the years, at various stages of my dev elopm ent, I hav e found myself all
over this spectrum. In time, I have come to believe that thi s last style, rooted