The Subconscious Mind

   Today, Dr. Arin Reeves spoke in our Leadership Lyceum. She has led research projects on inclusion in the workplace, and gave an insightful talk about the conscious mind vs. the subconscious mind, and how biases can steer you wrong. Great content that will surely influence my thinking. But one thing she said rang true with me immediately: that once you've become literate, you can't become illiterate. And reading becomes a subconscious activity; you must set your intentions for great presence to pull out of that. The subconscious also "fills in the blanks" for you, allowing you to sing all the lyrics to a song you may not have heard since your youth.
   It's interesting to me because I constantly notice that I can sing along with all the lyrics to a song more easily when I don't think about it. Same with physical activities such as swimming or snowboarding; the harder you fight to consciously perfect your performance, the worse it may become. There is definitely a "groove" that you get into that makes the activity shift from effort to enjoyment.
   When I was in Breck in January, I could feel myself in that groove pretty much the entire trip. I hadn't been riding in over a YEAR, but picked it up again quickly, and by the end of day one, had moved from the blue slopes to the blacks. My music felt in sync with my movement too.
   Where I went wrong in Steamboat is that I was conscious that I wasn't fully in this groove, though I very much wanted to be. I've taken one or maybe two trips a year, with only about 4 days on mountain per trip. That time is precious—I don't live near mountains, so I make the most of my time out there. On this trip, we had alternating bluebird days and whiteout days. The conditions were tough. I was trying to keep up with a friend who has lived out there and snowboarded regularly for years. I wasn't at his level, I wasn't in sync, and I got injured.
   What I learned is that sometimes all the conscious energy you spend on something that needs to feel "natural" can't equal that easy flow when you're in the zone. You can't force it. And when you do, well....?