At The Water's Edge
Peak Moments
I'm not an expert on the psychologist Abraham Maslow but I became familiar with some of his concepts such as "peak moments" and "self-actualization" from reading Dr. Wayne Dyer's book The Sky's The Limit.
For me, peak moments seem to result in me feeling not only completely in "tune with myself" but also simultaneously actually in touch with something greater than myself. Peak moments have mostly occurred for me when I've been writing.
However I've also had what I've I've felt are "peak moments" at other times when life seems to "fall into place, everything is working out, dare I say, there's a sense of getting the "magic back". These maybe just coincedences, happenstances etc but to me sometimes they feel they have significance. There are perhaps what Jung refers to as syncronicities. I'm not convinced that my experiences of writing and what I've described here are unrelated in as much as what brings them about - there is always this sense of being in tune with both myself and something else.
Conversely I feel I've been "creatively blocked" when perhaps I've been trying too hard to recapture the feeling. Likewise in life. Things feel like they're going badly when I'm out of touch, not in tune with myself. Sometimes when I feel it's when I'm trying too hard.
Tim Gallwey, in his book The Inner Game of Tennis talks about Self 1 and Self 2, where Self 1 is perhaps our ego centric persona and Self 2 is the one that excels if we'd only allow it to. Interestingly I think I have become aware of this when I've been performing: the nerves, "not trusting myself, trying too hard" of Self 1 getting in the way of Self 2. I think it those performers who are happy (or have learned to trust), havbe the confidence of their Self 2s are the best performers and perhaps capture best those "peak moments" on stage.
I have a feeling these moments may also be related / similar to meditative experiences.
It's the persuing of these peak experiences that I think Joseph Campbell meant when he coined the phrase: "follow your bliss".
