In The Pocket

There's a phrase musicians use for a rhythm section that finds the groove and stays there: "in the pocket."  It's a zen thing.  Like being in the zone.  Being the ball.  Once you're there, it's effortless, intuitive.  It just flows.  Getting there isn't quite so easy, though.  It requires practice, confidence, and the ability to make infinitesimal adjustments to rhythm and tempo that bring all the players into alignment with each other.  If you make a conscious effort to make it happen, you lose it almost instantly.  But if you reach out with your heart to the others in the band, feel where they're playing from, the groove catches you all up to a new level of playing, where it's not just a song anymore, it's genuine music.

Life has its "in the pocket" times too--days when everything  just seems to fall into place without any help from us.  Serendipity.  Synchronicity.  Even the traffic cooperates to get us where we need to be right when we need to be there.  It can't be forced any more than a groove can.  But it can be invited by being prepared to do our best, believing that the universe wants to cooperate, adjusting to the changes we encounter along the way, and reaching out with our hearts to those who are along for the ride.