Almost a decade ago I would say often that music is not self-service. A decade later, I still believe that’s true, but I will go further.

Now, when I play I feel detached. I feel that my mind is not contained within my physical body. I perceive my self, the part of me that’s not connected to the body, interacting with the other musicians and the audience. I feel the other selfs interacting and engaging with me. In my mind’s eye I see ths big ball of light form and pulse. I feel the music is a creation of the whole, not a work of one.

After the show is over, audiences and musicians alike look at each other as if they were in on the mystical experience. They give the approving nod, fist bump, and smile.

I find work outside of music similar, but perhaps not as mystical. People’s energy interacting and engaging with one another trying to solve a problem or make something happen. The more positive (read literally) energy in the zoom room, the more likely we’ll be productive.

It’s easy to sit here and waive my hands about mystical experiences to you. I want this to be a generous post, and I want you to walk away with what I think makes this happens.

1. Intent. An earnest intent that what you are about to do is not about yourself, and it’s for others.
2. Hang. Musicians use the term “hang” to mean what it’s like to be around someone; you need make a good hang happen . Use humor, take an interest in someone and ask about their life, share something, or whatever you can to make the experience of being around you warm and welcoming. People won’t open up if they don’t feel comfortable around you.
3. Humility. Open yourself up to what happens. Be ready to admit when your idea doesn’t work. Be open to ideas of others. Be open to the ideas that make no sense at all — sometimes those are the best. Be humble about yourself and the process.
4. Willingness. A willingness to act on ideas, even if they appear silly or nonsensical. If you’re not willing to act, then it will be impossible to create something meaningful.
5. Humility (2nd time). It’s not about you and it never was. It’s bigger than you. It’s beyond you.
6. You are not your mind. Remembering that what you think is not who you are, there’s an observer behind what you’re thinking and doing — that little voice in the back of your head or your “gut”. Listen to it!

Looking at the six points above, it would seem these experiences have more to do with your mindset than anything else, and perhaps that’s the point. The mysticism of the arts and a great team is not in some “method” or “best practice” or in the Harvard Business Review. That this would seem mystical is a paradox — it’s unintuitive to have such a practical intuition-centered method to get to a place that we humans have been getting to for a very long time.

Perhaps what’s hard is to accept that you might be the problem — your mind that is. I imagine that if someone were to present a rigorously peer-reviewed randomized control large sample sized trial which major media would then pick up and popularize would make the materialist-oriented mind feel more certain. I get that. I think tons and my mind often gets in the way, and that’s when I make mistakes.

And perhaps I’m overthinking now… but I don’t think so. This feels right.

Last modified on 2026-02-12