For the interest in the twisties and in not overthinking, Nerve: Poise Under Pressure, Serenity Under Stress, and the Brave New Science of Fear and Cool
by Taylor Clark is a good book.
This is something that I'm always interested in to try and perform better in pressure situations.
"When anxiety turns our attention inward and we try to consciously control a highly rehearsed skill, we essentially ditch our hard-won subconscious expertise. "If self-awareness makes you take something automatic and suddenly start paying attention to it again, that disrupts the whole process," Baumeister explained. "It's shifted you from a skill execution mode back to a learning mode where you're figuring out what to do—only the conscious mind doesn't know how to do it." Psychologists call this process "dechunking," and Gray likens it to taking a superefficient Porsche engine and randomly tweaking some bolts; you're just going to introduce problems. As he and Beilock have written, inward attention under pressure breaks a seamless motion like a baseball swing "back down into a sequence of smaller, independent units, similar to how the performance was organized early in learning," and each of these units becomes newly susceptible to failure. Internal monitoring simply turns expert performers into jerky, hesitant, mistake-prone novices"
And just cause I think these are so cool, Tilt-shift Teahupo'o for those who might like it.
“State of flow”—I live for those moments, whether I’m writing or drawing.
Asteroid City—my favorite of Wes Anderson’s movies. I have the lunch box Alamo Theatres sells. Do Not Detonate Without Presidential Approval is a great read; it’s a series of essays old and new about the inspirations for the film:
Regarding the not thinking part of being an athlete… I’ve experienced this most recently as a beginner rower. While swimming has always been my sport, I tend to think *too much* while swimming laps (though maybe not so much during a race), rowing takes so much focus there is no space for anything else. I look forward to practice because it means I get to not think for 1+ hours. Just watch the person in front of me, listen for the plunk of the oars, and feel the boat. We even do eyes-closed drills to reinforce this!
Well, I have the paperback I bought at SXSW but didn't get you to sign. Maybe I need the hardback with your sig to give to my artist sister. Thanks Austin, for being you.
Love that you are appreciating all the quirky things at the Olympics too. I watched trampoline for the first time today. I really thought they were going to jump to the ceiling at some point! These athletes work for years to perform for just a few minutes - cannot help but be emotional for them. 🕊💙📚🎶
My kids mock me for turning everything into a reference to our Karate practice, but it a rich resource! Case in point, an ideal we reach for when performing our kata (forms) is the zen concept of "mu shin" - empty mind. We practice and practice and practice while thinking and correcting and refining, but once it is time to demonstrate the kata, the ideal is to just do it with no more thought.
As an illustrator as well, this mode is much easier to get into when I'm sketching or noodling around - just pick up the pencil and start. No thought, just do. I feel lucky to have that mental place available to me.
For the interest in the twisties and in not overthinking, Nerve: Poise Under Pressure, Serenity Under Stress, and the Brave New Science of Fear and Cool
by Taylor Clark is a good book.
This is something that I'm always interested in to try and perform better in pressure situations.
"When anxiety turns our attention inward and we try to consciously control a highly rehearsed skill, we essentially ditch our hard-won subconscious expertise. "If self-awareness makes you take something automatic and suddenly start paying attention to it again, that disrupts the whole process," Baumeister explained. "It's shifted you from a skill execution mode back to a learning mode where you're figuring out what to do—only the conscious mind doesn't know how to do it." Psychologists call this process "dechunking," and Gray likens it to taking a superefficient Porsche engine and randomly tweaking some bolts; you're just going to introduce problems. As he and Beilock have written, inward attention under pressure breaks a seamless motion like a baseball swing "back down into a sequence of smaller, independent units, similar to how the performance was organized early in learning," and each of these units becomes newly susceptible to failure. Internal monitoring simply turns expert performers into jerky, hesitant, mistake-prone novices"
And just cause I think these are so cool, Tilt-shift Teahupo'o for those who might like it.
https://clubofthewaves.com/feature/tilt-shift-photos-of-teahupoo/
Thanks for the wonderful info and tunes this week.
That's totally it — thanks for the excerpt!
The tilt-shift wave photos are awesome, thank you for linking!
“State of flow”—I live for those moments, whether I’m writing or drawing.
Asteroid City—my favorite of Wes Anderson’s movies. I have the lunch box Alamo Theatres sells. Do Not Detonate Without Presidential Approval is a great read; it’s a series of essays old and new about the inspirations for the film:
https://pushkinpress.com/book/do-not-detonate-without-presidential-approval/#:~:text=Featuring%208%20newly%20commissioned%20pieces,Anderson's%20new%20film%20Asteroid%20City.
Thanks for that.
I really liked Asteroid City too. I'll have to look this up.
Regarding the not thinking part of being an athlete… I’ve experienced this most recently as a beginner rower. While swimming has always been my sport, I tend to think *too much* while swimming laps (though maybe not so much during a race), rowing takes so much focus there is no space for anything else. I look forward to practice because it means I get to not think for 1+ hours. Just watch the person in front of me, listen for the plunk of the oars, and feel the boat. We even do eyes-closed drills to reinforce this!
Austin! Have you seen this new book about Tove Jansson? Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517917296/tove-jansson/
I have not!
I think Gopnik might also be getting at what the athletes are talking about - a kind of being in the present, no thinking, flow state.
Well, I have the paperback I bought at SXSW but didn't get you to sign. Maybe I need the hardback with your sig to give to my artist sister. Thanks Austin, for being you.
Love that you are appreciating all the quirky things at the Olympics too. I watched trampoline for the first time today. I really thought they were going to jump to the ceiling at some point! These athletes work for years to perform for just a few minutes - cannot help but be emotional for them. 🕊💙📚🎶
My kids mock me for turning everything into a reference to our Karate practice, but it a rich resource! Case in point, an ideal we reach for when performing our kata (forms) is the zen concept of "mu shin" - empty mind. We practice and practice and practice while thinking and correcting and refining, but once it is time to demonstrate the kata, the ideal is to just do it with no more thought.
As an illustrator as well, this mode is much easier to get into when I'm sketching or noodling around - just pick up the pencil and start. No thought, just do. I feel lucky to have that mental place available to me.