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I was moving my body to music without any preconceived notion of how I should react to it. I wasn’t really dancing; or at least, I wasn’t trying to dance. I was just playing, experimenting with my body and expressing the music as I heard it. Then I noticed that my teacher was watching me with amusement. After some observation, he told me that my dance looked natural.

I do much better when I don’t try. Not that I’m a genius who excels without putting in the effort. I’m talking about my state of mind when I do something. I just do better when I am not self-conscious, whether it be dancing, singing, writing, flirting, or whatever. Once I try too hard, I thereby introduce an element of artificiality that interrupts the natural flow of things. I become awkward.

I guess this is what mastery is about: to be able to perform naturally and effortlessly at will. To be so immersed in one’s craft that one has no time even to be self-conscious. To become a child at play, who explores her surroundings and herself with intense curiosity and fun, when one chooses.

If mastery is what I think it is, man, it must be awesome to be a master of anything.