Performing in the "Play Box"

I’m on stage in Antwerp, Belgium behind my keyboard, guitar strapped on, looking out of at the biggest crowd I’d ever seen in my life. I feel like a deer in headlights, like it’s so real but at the same time like it’s all a dream that I’ve played so many times in my head. I’d been on an emotional rollercoaster in the last week - the phone call as I walked on the beach in Nice that told me my mom had ended her battle with cancer, the flight home sobbing and writing furiously in my journal, the funeral in the big black sunglasses, the throwing of the rose on top of her casket that lowered in the ground, the gripping onto loved ones as I wailed, and eventually somehow making it back in one piece (at least on the outside) within three days to this moment.  And yet - I was here. Doing the thing I had dreamed of my entire life. And you know what? I made it through. I played my parts, I nailed my harmonies, I was able to rise above everything else that was going on and just do it. My body, my training, all the hours of rehearsal did not fail me. My mind wasn’t even anywhere ready to think about what I was doing, but it all came together.

I say this because so many times I see people stuck in their heads still during a performance. Yes, if you’re in rehearsal mode or learning mode, of course you need to remember the counting and the lyrics and the notes, however once the performance hits, it’s important to go to that “other” place, what the amazing Dr. Joe Dispenza calls the “Play Box”. (Dr. Joe Dispenza - Part II. The Think Box vs. Play Box). The place where you’re so present that the thoughts cannot even begin or end. I love this place, and it’s why I love performing. It feels a little bit scary to release the mind and just focus on the feeling and the emotion and the enjoyment of the music and connection to the crowd, but this is where true performance technique (if you can even call it that) lies. Moreover, this is where miracles and magic happen, where music can transcend time and space and thought and really make lasting changes within people. That’s why people leave concerts feeling…something. Feeling…different. Because when the performer is in that place, it allows anyone else who is there to be in that place too.   So, it’s important to trust all the work you have done, know that it will be there for you, and simply go into feeling instead of thinking.  

I look back now and instead of thinking “I can’t believe I made it through that”, I see why I did, and I CAN believe it. 

If you want to read more like this, and stay updated with my latest releases and offerings, please subscribe to my mailing list by clicking here. And, can you relate? Have you had any experience with being in thought vs. feeling? Maybe it’s while playing a sport, or while painting, or gardening or cooking. I’d love to hear what you think and about your experiences. And always, if there’s anything you’d like me to write about please let me know by leaving a comment or e-mailing me here. Onward.  

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All love,

Kat