I remember the moment as if yesterday. I was sitting in a darkened
technology lab at the Education Service Center, Region 8 planning a
presentation. My master’s work was fresh behind me (only 2-3 years out
from graduation), and my mind was keen (at least, it seemed so with the
arrogance of youth <grin>). As I broke down the presentation, I was
amazed at how quickly I could outline the talk, seemingly chiseling out
the ideas on a blank sheet of paper. I was just learning how to use
Powerpoint…and it all seemed new then. I had to THINK about what I was
doing. Ahh, to have those days again <wink>.

Recently, I have been slogging through S5
Simple Standards Slide Show (thanks for the
mention, Wes) and it hit me that the feeling I was experiencing was
the same as that day. S5, because I was doing my editing in a an
HTML friendly text editor (BlueFish
on Linux, BTW, although I use Crimson
Editor on Windows and TextWrangler
on Mac) was forcing me to slow down and think about what I was writing,
and putting into the presentation. For the first time in a long time, I
spent HOURS putting a presentation together, revising, pruning, starting
over. In other words, I did what I so seldom do anymore when using
Powerpoint–reflect deeply about what I’m going to present about. The
experience changed my perspective on the power of composing, and has
pushed me off in a different direction. My first reaction to the
slow-down was, "Man, it’s just taking too long to do this, what with
going for HTML Tutorials to get positioning of images approximately
right." But then, I understood what was really happening…

I had entered the Writing Zone, and that is ALWAYS for the good. If
you’re a writer, you know what I mean. You slip into the Zone, and hours
can go by, and they pass unnoticed. You are so enraptured by the
experience of writing that nothing else matters (ahh, if only exercising
could be like that). I LOVE being in the Zone and when I’m there,
writing isn’t difficult, hard, miserable or anything. It’s like tapping
into a power source. I hate interruptions ("Dad, would you feed me
now?"; "Honey, would you do something?") when I’m in the Zone. I’m
considering flicking a switch that turns on a red, flashing light.

Another neat thing about being in the Zone is that I’m not hungry when
I’m there…or thirsty or anything. All there is…is the Zone.

If blogging isn’t good for anything else, or anyone else, it’s good for
getting me in the Zone. It’s darn addictive.

Whew! See what I mean? I got lost in it again. A quick note about text
editors. Aren’t they great? Forget the clunky word processors in
MS/Open-Office, or even AbiWord (which crashes on Windows and is clunky
on Mac). The text editor never lets you down, it’s just you and the
words.

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure