Be At Choice

What is it to be at choice? For me this is all about being in the heart where there is no concept or mental frame. This is the state of being where I live in eternity and there are endless possibilities in any movement. Being at choice is all about movement and what allows our spirit to soar at any given time. Being at choice is about making choices out of the deepest wisdom in our being and on the other hand this is all about what it is to be playful.

Have you ever done any form of performing arts improvisation? The best way to describe this activity is all about saying yes to your fellow creators. Then you continue to add to the creative process. Your awareness is directly in the environment around you. You are adding something to the mix in your own unique expression. The energy you bring is what gives the next person something to work with.

I was involved in a research project designed for visual artist that we processed as three musicians, a visual artist and a dancer/movement artist. What happened literally changed my whole experience of improvisation. As a musician there was a system of improvisation, though not specifically stated, each musician added what he or she wanted to add to the mix. With the dancer/movement artist it was similar. There was a cohesive language of the movement that was easy to follow.

The visual artist stunned me, because his methods/awareness turned the improvisation into a new type of language. For me this dynamically changed the relationship I had with my fellow musicians. As the visual artist began with a black ink well, a large Asian paintbrush and a long roll of white paper I experienced rhythm in a whole new way. This was not a linear rhythm, but a holistic rhythm experience. My brain didn’t know what to do and my body found the spatial rhythm and engaged. This changed the very essence of how our musical experience unfolded. There was a new set of boundaries. What was always linear moved into a non-linear state. I felt so odd until I let go of my mind having to track anything and went for it, fully present in the moment. Ah, being at choice.