I was practicing over at the gym, trying to stay sharp before EJC starting in about 9 days.  I had already run through 4 to 9 balls and 4 to 10 rings and some headbouncing and found that I was running out of time and would not be able to give clubs a full warm up.  So, I picked up 3 and ran triple backcross throws until they felt automatic, then pickup up 5 and immediately went into triple backcrosses with 5 clubs. Now, I don’t normally count my throws, since I know what a good pattern is and isn’t, so there’s no need to split hairs and tell myself I did well because I had 2 more catches than yesterday.  I learned not to play that game with my psyche because some days you win and some days you lose. Today, however, if I had been counting I would have certainly lost count. The run started with a good 10 throws until I began to turn to the right slightly and my left hand started to throw too low. That’s when everything felt slowed down because I corrected the following throws, a little higher and more rounded across the back so as not to collide with the lower ones coming down. Then as the run continued I felt that groove where the rhythm was symmetrical and smooth and it felt like perfection.  I stayed in that space and basked in the glory for a while. It was effortless and free, like I was a witness to juggling, observing.

Funny thing is, a few moments later I noticed my brain starting to think again, then I had to stop the pattern. That’s kind of the way it goes with nirvana juggling, it only works when you’re not thinking about it, but just being there to witness it.  Another interesting sidebar, the experience only happens to me once with a new trick, then even if I run the trick better the next time, the feeling is gone.  You can only experience something new once I suppose, then its not new anymore.

It happened the first time I juggled 5 clubs with a club balanced on my forehead. Before it was always a struggle, then one time somehow the workings of my brain that control the balance and the hands truly separated, like I was suddenly 2 places at once and aware of both. There is nothing else like it on earth. Now the trick remains, with a ball bouncing on my head instead of a club even, but he experience is gone like a strange visitation from the juggling fairy.

So, its on to the next trick then… 6 club backcrosses!