In an instant you are a different person, you are capable, a natural, maybe even talented. How that happens when you hit one lousy golf ball is nothing short of a miracle. You’ve swung a million times in what feels like the same way, but all of a sudden you feel that crack and you know you connected. Your head is down so you almost forget to look up and enjoy the arc of that tiny white ball. It may not happen again so you have to soak it in.

Why after a morning of completely sucking at golf I can hit one ball and all is right with the world? Maybe it is my nice breathable golf shirt, or my glove or the fact that I put the label of the golf ball facing up, whatever the reason my mood has changed and my confidence returns with abundance.

I can’t help but think of golf as I struggle to draw the human figure from a live model. I’ve found a refuge at Palette and Chisel for my need to draw; in many ways it is like golf for me….something I need to work at. But every now and then the stars align and I make a nice drawing, the figure has weight, proportion and even a resemblance to the model. I’ve capture the contra posto stance and created some volume using light and dark conte crayons. Most of the time I wonder if I really know anything about what I am doing and suddenly I’m humming a little tune of success.

Golfer, Ben Hogan describes his joy after a good shot as deeper than enjoying a mint julep on the porch of the clubhouse. “You are neither fully in control nor fully at the whim of your environment. You lose track of time. You are a tuning fork that has been struck and your frequency is in tune with everything around you.”

This only happens once in a great while but just enough to keep us coming back to these sports and activities. We seek that moment of clarity, where for one brief shining moment we are in the Camelot of our day, or week or even year. I wish you all a Happy New Year of connected shining moments.