Yesterday morning at breakfast, our Spanish Galgo, Cho, barked loudly right behind me.  I yelled, “Cho!” and then laughed because I sounded just like him.  Barking woman.

Which brings me to the topic of reactivity.  Knee jerk reactions.

Many years ago, during a creative residency, composer Pauline Oliveros taught me several of her Deep Listening strategies.  One she called the instantaneous strategy.  It works like this:  when you hear a sound, you respond with a sound immediately. Or you move as fast as you can when you see or sense a movement.  Being good at this  strategy demands that the response bypasses conscious thought, which tends to slow things down.

Practicing the instantaneous strategy is different from a knee jerk reaction, in that it is intentional.  I have discovered that practicing the instantaneous strategy can tune you up for those moments when you may need to respond instinctively very, very fast.  Like when a cup slips out of your hand.  Or when a child or an animal is in danger.

Here’s is today’s recipe:  find a moment to practice being instantaneous.  Tell me about it.