Inevitable Perfection

The essence of being good at something - anything - is to make it look like it couldn't be any other way. Like having skin so good it looks like it can't break out. A girl in my dorm had skin like that, smooth and golden-tan and somehow thicker-looking than other people's. We all envied her because even when our skin was technically clear, it still looked likely to break out at any moment. Or ice-skating with such strength and skill that it's like the jumps are pulling you up and whirling you around, and the edge of your skate is drawn back to the ice like a magnet - like there couldn't be any other way for you to land. There's a world of difference between a skater like that and a skater who lands the jumps but it looks like work, and you're all clenched up watching them afraid that they will fall.

I have mastered this only as far as traffic lights. When you're waiting at a light, instead of willing the light to turn green and being frustrated that it's still red, you should imagine the light on the cross-street being inexorably drawn to turning yellow, like it just can't help it. The difference is pulling in your imagination, instead of pushing, and seeing the change not so much what you want, as inevitable. Thinking of it this way makes the time pass faster than if you're trying to force it to happen. I have not yet been able to transfer this trick to skin or skating.