To learn to concentrate without effort
and to transform work into play
I need to have and hold a zone of silence
in my soul.
~ from Nan Merrill’s Journals
When I used to compose music, I'd sit for ages squeezing it out of myself; I made a huge effort, drove myself. But there was nothing like that this time. It was like music pouring out by itself. It was like the desire to sing – and I sang, the desire to pray – and I prayed. Do you remember?
The abbot said: "Let it come through you like something that doesn't belong to you."