Running and My Friend the Owl

My Friend the Owl
(acrylics)

I had a great but strange experience today during my run. I was on the treadmill going a fairly casual pace; I was trying to take it easy because of a recent muscle injury. When I run on the treadmill in my apt gym, I like to focus on the palm trees outside. At night they are lit up by lights at the base of their trunks, and for some reason I very much like looking at them. I suppose I was focusing more than usual on the palm trees today because I found myself getting into the "zone" during my run. I've experienced the zone while running once (maybe twice) before, and what happens is that suddenly running becomes automatic, effortless, and thoughtless. I feel a strong concentration and calm when I'm in the zone and it truly feels like I can run forever. But the really interesting thing this time was the imagery that accompanied my entering the zone. When focusing on the palm tree today I noticed that part of the palm tree kind of looked like a giant owl. The more I looked at it, the more it actually started to resemble a giant owl. This really caught my attention. Then I started imagining that it actually was a giant owl and that, depending on how I looked at it, would move around a bit. So if I decided that a certain part of the palm tree was the owl's head, it would look like the owl was looking at me. If I decided that part was its wing, then the owl would be facing away from me. Then I imagined the owl just kind of hanging out and fluttering his wings a bit, pretty much just being a real-live giant owl. The idea of this giant owl in this palm tree really transfixed me for some reason, and I found myself focusing so much on the owl that I completely forgot about my running...and that's when I found myself in the zone. Once I realized I was in the zone, I started associating the owl as the guardian of this experience. When I saw him in the palm tree, I could keep being in the zone, but once I couldn't see him there anymore I fell out of the zone and start thinking about running again. Also, I began associating the owl with being the regulator of my heartbeat, which was rhythmic and so incredibly calm when I was in the zone. Every time he looked at me I decided, my heart would beat like it was sleeping instead of running at 7 miles per hour. All in all the giant owl was a great running buddy. After my run, I was so appreciative that I came back home and painted a picture of a giant owl in a palm tree (see painting above). I wonder if he will be a running companion from now on? I can only hope!