Heroes Not Zombies

In my A to Z of Becoming I’ve previously considered both “zoom” and “zigzag” for the letter Z, but this time I’m thinking about “zone”.

We don’t often use “zone” as a verb, but in France it’s used quite a lot to indicate a particular area – “ZA” can be a “Zone d’Activitiés” – for example, a “Zone Artisanales” is an area where there are a number of small businesses (artisan in France is used as a term for someone who has a trade, like a plumber, or electrician). It’s used to define an area which is designated for some particular purpose – shops, small businesses, factories, or even economic areas (like the “zone euro”).

The other kind of zone we think about in English is captured by the phrase “to be in the zone” – which is one of the key definitions of happiness.

If we zone in on something then we focus on it (a bit like that other z verb, zoom – we can zoom in on something) – but zone also has an element of a boundary to it.

If we declare a zone we set a perimeter. Or if we get into the zone, we set a perimeter of our attention.

Here’s one of the paradoxes of becoming – we need to be able to take in the whole, (the view from on high) and we need to be able to focus on parts (to zone in). Iain McGilchrist’s hypothesis is this is exactly why we have two cerebral hemispheres – the right to see the whole, and the left to analyse or focus in.

So, here’s the thought for this week. What zoning would you like to do? Is there something you really love doing which would let you “get into the zone”? If so, set aside some time this week and do it!

Or do you need to create a zone – a place, an area in place and/or time, for a particular activity? In other words, what do you need to make space for, and how are you going to protect that space? By declaring a zone? A meditation zone? A writing zone?

A …… (you fill in the blanks) zone