I don’t believe in Zen.

But I think I know what people mean when they talk about a Zen moment.

It’s one of those times when everything seems to work together, when all the points merge, and whatever you’re doing coalesces.

We’ve all seen this in someone who’s good at their craft. You see a woman baking bread and she’s not thinking consciously about it, not pondering the steps, not laboring over it.

Instead, her whole body, soul, and spirit seem to focus intently on that loaf. And the outcome is often a marvel.

And it could be anyone. A coder, a basketball player, a nurse, an options trader, whatever someone’s craft might be.

I had one of those moments earlier today.

A piece on a window in our house had broken. Replacing it was the easy part. Getting the window back into its tracks was hard.

And I realized I was analyzing it too hard. I knew what to do, but it wasn’t a question of intellect. It was a matter of letting everything I knew come together: the feel of the window, the instructions, the sound of the pieces.

And when I let those come together, the window – which had been a real pill to fix – came together almost magically.

My lesson from that: you know more than your mind knows. Your body knows, your hands know, your eyes know.

Trust that knowledge. When you’re good at something, it comes together. And you’re better at stuff than you think you are.