I am a pianist and composer. But when I perform in public, I never use written music nor do I memorize music before the performance. I simply use my intuition and follow what is natural to do at that moment. In other words, I create music in performance by feeling the Force. I have developed my ability over the years to practice wu wei. This is a key process in martial art techniques and also in using the Force by the Jedi. Focusing purely on moment and reducing thoughts and emotions to zero, wu wei gives the participant a reality to present environment and allows for natural action or rather to use a Taoist term - inaction. It gives the possibility of foresight and to know the outcome of the music before beginning it. But how did I develop this technique? How did I come to make music in this way?

For me, the moment that changed my life was when I was five years old and I went to see A New Hope for the first time. This is was the time I was just given a piano and I experimented with it. Watching Obi Wan instruct Luke about the Force was awe-inspiring. And I know millions of others can relate to the first time they saw Star Wars back in 1977 when they were so young. A New Hope was and continues to be life changing. What moved me and instilled in my mind the most was the scene where Obi Wan is already in his spirit form and Luke is attempting to destroy the Death Star. Obi Wan's voice guiding Luke just moved me and continues to move me now. I still get the tears. And the part where Obi Wan expressed to Luke, "Use the Force Luke!" and "Let go!" and after the Death Star is blown up, "Remember - the Force will be with you...always!" I have the shivers now....

This moment defined my attitude to life. And having received no training on the piano at all and no spiritual beliefs given to me by my parents at that age, Obi Wan became my teacher. For years, I developed this way of making music. Letting go and following intuition became second nature or indeed, my first nature. I didn't care what the music sounded like - I didn't have attachments to outcomes or opinions to cloud me. I didn't have conscious thoughts....I just played what was natural. Years later, I learned to play jazz, and then classical music. Having mastered those techniques, I let go of them. To be real to life and therefore the music, I unlearned what I had learned.

I owe the nurturing of my gift and my belief in life to that moment when I watched Obi Wan. It defined all. So my life is a testament to Star Wars and to all of you - let go....use the Force...

Jedi Hervie