It was almost twenty years ago, for me, and to this day I wonder if I kept MY eyes open for mine. I remember the chirp of the upwind gear and the stall warning..then a blank..Then the plane straight, rolling to a stop. The Reptilian hindbrain must have taken over. I liked landings, Till then. The PA-38-112 hates XWinds. The Weather was going downhill, though and there were no good choices- with the front coming through the ride felt the way a moth does when it blunders into a window fan.
I get in a zone too. Still do.
I do hear and see critical things but not the clutter.
I have been told that that is the ideal state of mine.