Monthly Archives: June 2012

Let life FLOW!

ImageFlow comes from doing the things we love most. Sadly, when we became adults we leave behind the things that made us tick – the things that had us at our happiest!

 

Flow is when you are totally engaged to such an extent that you lose consciousness of yourself, others and the world around you. Your awareness of time evaporates as you become stretched in meaningful activity. It’s like when an artist loses hours trying to get the sky right in his painting. It’s when the musician loses hours putting the final words to her new composition. It’s when reading a novel you suddenly realise that it is dark outside. The daylight disappeared without you even being aware of it. 

Flow is good for you. We experience flow when we tap into our unique inner-strengths. It’s a pity that we are so obsessed with weaknesses!! Everyone learns very quickly about what they are weak at when they are at school.There is a real bias within the system to formally identify deficits, disadvantages and disorders. But there are little or no formal structures to identify strengths in children. If children became aware of their own inner-strengths and tapped into them more they would walk taller, learn better and be happier inside. There wasn’t much flow in school when I was there. Rarely did the school bell catch us on the hop!! We were always wishing it to ring. The odd gifted teacher did capture our imagination and made us aware of our potential but they were thin on the ground.

Flow comes from doing the things we love most. Sadly, when we became adults we leave behind the things that made us tick – the things that had us at our happiest! Musicians no longer playing music. Artists with paintings in their attic ever since they got married or became a parent!! Life is short and we need to invest time in the things that give us flow. When we are in flow our worries and anxieties are not in the room with us! We all need to switch the channel sometimes. Flow also comes from doing new things and by embracing challenges. We all need some flow in our lives. It makes us healthier and happier. I will always remember the old man in the tiny cottage pointing to his garden. “You’re a therapist, aren’t you?” he asked. He continued “I’ll tell you where the therapy is! It’s in the clay. He loses many evenings in his garden. And the flow has served him well!