Go With the Flow

I regularly mention the flow state in my writing because it seems like such an important part of the human experience, one which we regularly do not allow ourselves. Our magnificent brains are capable of so much, and therefore we are regularly overdoing it in the brains department.

This is why there are so many self-help practitioners, meditation teachers, and religious leaders out there talking about mindfulness and meditation. It’s a way to practice being in the flow state, but sometimes I find the whole sitting still and breathing thing hard to translate to my active, walking around, talking, getting things done life. 

Lately, I have been trying to just “go with the flow”, so to speak, and that means removing judgment, criticism, speculation, interpretation, or just plain thoughts from my hour-to-hour experience. I am basically trying to be a walking vegetable. And it’s actually quite nice. 

Sometimes, I compare it to the experience animals must have in their state of being. Does the fox in the field think about the future? Do the birds in spring worry about the past? No! They just seem to be screaming about what a great day it is every morning as the sun rises. We should all be so lucky. 

How does faith tie into going with the flow? Well, for one thing, it is much easier to go with said flow if we have faith. Overthinking the BLEEP out of everything is most definitely the opposite of faith, therefore walking around just experiencing life and assuming it will all work out (i.e., being in flow) is probably the living expression of faith, now that I think about it. 

In some ways, it is taking me a lot of effort to just turn my thinking brain off. Sure, I need it for work or making sure I put gas in my car, but I am talking about that stream of consciousness chatter that is often actually quite useless. If it’s not about day-to-day, immediate need tasks or addressing important concerns like conversations, paying bills, being at the right place at the right time, do I really need to have a radio on in my head? 

Nope, it turns out. Nope, not at all. 

The flow state, for those who are not aware, was first posited by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, a Hungarian researcher who lived and studied flow in the United States for several decades after World War II. He proposed that people could do a great deal for themselves to enjoy life more and that flow was a key component of fulfillment and contentment.

Flow is the state of being where artists go to do their work or athletes exist when they are on the playing field. The chatter turns off, the experience turns on. He found that there are some people who are just inherently good at entering or existing in flow, and others need more help or guidance getting there. He wrote several books on the topic, and I encourage you to read them if interested. 

I will say that I think being comfortable with the flow state is more likely with faith. It’s hard to be comfortable just being when we lack faith and are worrying the BLEEP out of everything. The flow state, like sitting meditation, is almost like stepping into the void, which many people without faith are deeply uncomfortable with. Without belief in Good (or God), why would uncharted existence feel comfortable, let alone exciting or good? For those without faith, it can feel like staring into an abyss full of failure, mistakes, errors, and misfortune. I know it certainly did for me at one point in my life.

Now that I believe in God (or Good) and my ability to influence my own future by having faith, the flow state feels less like an existential crisis and more like me walking on the edge of opportunity. Who knows what might happen next?! But…like… in a good way. 

So, if you’re curious about this mystical flow state, I would say keep praying, keep practicing faith, keep speaking positively to yourself and others, keep imagining a positive future and making positive choices, and when you get comfortable with all of that Goodness, experiment with just turning off the chatter. It’s actually quite lovely and almost easy, when operating from a place of faith.