What does the state of flow have to do with pure awareness?
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” says a person’s identity disappears for someone who has trained in technique in a particular field and that it takes about ten years to get to the point that you are so engrossed in what you do you seem to disappear and your hands and mind seem to work on their own while you feel ecstasy and as if you are no longer there but somehow observing everything. You are merged with the activity. He offers us a list of seven qualities of the flow state:
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE IN FLOW?
1 - Completely involved in what we are doing — focused, concentrated
2 - A sense of ecstasy — of being outside every day reality
3 - Great inner clarity — knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing.
4 - Knowing that the activity is doable — that our skills are adequate to the task
5 - A sense of serenity — no worries about oneself, and a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of the ego
6 - Timelessness — thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes
7 - Intrinsic motivation — whatever produces flow becomes it’s own reward
Challenging Yourself
When you get to a point where you are out of flow because you are working hard at a new skill level you can easily get back into flow by upgrading your skill. The best way I have found to do this as a writer is to get feedback, help and support from other writers. Collaboration is also a wonderful way to become more skilled at something as well as mentorship. With support flow becomes easily achievable as you challenge yourself to new levels. You will get to a level where you can do this on your own.
Losing Yourself
We’ve all experienced it. So completely engaged in an activity that we lose sense of time and hours go by in what seems like minutes. Our sense of identity can fall away and we are one with our task. This is a key to happiness. So much of our days can be spent doing things that we don’t want to do and can cause stress and illness if we don’t know how to respond to circumstances appropriately. Having activities that shift us into flow are important for our health. It is important to discover what these are for us they are reminders of who we really are when we start to forget and we think circumstances define our level of happiness and contentment. Wether they are art, music, writing, athletics everyone should identify their own personal gateway into flow. But this is only a step in the direction of what is ultimately possible.
Letting Go Into Alive Awareness
By contrast shifting into alive awareness is the ultimate goal of all human endeavors. It is why we do anything we do, to try and feel better, live optimally, love and enjoy ourselves. When we shift into alive awareness we have these qualities completely and need do nothing to fully experience and embody them. It is a process. For some people it is a sudden, dramatic shift that has a profound and lasting effect. For most people it is a gradual process of unfolding. We do not turn into an unfeeling blob. We feel all our emotions fully and freely.
The Self-Organizing Principle of Creativity
At a point when we are pretty much living in state of flow most of the time we will discover that the details seem to take care of themselves. Purely creative living creates no stress and no resistance.
Fresh and Original
And this is why hacks are bunk. They never last and you have to apply them over and over again. Awareness is forever and there is no end to flow.
