Free and Flowing

I'm back with more of my ramblings. Again, I'm just going to go with the flow.  Hmm..."the flow". Perhaps that will be the subject of our discussion today. What is flow?

In psychology the flow state is a well-known subject. It's also known as being "in the zone". People who perform challenging mental and physical tasks like sportsmen know that when you are in the zone, you are performing effortlessly, which total absorption of body and mind. You are relaxed and yet comfortably challenged at the same time to drive yourself towards peak performance.

Writers know this well too. Sometimes words and sentences just write themselves; at other times, you face the dreaded writer's block. Are words flowing out effortlessly for me now while writing this article? Not exactly. And I know why: it's because I'm not fully focussed. 

I am half thinking of the cleaning chores that I need to do after this. There's a bit of a mess in my apartment caused by leakage, which I'm chasing the building management to fix. And I'm also cognisant of the remaining time I have to get this article out, perform the cleaning before I set off for my dinner appointment at 7pm.

I'm certainly not in the flow now. The mind has to be undistracted for one to achieve flow state. But I've also trained myself over the years to produce reasonably good work, even when I'm not in the best state of mind. When flow happens, that is a bonus; if it doesn't, no matter. My run-of-the-mill effort should be better than average.

It helps when one is completely relaxed about one's task. Having a 'don't-care' attitude is sometimes good, for people who are highly-strung perfectionists. Just let go. No one is going to die because someone spotted a tiny mis-spelling or grammar mistake in your email. In all likelihood, people would have forgotten about you by the next mouse-click.

To your own ego, you are very important. To other people, they are equally self-centered, preoccupied with how they look or appear to others. You are only important to them in-so-far as it enhances their own ego. Everyone is in the same boat. No one is superior to anyone else. Everyone has their own phobias and peccadilloes. 

So just relax and do what you are supposed to do. And it'll be good enough. If it isn't, it's no big deal. As long as you have the right attitude to take it as a feedback for further improvement, you'll be fine. You'll only get better. Isn't that a comforting thought?

Fear, insecurity, pride and hidden agendas are things that inhibit flow. When you do things without expecting anything in return, you'll achieve better performance. Of course this is easier said than done. But saying and affirming, makes the doing easier. You will reduce the gap between thought and action. When that happens, you are free and flowing!