I went to a Renewal Retreat for Body, Mind and Soul yesterday. One of the activities was to create an mandala. “Mandala” has become a generic term for any diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically; a microcosm of the universe.”
As we worked on our mandalas in silence, the time flew by. I was lost in the moment of my creative project. It could have been 10 minutes or an hour; I am not really sure. The point is, I was not thinking about anything else during that time (not ruminating in the past nor worrying about the future). I was lost in flow.
When was the last time you were lost in a state of flow (a complete loss of self-consciousness)? Maybe it was last night while making an especially good dinner, or going for a run, or dancing to your favorite music, or learning something new and challenging. (Hint: it was not while you were surfing on your phone or tv).
Viktor Frankl, who survived a Nazi concentration camp, once said “What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him.”
What are the ingredients in a state of flow? In order for a flow state to occur, you must see the activity as voluntary, enjoyable, and it must require skill and be challenging with clear goals. The act of creating can be more important than the finished work itself.
Ask yourself, when was the last time you lost track of time and self-consciousness doing something you really enjoyed?
“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
