Flow

I often wonder if there are ways to step into a place of flow that I could map out for myself or for others. The question again came to me from one of you.  I genuinely believe there are some truths and some wisdom around the concept, but overall, it is everything to do with surrendering and releasing and nothing to do with “To Do.”

“In the spiritual view of flow state, it’s about surrendering, letting go of your ego and training your sensibility to your path, training your intuition.” (source)

When my world unraveled several years ago, I found myself pursuing flow with intensity. I took time to sit quietly with myself, for myself. I practiced yoga and mediation and for lack of a better way to put it, I entered into some kind of spiritual awakening I had never experienced. There seemed to be a universal calling to this: Oneness. And while I don’t know that we ever master it fully, I do believe we can become a master of the practice.

Fast forward a few years, and my life became more “normal” again. There was a partner (and then husband), and alone time was a thing of the past. It’s why I crave it still, and seek moments to create space, to wonder, to sit with the world around me and notice what I am a part of. There was loud chatter in the house with three, then four kids buzzing about. Work became really exciting again and kept me busy, motivated, and purposeful.

Then life got really hard again.

Practice

The practice of flow seemed to slip through my fingers like grains of sand, slowly, individually, scattering to every corner outside of my soul.

These last few months have been a place of refuge. A place of stepping away a bit to pursue this spiritual flow again. This surrendering, letting go of my ego, and all my training that came before I really knew myself.

So how do we get back to this flow? I’m not sure, exactly, but I do know this: it begins with creating space to chase it. To sit with ourselves enough to recognize the longings that are calling. To give ourselves something to do with our hands, and to become immersed in our own creative pursuits. We can take moments, small moments, in the day to pause, to breathe, to look around at what we are connected to. Entering spiritual, creative or inner flow isn’t about doing something else, it is about surrendering to all we cannot control.

Love to you, my friends.

-S