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Wishingwings t1_j7jjnga wrote

Reply to comment by Wishingwings in ‘Flow’, comparable to the Chinese concept of Wu Wei, dissolves our sense of self and transforms our experience of time. It’s an antidote to the modern world’s obsession with multitasking, but finding it depends on balancing the challenge of a task against our skill. by IAI_Admin

Also i have to add that most of the points in the article either are a belief, or an extrapolation of basic conciousness.

I will reflect on every point in the article:

  1. Action-awareness merging:
  • I don’t experience a lack awareness of myself separate from the action that i am performing.
  1. Loss of self-conciousness:
  • I don’t lose concern for the self, rather, i am immersed in concern for the self, as with any expression of individuality.
  1. A sense of control:
  • A sense of exercising control without actually trying to be in control is less of a “feature” and more of a mindset. It is the belief that you create alongside your subconscious and that you are not it. It is a separate process from flow. Flow is the connection between the two processes, to respect the back and forth between the conscious and the subconscious is this “control without trying”.
  1. Transformation of time:
  • This is a basic phenomenon that doesn’t mean flow state, it means enjoyment. You could access the flow state in the middle of a presentation and i’m sure time won’t go any faster.
  1. Autotelic experience:
  • The application of personal justified action is neurologically processed in a portion of the frontal lobe, and is only a burden on the flow state. True flow does not abide by beliefs, and you do not need to be motivated to do anything. You simply choose. I have had flow state in more moments of bad feelings than in moments of good ones.
  1. Concentration on the task at hand:
  • This is contradictory to point 3, as the back and forth between the conscious and the subconscious is done in thoughts and experience. I am allowed to be captivated and inspired by my own thoughts if i wish so, i do not need extreme focus on what i am doing. The ability to get distracted externally and internally is rather a blessing.
  1. Clear goals:
  • Clear goals are not a part of the flow state. That would impede a flow state. Flow can form anytime, any moment. It is you who blocks up your natural ability to plan in the moment. Making more plans won’t solve that.
  1. Unambiguous feedback:
  • This is beyond your control. Your feedback is reliant on your surroundings, your thoughts and your emotions. All of those come to you, you cannot expect them. What you can do, is increase your amount of choices made so there is more to reflect on - in case you do not feel like you know what to do, you only find out what you think you do wrong and fix it.
  1. Challenge-skill balance:
  • You do not ever need to question yourself about your abilities. You have all the skill in the world that you will ever need = A human body.

The flow state is not something that is exclusive to some parts of life. Flow can be found anywhere, it is a basic tool that will become an accessible tool in a very broad spectrum.

Take for instance impressionism in art. Thats literally an art style known for working with first impressions, and representing that on a canvas. I think you must pick goals that interest and challenge you greatly. Let the challenges eat you up inside and destabilise your life. You should experience hurdles based on commitment and learn to increase your capacity for taking on big goals. You should never decrease the chance to fail. Your failures teach you everything you will come to know.

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