You might not have guessed it, but yes, I was in show choir in high school. Sometimes when I tell people that they don’t know what to think, so I just tell them to imagine the show Glee, but with more Disney tunes, bow ties and sequins.
I’ll always remember a moment in one of our shows that was perfect. It was during the song “The Circle of Life, ” and our group was in a circle singing. There is a moment in the song when the beat hits, and our group turned inward putting our hands together inside the circle at the same time a spotlight shown down from above, highlighting the circle’s center point. It was a moment that I still remember vividly as perfect. It was that moment in the show where it feels like everything has gone perfectly and like the show could continue all day and be the best performance of your life. It was a moment of flow.
Flow is that moment when everything aligns and takes what you are doing to another plane of existence. It’s a moment of extasy when you feel as though you are almost outside of yourself, like you are superhuman, like you are flowing with more talent than ever before. Flow is the moment when your full attention is on what you are doing, and your own existence seems to be temporarily suspended. All that exists is the skill you are performing. Flow comes when performing a task that requires a high level of skill and has a high degree of challenge.
Moments of flow in my life have been few and far between. But, I’m realizing that it might be possible to more intentionally foster these moments, to seek to find flow. There are books on this; perhaps I’ll pick one up.
I guess all I’m saying at this point, is that I recognize that I have experienced flow, and now I want to work to find more moments of flow in my life. If you have suggestions, please comment and let me know.
Check out this Ted Talk on Flow if you want some more on this topic.