Flow states.
They’re lovely when they happen spontaneously. A confluence of hormones, inspiration, time, and place will occasionally align, resulting in the quiet ecstasy of metaphorically creative procreation: We’re having great sex with the universe resulting in a prolifically prolonged and simultaneous orgasm of productivity!
Maybe you’ve been there. You know, when the work tumbles out of you.
The flow state I want to write about is blessedly artificial, meaning it is created out of pure willingness and commitment. I’ve written about this before. Here’s my current take on the matter: That confluence of biology, inspiration, time, and space? You can look at it as a ‘container’, (a very popular concept nowadays. So pardon the jargon but it’s a useful image.)
The ocean exists within a container: land boundaries. A container can happen when formless energy or matter meets solidity on all sides. Willingness and commitment are two sides of the flow container, the other two are time and space. The painter Chuck Close says ‘Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just get down to work’. That’s because if you’re professional at anything, whether you’re a barista or a musician, you can’t blow off work or practice and stay employed or get good.
Happily, willingness and commitment are fine replacements for inspiration, and surprisingly, they are often the catalysts for inspiration because they create a feedback loop as soon as we begin taking action. Ask any writer who uses prompts, or any artist in a figure drawing class. The work that results may not be spectacular, but it is created in an attention-induced flow.
Usually, that’s as good as it gets.
In short, don’t expect flow. Just show up, because it’s like the lottery: you’ve got to be in it to win it.
Only when it comes to making stuff your odds are a helluva lot better.
