On a nice summer day, I was walking through my neighborhood with my woven bag slung over my shoulder. After completing my walk, I sat down with friends and took the bag off to sit it down on the ground. That is when I saw my leg and the pen marks. It took me a few moments but I realized that this was the result of a pen that was sticking out of my bag and the bag swinging back and forth as I walked. It created this wonderful design.
This brought my attention to the rhythms we all go through daily. Sunrise, sunset, wake up, go to sleep, wash, rinse and repeat. I was pleased with the steadiness of this design when it was done unknowingly. I felt that I was in a rhythm that was comfortable. I felt in the flow.
To me, being in the flow is when I am in motion, getting things done but not feeling frantic, not feeling rushed. I’m accomplishing tasks with the full confidence that they are happening in the proper time and that there will be enough time for all that is suppose to happen.
There are two thoughts that have helped me find this more frequently. The first is to make time for that which I deem important. The second is to accept that if something takes more time than I expected, then it was needed. That may mean that I am late to something else but the task I’m involved in deserves my full attention and deserves to be fully completed. If those things are not true then it probably wasn’t that important to begin with. That is okay to recognize too.
The other part of that is that I continue to be mindful of the responsibilities which I take on and to give a bit of buffer time in between. I am highly bothered if I commit to something and fail to follow through and so I work harder these days to not over-commit myself. I also work to remind myself that if something is not getting done, I will simply communicate that clearly to anyone else that would be affected and see if there can be an alternate plan to get the necessary tasks done. What I won’t do is shame myself for not accomplishing everything all the time. That harms my own spirit and still does not accomplish the task. I will be patient with myself and others.
What does being in “the flow” mean for you? What prevents you from feeling this harmony in your routines? What can you change? What do you not have control over to change? When have you felt in “the flow”?
I also believe that my rhythm doesn’t always stay the same. Some times I feel the need for my rhythm to be slower and other times I can be happy with a quicker pace to my day. The change in rhythm might depend on my mood, my physical energy, or the type of task that I’m involved in. Through it all, I am working to be aware, to be mindful of my rhythm and how I feel as I am completing the tasks. It is not just the accomplishment of tasks that is important but how we feel as we are in progress.