Go with the Flow

You know when you sit down with a new project and you are so excited about working on it but now you are hungry and you don't know why, then realize it's 3 hours later and you've lost all track of time? That's what happened when I knit Margaret's shawl! I love it when that happens!

Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, a professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University calls that "Flow." Flow is the few moments in time when you are so completely absorbed by an activity that nothing else seems to matter. He believes that Flow is the secret to happiness, and he has decades of research to back this up! www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/

This is how he puts it. He believes that our nervous system is only capable of processing a certain amount of information at a time. That's why you can't listen and understand two people who are talking at once. So when someone starts creating, your existence outside that activity becomes temporarily suspended

He believes you don't have enough attention left over to monitor how your body feels, or your problems at home. You can't feel if you are hungry or tired. It's as if your body disappears, but only temporarily.

The affects of Flow are similar to meditation. And as you know, science has shown that meditation can, among other things, reduce stress.

Come join me on Saturday, January 28 for Stitching Together and let's continue this conversation about Flow. We will meet at Sacred Spaces, 109 Ann Street, Greenville between Anna's Cafe and the fire department. 10:00-11:30 am.