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If you have to do as much as he does to get in the flow then you have no idea what flow is nor how to enter it. Much of what is says is a great help to seeing f
by FollowingTheDao 2y ago
If you have to do as much as he does to get in the flow then you have no idea what flow is nor how to enter it. Much of what is says is a great help to seeing flow however.
To find flow all you have to do is look around you because you are already in it.
Flow is always happening and it is not personal to any one being.
To get in the flow of a river you just have to jump in it. The minute you try to make the "perfect" river to jump in, that is man made flow, and not natural flow.
One can even be in the flow while using social media.
All you have to do is let go.
Anyone looking for flow I would advise they read Zhuang Zhou:
http://nothingistic.org/library/chuangtzu/ http://nothingistic.org/library/chuangtzu/
"Horses can with their hoofs tread on the hoarfrost and snow, and with their hair withstand the wind and cold; they feed on the grass and drink water; they prance with their legs and leap:-- this is the true nature of horses. Though there were made for them grand towers and large dormitories, they would prefer not to use them. But when Po-lâo (arose and) said, 'I know well how to manage horses,' (men proceeded) to singe and mark them, to clip their hair, to pare their hoofs, to halter their heads, to bridle them and hobble them, and to confine them in stables and corrals. (When subjected to this treatment), two or three in every ten of them died. (Men proceeded further) to subject them to hunger and thirst, to gallop them and race them, and to make them go together in regular order. In front were the evils of the bit and ornamented breastbands, and behind were the terrors of the whip and switch. (When so treated), more than half of them died."
- itsalwaysgood 2y agoMaybe there are different ideas about flow. But to me, flow is about eliminating distractions, and being creative without requiring too much pondering. Our brains are always looking for distractions. Having your phone nearby, or working in an area where distractions are easily accessible prevents flow. Your brain is always looking to be distracted, it's akin to how you are tuned to pay more attention when you hear your name called. Even if you think to yourself: I'm not going to touch my phone while I work, it's always there calling for your brain's attention. So step 1 to flow is removing distractions. Going to a library helps because you're cut off from many distractions and your brain stops "listening" for a bit. And then, you must be able to create something from what you already know. Fluent writing, art, programming can then "flow" directly from you into the real world without requiring looking up info, or taking tutorials. Flow has little to do with the "true nature of things", imo.
- FollowingTheDao 2y ago[flagged]
- itsalwaysgood 2y agoYikes, sanctimonious drivel
- aquariusDue 2y agoEh, I'd say there's Flow™ and flooow as in surfer dude "Be one with the waves, brah" type of thing. I'm more of an "Ass in Chair, First Click is the Hardest" paradigm to Flow advocate.
- FollowingTheDao 2y agoIt is! Thank you!
- dasil003 2y agoThis could be valuable advice for someone who is beating themselves up about not being perfect at controlling their focus (if they are ready to hear it). However it’s also stated in a way that’s disrespectful to the discussion. It’s okay for people to have goals, and to strive and struggle towards them, resisting instinct that could undermine their efforts, and sometimes falling short and being disappointed. This is a natural part of the higher level reasoning we are blessed with.
- FollowingTheDao 2y agoTalking about disrespect to someone who follows the Dao? It could be compassion for all you know! Talking about reasoning to someone who follows the Dao? Even more foolish! Reason only pulls you further from the Dao and so further from flow.
- dasil003 2y agoIf you didn't see the Daoist angle in what I wrote then you're not as far along as you think
- aquariusDue 2y agoPersonally I use the hammy package in Emacs with the "Flywheel" timer from the examples to get into a flow, these days it's enough to just start it and unless I get distracted by outside forces I keep hammering away at my task(s) while disregarding the timer. In this way the timer itself serves as more of a Pavlovian trigger rather than an actual device with utility by itself. https://github.com/alphapapa/hammy.el https://github.com/alphapapa/hammy.el