Saturday night I went to the "Art of the Samurai" exhibit at the Met Museum. Included was a brief film about the painstaking process of making a Japanese sword (6 months and 15 people to create one sword). I was so struck by the complete absorption of the craftsmen in the making of the sword. They worked with deliberate care, seemingly outside of (or not conscious of) time.
I told my sister, who was pushing my wheelchair, that I long for activities that require or create that kind of "flow" state in me. I realize now that in my post about "music as a blessing" the blessing was the here and now "flow" state I enter when singing.
Today I sang at Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital with a small group from our Threshold Choir and the experience was much the same in a very different setting. Dividing my awareness between the patient (and family or visitors if present) and my intention to comfort and uplift by singing, I once again enter the "flow" state. I notice that, as we move from room to room, I prefer not to talk much with my teammates so as not to distract from our purpose.
This experience of flow is worth paying attention to. I think it can be a useful compass for steering in the direction of joy and fulfillment.
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