Flow

Psychologists use the term “flow” to describe the experience of being so totally into whatever you are doing that you lose all sense of time and space. This is mindfulness at its best. I have had this experience many times. It has happened to me while listening to music, when I am reading a very good book, when I have been standing on my back porch during a heavy rainfall, looking out my window watching snow fall while sipping a mug of hot chocolate, sitting on a bench in the early morning outside an ancient church in France, and in many quiet moments at the Abbey of Gethsemani. It has even happened to me at work when I am working on a project that is interesting to me. When you are “flowing” you are truly one with life and the universe. These moments in time provide us with a clarity that is often hidden from us in the more demanding or mundane tasks of life. You can’t plan such moments and may not even be full aware of them until you stop and take a breath. What are some moments in your life when you have had this experience?