Crafty Tuesday Go with the Flow
Posted By Kathleen David on October 2, 2018
October is Inktober and Drawlloween. I am participating in Drawlloween, which is a series of art prompts that I am playing around with. I may try to push the envelope a bit with some of my ideas and materials. I have an idea for today that I really want to try.
Flow is a concept that I have been interested in since I read “Flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi when it was originally published back in 1990. I did not agree with all that was being said but it gave me a vocabulary to describe how I felt like when I was ‘in the zone’ and just working without any outside interference.
When my brain gets going, I can work through ideas and figure out a plan A through Z. Then I discard that which doesn’t work and sort through what is left to see how things will work. Not that I will not find problems once I am out of my head and bringing things into this world rather than my brain.
It is the same with writing. Once I can get the flow going, I am good until I hit a point in the story that I need to think on to figure out how we get to the next point in my outline. Occasionally I find my characters adding to the story and I have to yank it back.
Creative flow is a wonderful thing. It is like my brain is singing in tune.
The hardest is when there is no flow. It feels like there is a blockage or dam that is keeping things from moving forward. Trying to get back to the point where it was flowing can be very difficult. I have found myself stuck there more than once.
I tend to go do something else to get my brain off of the problem and see if something shakes free.
But when I am focus and there is a flow, I find my ability to create comforting and exciting. Knowing that my brain works well and I can do this fills me with joy. I feel calm in those moments and the world slows down and speeds up at the same time.
After I post this I plan to get drawing on the next prompt then get the rest of my day in order.
I am grateful for when the flow comes easily.
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