What is Flow?

What is flow? 

What does it mean to flow with life?

These are questions that I have often asked myself in my long-drawn, never-ending process of self-inquiry.

The images that flash in my mind repeatedly when I think of flow are those of fluids moving from one place to another, sometimes slowly, and sometimes fast.....like water flowing from one place to another - the rivulets, ocean waves, rain, mighty rivers, cascades, water in a pond or lake, dewdrops, teardrops....everything that is water....I also think of more viscous fluids like honey, oil, molten lava and the like.....and then there is the gentle breeze, gusty wind, or the still, cool air that hangs over a mountain top...

And yet, when it comes to life, one is often made to stop in one's tracks to ponder over something that is happening, or something which is not happening the way one wants it to. Our path is often strewn with pebbles or pits that we usually mistake for obstacles that are slowing us down or making us stop or change course. I am now learning that they are only changing the way things flow....altering the pace or the course to open up countless possibilities.

And that realisation has made me wonder again about what flow actually is....what does it mean for me? Looking at the same things with new eyes, I now see everything, fluid or solid as flowing. So then, does a mountain flow? How about a tree, the earth, a flower, the stars, darkness or a tornado....do they all flow? I believe they do, because I have now come to understand that flow is "to just be"....when everything that exists is doing what it is supposed to do, in tune with its nature, it is flowing....flowing in harmony with the rhythm of the cosmos...and that I believe is what "flowing with life" means.....to be ourselves in this moment....for in being myself, I don't offer any resistance, I don't struggle...I just am....and so there is peace. That peace comes even when I find myself in the midst of a storm, or when the whole world around me seems to be crumbling. It comes from a complete surrender to what is before me now, without any expectation of a desired outcome. It comes from a trust that the Universe knows what I need. It comes from a space of knowing deeply that all of us are held in love, and are doing exactly what we are supposed to do now, and are in exactly the place we are meant to be.

So then, with that kind of belief, if I were to look at flow once again, what images would come up in my mind's eye? I can see towering mountains, still ponds with crystal clear water, huge boulders with jagged edges, giant trees that hold up the sky, tiny shells glistening on sandy beaches, a fast-spreading forest fire, or a volcano spewing out lava......one does not want to become the other...they are happy being what they are...and doing it with passion....how then can we feel that they are not flowing? Why do we as human beings find it so hard to flow? Perhaps it is because we don't know who we are. Perhaps we don't trust the Universe or ourselves. Perhaps we are often caught up in the race to be something or someone else.

Here is a poem that I wrote earlier on Flow .