Flow

According to wikipedia (so it must be true, right?) flow is "the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task."

I remember when I first learned to play the guitar. I had to think so hard about what I was doing, making sure my fingers moved into the right positions and my hand strummed the right tempo. It was frustrating, and I couldn't focus on the music itself because I had to devote so much of my focus to the playing of the instrument. Years later, after thousands of hours of practice, I arrived at a place where I could truly experience flow: the closing of my eyes and turning off of the mind as I drifted off to another world while I ripped off a solo. At that point for me, it was about more than just the performing of a piece of music and its associated notes. It was almost spiritual in a sense, as I let myself go and get lost in the music. It is a difficult emotion to describe- joy, freedom, energy, flow. Guitar should never be about having to do certain things, though you do have to do certain things to play guitar. You have to pluck strings and press down on frets. But if all it is about is the plucking of strings and the pressing of frets, you've missed the point. Guitar is about expressing yourself, about letting the music guide you, about flowing.

The greatest flow musician of our generation

Crossfit is no different. At first, all the movements were so foreign to me that I had to think super hard about what I was doing. So much effort had to be devoted to just doing the movements correctly that not much effort was left to give to the WOD. In time though, as the movements became second nature to me, and as my body learned how to just do them without thinking, I experienced flow. Now, I can pour my heart into a WOD without having to give to much thought to doing the movements. I can go to that transcendent place of pain and joy. Crossfit should never be about having to do certain things, though you do have to do certain things to do crossfit. You have to push your knees out, you have to keep your back tight, you have to use your hips. But if all crossfit becomes is me thinking about pushing my knees out and keeping my back tight, I have missed the point. Crossfit is about moving, feeling, breathing, flowing. Flow opens up so many doors, and all those doors lead to joy and life.

Kyle exemplifying how to flow on the rings

Nowhere is flow more important than in our walks with Christ. Far too often we are overly concerned with the do's and don'ts. Go to church. Read your bible. Pray. Tithe. Don't smoke. Don't drink. Don't cuss. Blah, blah, blah. If this is all we are concerned with, we have missed the point. The point is not to do certain things and to not do other things. The central point of the Christian walk is the adoration of Christ- the lifestyle flows from that. One can play the game for only so long before it becomes burdensome. What we need is not to do do do- what we need is a regenerated heart, a humble disposition, a deep appreciation for the cross, and an exalted view of the Lamb of God. Everything else flows from that. We treat others as better than ourselves because Christ considered us before Himself in going to the cross for us (Philippians 2). We abstain from things because we see Christ as more lovely and more worthy of our affections. We give to others because Christ gave of Himself for us, and we love others because Christ first loved us (1 John 4:19)

"Whoever believes in me, rivers of living water will flow from within them" -John 7:38

Blessings