The world needs more 'flow'

Last summer I bought a mountain bike. I’ve really taken to it, and whenever I can I try to sneak out for a quick ride from my house, traipsing through the nearby natural areas and trails of Fort Collins.

Until recently, I couldn’t really figure out why I enjoyed it so much. Was it that different than my normal bike? What attracted me to the trail versus the street?

And then I figured it out - my mountain bike was the most surefire way to switch my brain over into ‘flow state.’ You’ve probably heard of the concept - it’s the ‘in the zone’ feeling where your mind is engaged but not stressed, where you are performing some action that requires your attention and blanks out the world beyond. It often combines mental and physical activity, mind and body working together in a productive, continuous stream of human output.

For me, flow often occurs riding a nice single-track trail on my bike - with just enough turns to maneuver and just enough rocks to dodge. To be sure, I am not talking about serious, technical crazy mountain biking, with jumps and rocks and cliffs and ramps that defy any self-preservation instinct. That’s not enjoyable to me - it forces your brain into high-stress, panic mode.

But conversely, a smooth ride on a city street or paved bike path does not work either. The brain is not engaged enough…it’s too boring.

No, I need a nice balanced trail with just enough complexity to demand my attention but not so much that I freak out. My go-to local favorite is the Maxwell Natural Area, a few blocks away. Flow state achieved, all-day, every-day.

Photography is my alternate path to flow, when I am fully engaged, walking through an area, composing pictures, and tweaking the settings on my camera for full effect. Again, it’s a balanced thing - just enough to engage your brain, but not so much that you are actively thinking too hard.

I think most humans have a way to enter a flow state…or at least they should. For my father it was sailing or woodworking. My wife…trail running or baking. My daughters activate flow through painting, climbing, and skiing. I think it’s a necessary practice to keep us all sane, but it seems that fewer of us take the time to seek it out.

Flow offers a reset - a chance to forget the world for a bit, to cleanse the palette. And these days we all need better mental hygiene. Can you imagine how much nicer the world would be if certain political figures would just go - you know - practice knitting or pottery or horseback riding?

But no, we’re stuck with fools who lack the cranial capacity for flow. Their brains are stuck in the worst gear, ‘anti-flow’, or turbulence.

One of the few lessons I took away from college as a civil engineering student was the difference between laminar flow and turbulence. It’s a hydrologic concept. Laminar flow is when you turn on your faucet just right, or pour a beer into a glass with the angle just so that the liquid is a completely smooth stream with no bubbles, ripples, or disturbances.

Without laminar flow, you get turbulence. As engineers, we were taught that turbulence was to be avoided - it involves friction, is destructive and dangerous, and introduces chaos into the situation.

Flow is a positive force for society. A pressure release valve that enables our minds to optimize and project calm. Turbulence is terror. It’s the fraying of the fabric of society that peels apart our souls everyday.

Social media, assholes in office, Fox News, hypocritical religious demagogues, tech-bros and their “move fast and break things” ethos - they all rely on discontinuity and disruption to secure and maintain power. They rely on turbulence to distract your attention and drain your strength.

The antidote is flow. Collectively, we all need to seek out more ways to find that Zen space where our brains level-up and lock-it down.

So carve out time to play a guitar, bake a cake, raft a river, or plant a tree. Find your flow and the activity that gets you there…for it’s a solid defense against the chaos of our times.

I’ll be out riding my mountain bike - chasing flow, and returning refreshed, renewed, and ready for what’s next.

Parting Proclamation

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Disclaimer:

All content and opinions are solely those of the author (Jack), and not representative of my employer, former employers, clients, anyone in Congress, my family, former college roommates, Baptists, the good citizens of Colorado, or my dog Mabel.