At the last Creative Skills Training Council, Susan Ryan from Artelier lead a live drawing session “Creating Life in Flow – The Artist’s Process”. It was a very interesting few hours and was followed by a great discussion on the flow state and the process of allowing it, that is accessible to anyone.
I thought I would share this excerpt from Susan with you:
In regard to the nature of “flow” state… it is the modality of experience which is well known and commonly experienced by artists and many people who display excellence in their chosen field… great innovators, scientists, musicians, surgeons, sports people, actors, entrepreneurs etc
It is the experience of a heightened state of awareness through which the persons identity is suspended and their actions and responses are generated from a high state of consciousness. They are fully conscious but their experience of reality has altered to a state of heightened awareness which can be equated with a meditative or trance like state. This state of presence creates the experience of a timelessness, a oneness with the observer and her subjective intention.
As in the case of life drawing, what normally happens is… the observers’ focus is on the subject, the mind is active and consciously noisy… the more the artist can focus her visual focus on the subject, the noise of the mind will lessen and the experience goes beyond the senses. After a while (and with practice) the observer will experience a stillness of mind and experience the essence of the subject as if it was her reality… time collapses, she becomes like a clear vessel from which to interpret the experience. The essence of the subject is experienced by the observer and interpreted through her lines.
This is not a step by step experience but more an experiential process which can be applied to anything to achieve answer/solutions and excellence in performance and solutions. It is the process which is important as the application will be different for many people but is relevant to all.
The process of allowing flow state (by Susan Ryan)
These aren’t defined steps that must be followed, but are aspects you might notice as you progress.
What helps you access the flow state?
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