In the Flow

In the Flow

6" x 8"

Oil

Want to join this little robin?  If it was a hot July day, you'd want to be splashing away with delight, too!  I happened upon this happy bird last summer at the beautiful Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska.  It didn't take much for this small feathery friend to make the most of a situation and be contentedly happy.  She found it in the flow!

As I worked on this little oil study, I got to thinking about what makes people happy and what being "in the flow of things" feels like.  Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has spent his life studying what it is that makes people happy.  He observed from his childhood experiences in Europe during WWII that even though some people had lost everything, yet they still possessed an inner strength and resilience that enabled them to live life with purpose.  But he saw that others who lost everything lived a withered and bitter life.  His quest was to find out what was essential to people's happiness.  He found that when people were focused, had clarity, and had a passion about life that distinguished them from everyday people, they were enabled to be "in the flow" which was a very ecstatic and uplifting state of being. Much more is explained in Mihaly's work, but I want to highlight the aspect of what makes you feel fully alive.

(Watercolor/ink study of falls on the Yellowstone River)

Research shows that income and fame don't create more happiness.  It is intrinsic.  It is being a person who is cultivating a rich inner life.  Daniel Goleman says it well in his book, Emotional Intelligence:  "...people who are self-reflective---who take time out to pray or to meditate or have some way of being in nature regularly, who spend time being with themselves and have a rich interior life---are better able to pay full attention to other people."  Goleman's statement also highlights the fact that happiness is not self-serving, but is attentive to our fellow man.  Improving the lot of others brings happiness!

May I also suggest that cultivating a rich interior life and being fully alive can be found by drinking the living water that Jesus spoke about to the woman at the well.  He said to her, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water."  

I love being around water.  Waterfalls, springs, flowing rivers and rushing creeks always mesmerize me.  So when Jesus speaks of my life being like a fresh, bubbling spring...wow! That gets my attention!  He invites anyone to experience this..."those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.  It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life."  (John 4:14)  That's being in the flow, no matter what circumstances life has you in.  You can still be fully alive and intentionally focused on living a selfless, joyous, and deeply satisfying life.

Speaking about "flow", the beautiful Iguazu Falls in South America and the music of The Piano Guys portray in metaphor what one's inner life could be like when lived in flow.  Enjoy!

Here I am enjoying another of the world's great waterfalls...Yellowstone Falls in Wyoming.  

Live bravely and beautifully!