🌊 How to Find Your Flow (and Lose Yourself in It)

“𝕆𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖. ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕣. ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖. ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕘𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕃𝕆𝕍𝔼.” ~ 𝔻𝕣. ℂ𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕗

♡✴❈✴♡❈✴♡

I'm continuing my path of *emotional, spiritual, and creative growth* (and lots of a perspective checks) with journaling inspiration from @leacayoungart Leaca Young’s class “The Heart of Journal Writing” #theheartofjournalwriting - nearing the end of the 2nd quarter is *Finding Your Flow*. One of the June prompts is, “The Light of Connection.” There's a *lot* of Leaca inspiration here: quotes, stencils, swatching, printables, ideas, & support.

This is the garden I've been tending, where my heart & studies have led me this week (study below). There's pages from an old poetry book, fabric scraps, and grateful gatherings of blessings I've *received* from so many friends: @dinawakley & @deedeecatron & @umwowstudio & @dinawakley & @slaphappystudio & @illustratedfaith @ptriciajeanne The textured trees are modeling paste tinted with watercolor, generously spread through an old stencil.

@theuglyartclub #uglyisstillart #theuglyartclub #tuac This grand the trail end of their June theme #tuacsnapshot with some lovely “school pic” fabric sent by my dear friend @retired21 Ann

#artheals #Christianartist #ArtForTheLord #radiategodslove #collageartist #MixedMediaArt #elegantgrunge #findjoyintheordinary #itsthelittlethings #GodsWordEveryDay #createshareinspire #messyart #LetGoOfPerfection #handstitched #sewinginmyjournal #dirtyfingershappyart #theworldismycraftstore #usewhatyouhave #imperfectionismymiddlename #positivitythroughcreativity #saveyourscraps #creativecommunity #slowstitching #everythingbutthekitchensink #junkjournaling

STUDY NOTES

🌊 How to Find Your Flow (and Lose Yourself in It)

Theme: Presence, Creative Freedom, and the Gentle Art of Unbecoming

There’s a rhythm softer than striving. A current gentler than control. Flow is not laziness or apathy - it is trust, alignment, attunement.

This week, I’ve been learning to unclench. To release my grip on productivity-as-worth, and to remember the God who neither rushes nor withholds.

💭 “Maybe the journey isn’t about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so that you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.” ~ Paulo Coelho

As I explored flow, I noticed how often my anxiety stems from resisting what is. Flow invites me to live inside the now. To stop swimming upstream in my own soul.

💬 “Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one.” ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

🌟 The Light Side of Flow

Dr. Lara Boyd’s TEDx talk reminds us that neuroplasticity is driven not just by repetition but by focused attention and emotion. Flow capitalizes on both. It’s that state where challenge meets capability, and our brain literally lights up with new growth.

In her Flow Strategy™, Diane Allen calls it the neurological sweet spot where skill, joy, and purpose align, making the soul feel free.

✨ “Flow doesn’t just help us grow. It helps us feel alive.”~ Diane Allen

🌑 The Dark Side of Flow

Flow feels so right - but can we chase it so hard we forget to rest? Yes.

When I pursue the feeling rather than presence, I’m using flow as escapism, not nourishment. I pack my plate with more “good things,” hoping to quiet the ache inside - only to find exhaustion.

🔄 “You cannot sit back and wait to be happy and healthy and have a great thought life; you have to make the choice to make this happen… You have to get rid of the toxic and get back in alignment with God.” ~ Dr. Caroline Leaf, Switch On Your Brain

🌬️ Four-Pause Reset - A grounding practice when flow turns frenzied:

*Breathe. I acknowledge my body. Where am I tense? I breathe into it.

*Observe. Am I chasing clarity or avoiding chaos?

*Reframe. My growth is a gift, not a requirement.

*Return. To my center. To God. To simplicity.

🕊️ Prayer: A Benediction for the Weary Achiever

God of rhythm and rest,

When I chase flow to avoid my feelings, remind me that peace is not something I achieve - it’s SomeONE I return to.

You are not the reward at the end of my work. You are the Presence that meets me in my pauses.

Teach me again how to breathe. To delight in enoughness. To create from overflow, not emptiness. And to find my true flow in the quiet stream of Your love.

Amen.

🌿 Quote Garden

“Flow doesn’t just help us grow. It helps us feel alive.” ~ Diane Allen

“Our brains are made for love. Not fear. Not performance. Not aggression. But LOVE.” ~ Dr. Caroline Leaf

“The sweetness of doing nothing is really the art of being everything you already are.” (paraphrase of “il dolce far niente”)

“Be still and know…” ~ Psalm 46:10