A different kind of flow
No, not Flo! Ha ha.
Do you ever end at a thought and wonder “how the heck did I get here?” Then you backtrack through your thought process, and yes, somehow the starting thought lead to something COMPLETELY random.
This is how I think, most of the time. If anyone knows it the best (after my husband), it is probably Erin. We’re having a seemingly normal conversation, then one things she says somehow connects to something else, so I have to share it. “This doesn’t relate, but when you said xyz it made me think of it…” or “Not to change the subject, but I’m going to…”
I’m not the only one who does this… right?
Hee hee. I know I am not. Even last night, Steven asked me something completely random, and when I asked him why he thought of that, he shared the leading thoughts that got him to that question. I thought it was fun to get a peek in to his thought process. I’m nosy like that.
Anyway. So that is how my thought process flows.
And what is funny (to me) is that the whole reason I am sharing this with you is NOT because of the question that Steven asked me last night, but because of some random thoughts that lead me to it.
I tried to get to bed before 10:00 last night, because I was meeting friends for an early run this morning. But I was up late with a sick cat and Twitter drama*, so this morning, I felt exhausted and canceled the run. And felt like a complete jerk, despite knowing that they would understand.
So I was coming here to post the question “which is worse – feeling exhausted all day because you got up too early to work out** or getting the sleep and not feeling exhausted, but feeling guilty that skipped a workout?”
Then I was thinking about blah blah blahing about how I am not getting enough sleep, stay up too late in the summer, can’t get up to exercise, blah blah blah, but who cares? I just posted about that. And again… who cares?
But I did think I wanted to share this “12 Things Happy People Do Differently” list my friend Denise shared on Facebook, which I am sure you have all seen –
I was going to point out #12 – taking care of your body. And how, geesh, I really need to do that. That would make me feel happier.
But I decided to read the list again, and had to stop at #8. Increase flow experiences?! Huh?! I had never even heard that phrasing before. Although, their description of it – a state in which it feels like time stands still and you are so focused on what you are doing you become one with the task – sounds really nice.
Um… yeah. I rarely get to that state. I seem to be in a constant state of distraction. And I kind of really dislike that about me.
Anyway. I started thinking about how the “flow” on that list is not how my mind “flows”… and yeah. Here we are.
And THIS is why you get such random posts from me!
Ooh! Look! Squirrel!
*Which is funny, since I am not even on there.
**And in theory, this might help with the exhaustion.
Themocracy
I love this infographic! I need to start doing some of these myself! #3 (especially in terms of outfits and blogging), #5 and #8 in particular! Thanks for sharing your “flow!” 🙂
It’s great, right?! Even with #3… I think it can be dangerous to compare yourself to “yourself before now.” With certain things anyway, like high school weight, or a really fast PR from high school. Basically… our metabolism is almost on the decline. Ha!
I think you excel at #8!
P.S. I told Steven you like Prison Break so he started watching it 🙂
I sometimes wonder how I started thinking or talking about something too. And hearing other people’s trains of thought makes me realize that we all do it, I guess. That’s a great graphic. #8 is confusing to me as well. I definitely don’t often get into a groove like that, and when I do it’s usually not something productive. More like wasting time on the computer or watching a reality tv marathon. I don’t think that’s probably what they’re referring to. Thanks for sharing this!
Ha ha ha! Yes! I totally get in a flow when reading blogs. And eating cookies! Hee hee!
You crack me up. Mark is definitely like this but doesn’t have the courtesy to offer a courteous pause. He’s more like, “Chicken, chicken dinner, oh I bought a tent.” And I’m like WTF? Are we buying a tent to raise chickens?
BTW, I pretty much suck at all 12 of those on the list. No wonder I’m such a beyotch.
Ha ha ha. You should raise chickens. They are super cute and you can hold some of them. Aww. Chickens!!!
I am worst at 6, 7 and 8. And skip 11.
Okay, how the heck did you get sucked into Twitter drama when you’re not even on Twitter? FM stuff?
I think sometimes I give Jason too much context and he’s like, “can you get to the point?” when I’m telling him something! I suppose that’s better than just randomly blurting something out, though, right? Maybe?
That is an interesting infographic. I don’t know if I understand everything they’re saying but the ones I do understand make sense!
Kind of. Someone posted my late Wed post from last week and said it was ironic I had an ad on my sidebar. And I just wanted to look in to it to make sure I didn’t need to take anything down, as to not bring weird attention to FM.
Ha ha ha! Oh gosh. I know someone VERY much like that, and we are all like “get to the effin’ point, already!” But I do it! And it probably USUALLY makes more sense than random blurting 😉
I’m not so sure if I’ve ever experienced “flow” as defined by the infographic. I think I come closest when I zone out while running but still, my mind’s running a mile a minute.
I love hearing thought processes too! Sometimes after Ian says something, I’ll ask him how he got to that point. It’s so interesting!
The #8 “flow” concept really reminds me of being in yoga class. We’re instructed to stop worrying about everything that happened before getting to class and not to worry about all of the things we have to do after class and instead focus on simply being in the moment, concentrating on our breath and heart beating and how we feel in the pose. Shutting your mind off and stopping the constant worrying or mental chatter can be very, very helpful. 🙂
BUT HOW DO YOU DO THAT?! Lol. It does totally relate to yoga. Sigh. I could never get my mind to shut off! 🙁
Wow. I suck at ALL THOSE THINGS!!!
You should make your own list! 🙂
Haha so funny! I feel like my mind is all over the place, too. I love that list–so true!! I need to work on a few of those things.
I’d never seen this list before but it makes a lot of sense. I’m a genuinely happy person and I think I do most of those things. The flow item is very interesting though. I should definitely work to increase this! I sometimes can get into a ‘flow’ state (reading a good book, hanging out with good friends/family, etc) but I do get distracted by things, like my phone, more often than I should.
Hmmm… I always come up with random thoughts and then try to decide if its an appropriate time to share them and completely change the subject or not 😉 I have been very moody lately so maybe I need to start practicing some more things on that list and get back to happy! Thanks for posting it 🙂
No worries about the run. Exercise helps, but sleep is important too 🙂
I definitely think these “flow moments” are definitely “living in the moment” and “being present” things… for me, this means consciously doing ONE thing at a time. Putting down my computer/phone/ipad when I’m talking to Rich, not doing a million things at a time at work, etc. But for me living in the moment is not my most productive state because I function best when I DO ALL THE THINGS. Maybe that’s not the point though…. hmmmm
For me, it is worse to be exhausted all day because I got up too early to workout. I would much rather be rested but feel bad about missing a workout. If I am exhausted all day, I turn into a walking zombie that can’t get anything accomplished and can barely function. At that point, I feel like it kind of defeats the purpose!
I like random thoughts a lot! I think they give a lot of insight into a person’s true personality when people are willing to share them! So I say, bring on the random thoughts. =)