A pattern is emerging: good things come out of the work, rather than leading up to or enabling the work.
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Chapter 13: Flow is a Symptom
Notes
Flow is not (as many believe) a fragile result of finding yourself in just the right conditions. It arises out of whatever activity we’re focused on.
There’s no guarantee, but flow more likely to arrive if we learn to work without it: “We do the work, whether we feel like it or not, and then, without warning, flow can arise.”
Thoughts
Seth is building a theme here. He’s already argued that feelings (in particular, “feeling like working”) come from action. In the previous chapter, he argued that our story (our narrative about who we are) can be changed by what we do. Now, he’s arguing that flow (being immersed in a task) comes from the work.
As I write this, I’m on break between semesters. Technically, I’m off contract—a relatively important concept right now, given the state of negotiations at my college—but that doesn’t mean I’m not working. I’m getting training on how to integrate an embedded tutor in one of my classes. I’m prepping classes and a big department meeting. This all takes a few hours a day—not full-time work, at this point, but not insignificant either.
I’m also catching up on housework and other related nonsense that piled up during the last few weeks’ rush to finish up classes and grading.
All this is to say that it dawned on me today that I’m not spending much time on the creative work that I want to do. It’s not exactly that I don’t “feel like it,” though it’s related: I get to the end of the day and, for whatever reason, I choose to just play guitar, noodling through the songs I’ll be recording but not making any progress, really. I don’t really know what “story” I’d like to tell. And even though this chapter about flow doesn’t really resonate much (at least at this point), this larger pattern—work comes before these other things—makes me realize that I’ve got my priorities messed up.
I do things that are important in my work life and personal life, and then I tag on my creative life. I need to figure out how to turn that upside down.
This series is meant to capture my thoughts as I work through Seth Godin’s The Practice. It’s a book with over 200 (very short) chapters, which I hope to work through and, I further hope, to implement over time.
If you’re interested in more of Godin’s ideas, or my thoughts about them, you can check out this collection of posts. Note that if you’re more interested in the former, you should probably get Godin’s book and read it yourself; my notes will be both incomplete and idiosyncratic, and my thoughts will relate to my own experience.
But if my thoughts resonate with you, or if you think I’m just silly, I welcome your comments.