Have you ever heard of Flow State? It sounds kind of woo-woo, but hear me out.

Flow state is a psychological experience that people report when they are completely involved in something. Sometimes it dissolves their sense of time because their full attention is set on a single activity¹.

I didn’t do a full literature review on this, so maybe my science isn’t completely rigorous, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that humans are facing increased difficulty focusing their attention on a single task (I literally got distracted twice while writing this sentence).

I’m going to lay a lot of blame on the internet for this phenomenon (educated opinion, not a systematic review). We are bombarded with short, attention grabbing videos and headlines that flood us with knee jerk serotonin and cortisol so we feel really good and really stressed within seconds. This roller coaster isn’t fun. We are becoming unable to handle being bored or sit with our surroundings without external influence.

What does flow state have to do with art? Everything. Well, maybe not everything, but it definitely helps.

Recently, I was working on a painting (if you are new here, I mentioned it in a previous newsletter post) that I knew I had to achieve flow state enlightenment to get through so I harnessed the infinite power of the universe and channelled it though my paintbrush.

No, I didn’t. I overthought, over-painted, over-complicated my color choices. I put too many colors on my palette, had too many paintbrushes in use, and I was shuffling through songs at the same time as texting my art teacher friend about my woes.

This is how not to prep a brain for flow state. It’s also a really good indicator of when I need to reset. I went inside, got a fresh cup of tea, a snack, chugged some water, cooed at my pet spider Charlotte (a story for another day) and just slowed down for a minute.

When I returned to painting I put on a trusty album and flipped the painting upside down to confuse my brain just a little bit. Sometimes our brains go on autopilot and create patterns that aren’t true. Think of how you would draw a tree or a mountain or a house out of simple shapes from memory or experience vs what is actually in front of your face. Turning a painting upside down is one way I can combat autopilot and start sliding into flow state.

I am not trying to romanticize this state. It takes work. It doesn’t always come easy. This world is full of really shitty things, shitty people, shitty actions. Maybe we all owe it to ourselves to slow down and focus on something with intent and curiosity just for awhile.

Recent Inspiration

Thank you so much for supporting me and my creative endeavour. I appreciate all of you.

As always, check out my website for more art and to see what’s available for purchase. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or if you want some art for your walls.

🩷🖌️ Meagan
www.meaganlauren.com