Where do I begin?

Because it's been a while...

This is my first post on a new platform so obviously I wanted it to be good or at least significant, which is why it’s been one whole year since I sent out an email saying “Coming soon!”.

For a while, I kidded myself that “soon” is a subjective term, but no, a quick search reveals that although the meaning is imprecise, apparently there would be very few contexts in which “soon” could mean twelve months.

Having been in hibernation most of the past two years, I didn’t want my first words to be about something inconsequential, like the fact that a cat arrived at my back door last week and hasn’t left.

Either she has amnesia (she seems to think she lives here now) or she’s having a past life regression (because she knows exactly where the cat food is kept).

Cats never worry about either/or dilemmas.

I seem to spend half my life on their horns.

For instance, having decided to write again, shall I go general or niche? The internet advises niche. This is logical – I write about creativity and if you put that topic into Google it reveals 726 million results.

On the other hand, I’m not suited to niche because my brain is far too eclectic. This has given me the perfect excuse to “go into hibernation” or “fall off a cliff” depending on your either/or interpretation of what happens when you just don’t know what to do next.

During lockdown, I got very interested (and then quietly obsessed) with Flow and Flow states.

I think of Flow as a sacred thing… the life force energy that flows through every living thing. When we’re in a Flow state we’re highly creative because we’re tapped into the same energy that came up with everything from photosynthesis to flamingos.

A lot of articles on Flow have been written by macho men who describe it as the peak experience achieved by near-death experiences – ski-ing down vertical mountains or jumping out of planes. They want to use Flow to “get in the zone” so they can be “super productive”. The language in these articles is very masculine… getting fired up, executing goals, declaring victory over the day.

A masculine approach to Flow is getting more done with less effort. A more feminine approach to Flow is being able to move through life without clinging or resistance in order to become a co-creative partner with the life force itself. This would heal the suffering of exhaustion and envy, and inspire more creative options than hitting the gym or hitting the Pinot Grigio.

I decided to write my own book.

As a species, we sense that we no longer fit into “either/or” categories… masculine or feminine; creative or non-creative; conservative or liberal; logical or mystical; independent or needy; angry or loving. Physics tells us that we’re more energy than matter and because energy can move through walls, it can’t be contained in two boxes.

F. Scott Fitzgerald said that the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.

I’d add that the test of a Flow state is the ability to hold two opposing emotions in the heart, expand to contain both, and leverage the resulting tension to reach higher states of creativity.

We want to be in Flow, but we also want to be in control, which results in endless procrastination.

Perhaps we’ve reached the zenith of our “either/or” dilemmas and are finally ready to embrace a “both/and” perspective.

My book is called Flow Without the F*ckery – Wake Up Your Killer Creativity.

It’s on Amazon… a company I both love and hate…

The convenience! The speedy deliveries! The hassle-free returns!

The narcissism! The tax avoidance! The penis-shaped rocket!

Thanks for reading.

P.S.  My new cat companion may not remember where she lives but this allows her to live in present time awareness – a precursor to Flow states. I shall observe her closely.

Although I use the pronoun she, I actually can’t tell if the cat is male or female, so I’ve decided to call it Lola, which I think covers all bases plus a nod to both kink and Kinks.