The Mixed Media Artist’s Guide to Flow State
Yesterday I entered flow state while I was writing a work email. Yes, you read that right. A WORK EMAIL.
When I came to, I was pretty freaked out because I had missed an important work Zoom call, and I was super curious as to what had just happened to me.
I was feeling happy (euphoric actually), and totally at peace (except for the feeling that I had let down the person whom I was supposed to be Zooming with). I knew something very special had just happened where I had lost track of time, where all of my other thoughts were on pause, where my nervous system was calm and I was just simply in flow with the world.
Personally, I’m obsessed with Flow State. If you’ve experienced it, and I hope you have, I don’t need to explain this obsession to you. But for those of you that don’t know what it is or if you want more information about it, this blog post is for you!
This blog post is a summary of a podcast interview with writer and flow state geek, Steven Kotler. He is the Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective. The podcast that I listened to is called “Know Thyself” and these notes are from Episode 58. (Just assume that everything in this post that isn’t about mixed media art is a quote from either Steven Kotler or the host of the podcast episode!)
Photo credit Tiffany Sharpe @tiffanysimplysharpe
What is Flow State?
It is a state of feeling our best and performing at our best. It is periods of time where our attention becomes rapt, we are totally absorbed in what we are doing and completely focused on doing the task at hand.
Everything else just starts to disappear. Action and awareness merge. Self consciousness disappears completely. The voice in your head gets really quiet. The inner critic disappears.
A peaceful feeling overtakes you. Time passes strangely-you get so sucked in to what you are doing that two hours will go by and it will feel like two minutes.
Everyone should have a reliable way of entering flow state.
I’m not a big fan of “shoulding” all over people, but in this case, I’m making an exception. Every human benefits from going into flow state.
Based on what Steven Kotler explained, I am going to detail here why this is and how best to get there for mixed media artists of all types.
Flow is so joyous, so addictive, so pleasurable, and so much of our best feeling on earth that once we find an activity that produces flow, we automatically go back to that activity.
Your emotions are almost completely turned off when you are in flow. Think “stillness.” It feels like the best kind of meditative state, but we don’t need to go through session after session of meditation to achieve it when we, the artsy-craftsy types, can pretty easily achieve it with things like mixed media art creation or watercolor painting for relaxation.
In flow state you get dopamine in your brain, but you get other chemicals including norepinephrine, oxytocin, endorphins, anandamide, and serotonin. There’s a lot more going on than just a dopamine hit. Flow is a very addictive state, but it is a very healthy state.
Miraculously, flow resets our nervous system by pushing the stress hormones out of our system.
Photo credit Megan Quinlan
Flow State Has Triggers
If you want more flow in your life, the great news is that there is a tool kit for getting it.
The Challenge-Skills Balance
We pay the most attention to the task at hand when the challenge of the task slightly exceeds our skillset. THIS IS THE GOLDEN RULE OF FLOW STATE!
Flow follows focus, so all of the tools drive our attention to the present moment.
What does that mean for us mixed media artists? I believe it means that we want to continue to push ourselves, but just a little bit. We want to sit down with our supplies and a juicy new lesson from an exciting teacher and we want to try new things . . . as much as we possibly can! This is a super reliable way to enter delicious flow state.
WE WANT TO STRETCH BUT NOT SNAP. We want to be at the midpoint between boredom and anxiety.
The 5 Major Internal Motivators: Curiosity, Passion, Purpose, Autonomy and Mastery
If you are curious about a subject (think mixed media art), you’re not working hard to pay attention to it and focus on it.
Passion is built out of the intersection of multiple curiosities (again, think mixed media art!) and this will hold your attention over the LONG HAUL.
Passion and Purpose are important motivators. Engaging in the worldwide community of mixed media artists that is available to us through social meda gives our passion a purpose. We’re not just making art for ourselves, we are making art for the human connection that it provides.
Autonomy is the freedom to go after what we are passionate about. We are blessed to be able to have the resources and the time to be able to dedicate either a little of our time or a lot of our time to learning new skills and making art.
Mastery is gaining the skills to pursue that purpose well (think the challenge-skills balance—always stretch a little outside of your comfort zone).
When all 5 of our intrinsic motivators are tightly stacked like they are with us mixed media artists, it drives a lot of focus. And all five of the internal motivators are flow triggers! Flow follows focus.
Passion and purpose look very different when you are a beginner than when you are an expert. You do not need to be an expert to have passion and purpose, but you can make the mistake of thinking that passion and purpose are only for the mature, experienced experts.
Absolutely not! Passion and purpose are earned a little bit of interest at a time. You have to build them up in yourself. You must start out as a beginner. There is no bolt of lightning coming to make anyone a great mixed media artist right out of the gate. You need to have patience with yourself and low expectations of greatness. Don’t expect a mystical experience, expect slow growth over time. Effort is required!
Photo credit Wendy Solganik @willa.wanders
The Importance of Play
When we play, the brain releases norepinephrine, dopamine and a really big hit of endorphins. This massively amplifies learning and quickens the pace to mastery.
Sitting down and starting to make art might be a small hump to overcome in the first ten minutes, but once you start, you quickly get into play.
An activity is only sustainable if it feels like play. Grit won’t last, you will get burned out. But play? That is sustainable.
It is challenging to learn something new. Flow starts with a struggle phase. You have to learn something consciously before you can perform it unconsciously, so there is always a struggle phase on the front end of a flow state.
Flow state is not a continuous state and a life with flow state is not a life without struggle. Learning something new is hard mostly because of how we talk to ourselves. Lowering expectations and not judging our work helps with flow state during the learning phase.
How To Up Your Chances of Getting into Flow and Staying There
Practice distraction management. Put your phone on “do not distract.”
Novelty is a flow trigger. Seeing new and different things helps. Try going somewhere new and doing your thing.
The more you get into flow, the easier it is to get back in.
The happiest people on earth are the ones with the most flow in their lives. Three to four hours per week in flow is often good enough to get all of the benefits of it.
So find the activity that is really “flowy” for you and do that thing once or twice per week. If that thing is mixed media art, you have found your thing, mazel tov! Enjoy it!!!
Photo credit Megan Quinlan @meganquinlanstudio
Group Flow is a Thing
What is even better than an individual in flow state? Group flow!
Group flow maximizes choice and creativity. Think of a great band playing together or an improv comedy group.
I believe that this is what we are experiencing within the Fodder Schools, our year long mixed media art experiences. Kotler says that group flow is everybody’s favorite experience on earth because everybody is performing at their best, you can go in a ton of directions and get a lot done. You can get farther faster.
What people are accomplishing in Fodder School is truly mind blowing and the only explanation for this phenomenon is “group flow.”
But whether or not you participate in a big offering like Fodder School, or one of our many, many individual courses like The Comprehensive Paper Doll by Megan Quinlan, keep learning new things and pushing yourself a little out of your comfort zone at a time and watch your time in flow state skyrocket!
Do you have an awareness of your own states of flow? Please share your experience in the comments section.
