That state where you are open and flowing with effortless brilliance.
Not forcing, not restricting…just flowing.

People connect to it through many different outlets. Whether it’s cooking, or designing, or in a sport, or in an art, it is that state where things come naturally and without effort.

As I had secretly anticipated, the day that I decide to commit to my 66 day journey and publications, I am hit with what you might call writers block. The intuitive mind takes a back seat and the critic slides up front. The critic, often destroying ideas before they are even fully articulated. The idea that judgment is coming can cripple my ability, and sometimes my willingness, to express.

Oh, how I miss those moments of flow. Of freedom. When my mind is open for the sake of honest reflection and understanding.

I’ve long valued the process of ‘automatic writing’ for the relief and insight it brings. This art form is to write without a filter. To speak one’s mind, privately on a page with the intention to reveal the inner world as purely as possible. If you are thinking about what to write, you are not really doing the practice.

It is not meant to be pretty, it is not meant to be anything other than real.

And that is how I’ve connected with the arts for years, specifically music and writing. Not always – some pieces are refined and pain-stakingly edited, destined to be performed, but often times their creation/discovery is born from a place of pure openness. A willingness to receive the medicine of the music or writing that needs to come through.

It is a process to bring clarity to your mind. To give a voice the ideas that bounce and scream in your head, but also the ideas that have sat buried, covered and collecting dust.

And so I write, without the fear of irrelevance, because foremost this practice is for me, so that I might feel connected to my real self.

And so I reflect here honestly that I am happy. That I am enjoying my life and the journey. That I feel well equipped to navigate the challenges I do and will face. That I am willing and pretty excited to continue. I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate to be in the position I am, and that motivates me to use my positioning for the best.

There is a certain responsibility I feel, to give back to the world and its people because of the miracles I acknowledge I’ve been given by them. And so today, my offering is an acknowledgement of the flow. Of the bountiful flow state which is allowing me to see things as they really are.

Sometimes the mind can be so reluctant to look at the obvious truths. But when I sit and let down my guard in the flow state, the truth comes out, and I am well positioned to move forward. Whether or not your mind is pleasant is not the issue. What helps and gives the process value is that you are now aware of what’s going on. The whole process is designed to help you see how you’re truly feeling.

Most of this 66 day challenge is about me tapping into my flow state. A large part of my artistic production is rooted in that process.

I feel it is a gift that I have been given, the ability to let my guard down so that I can see how my real self is doing. And I know that the journal the most comfortable place to do so – because it is private and not subject to the judgments of outsiders. It is a safe space.

And this gift, the gift of this process, is one that can help everyone. To that end I, and the others in the 1017 Collective , have begun a series called the FreeFlow Showcase and Open Mic.

The intention of the Showcase is to make public the people, processes, and products that come from the flow state. It is designed to inspire people. It is a friendly safe community space where people can open themselves up in vulnerable ways, knowing that they will be held and supported in ways that they would not usually find outside of their family – and sometimes not even there.

And so more than a single art work, this offering is a show, a community, a demonstration of process. Not only is it a place for great performers to lead by example, but the open mic portion is inclusive and almost overly encouraging towards those not accustomed to the stage. It gladly welcomes those who are shy and looking to get out of their comfort zones.

The FreeFlow is a community of individuals who value the flow state. Who know the gifts that creative expression can bring, and share them so that their process can inspire the next person to share.

Whether you have inspiration to share or you’re looking to be inspired, the FreeFlow will receive you well. This is what bonds us: our commitment to growth and honest reflection through the arts.

And so I’ve made it past my word limit for the day, and it came from the flow state. I did not think about writing this, and maybe that shows, but the process itself is gratifying. As I sit here writing I feel a greater ease in my mind. Opening the taps let’s me complete all my tasks with greater ease. The flow state is a practice in patience. Not forcing things, but allowing them to come at their own speed, of their own agenda. It is a staying open. Not reacting negatively when things are not working, but a commitment to showing up for ourselves, however that looks, as we strive for clarity.

I am continually inspired and awed by people who show up in their realness – who value honesty over fear of judgment.  How fortunate I feel to be a part of a network that serves me as I serve them.