Older, but no wiser
Andy Borrows' musings on life and all its confusion, contradictions, richness and opportunities
Saturday, November 01, 2003
Being in flow
Did that seem a little OTT yesterday?
I admit today is a little flatter. Although the step isn’t quite so springy, the memory of yesterday’s energy and optimism remains fresh.
There’s value, I believe, in recording these feelings. It affirms, albeit rather publicly, that it is possible for me to feel this way. It gives me a referent to hold onto when the outlook seem more bleak.
Awareness and acceptance of feelings is part of what Carl Rogers (yes, I’m quoting him again!) called being in flow. You might think “How can I not be aware of what I’m feeling?” Well, for one thing the language I used in that second paragraph reflects a stage of removal from experience. I didn’t use the first person at all – “today is..”, “the step isn’t…”, “the memory of…”. Not once did I say “I” or “my”. That wasn’t deliberate either – I only noticed it looking back. I was talking about experience from the standpoint of an external observer, not as one in the flow of the experience.
A few years ago when I was doing an introductory counselling course I kept a journal, recording all manner of thought, feelings, experiences – similar to yesterday’s post; not always as positive as that but nonetheless an expression of visceral experience. I often wondered whether there might be any value in publishing the journal in some way – maybe as source material for students of client centred therapy.
I don’t necessarily intend to repeat that degree of openness here; not all the time anyway. But taking the effort to describe feelings helps to raise awareness of them; it promotes being in flow. Having taken the trouble to write it all down, sometimes it might be interesting to post it here. The process of writing helps me and, who know, the result might even help someone else.
I admit today is a little flatter. Although the step isn’t quite so springy, the memory of yesterday’s energy and optimism remains fresh.
There’s value, I believe, in recording these feelings. It affirms, albeit rather publicly, that it is possible for me to feel this way. It gives me a referent to hold onto when the outlook seem more bleak.
Awareness and acceptance of feelings is part of what Carl Rogers (yes, I’m quoting him again!) called being in flow. You might think “How can I not be aware of what I’m feeling?” Well, for one thing the language I used in that second paragraph reflects a stage of removal from experience. I didn’t use the first person at all – “today is..”, “the step isn’t…”, “the memory of…”. Not once did I say “I” or “my”. That wasn’t deliberate either – I only noticed it looking back. I was talking about experience from the standpoint of an external observer, not as one in the flow of the experience.
A few years ago when I was doing an introductory counselling course I kept a journal, recording all manner of thought, feelings, experiences – similar to yesterday’s post; not always as positive as that but nonetheless an expression of visceral experience. I often wondered whether there might be any value in publishing the journal in some way – maybe as source material for students of client centred therapy.
I don’t necessarily intend to repeat that degree of openness here; not all the time anyway. But taking the effort to describe feelings helps to raise awareness of them; it promotes being in flow. Having taken the trouble to write it all down, sometimes it might be interesting to post it here. The process of writing helps me and, who know, the result might even help someone else.
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