Dropping Down Deeper to Flow
What's Beneath Your Shoulds, Woulds, and Coulds?
Yesterday, I wrote about creative callings—those inner voices, fragments of prose that can wake us up at 3 a.m., begging to be written.
When it comes to flow, the first step, I believe, is to start witnessing those voices chatting beneath the surface.
First, we have to get through the gridlock of rational thought—bills to pay, emails to answer, the shoulds, woulds, and coulds that take up most of our lives.
Then there are the yearnings, desires and unmet dreams beckoning us to wake up, wanting us to be somewhere we are not.
And beneath all that—there is a third call—an often unconscious yet alarmingly wise deeper level where flow’s magic is constantly brewing, just waiting to be sipped and brought into being, to be made manifest.
The Flow State and Your True Callings
Most of what is talked about regarding the flow state happens on the first two levels. We can get into a flow state doing almost anything as long as it fully engages us. Flowing amidst the mundane and chatter helps us be as efficient as possible to allow time for ‘other’ things.
What most people don’t realize is that it’s how we use that extra time when we are not navigating thoughts from levels one and two that can change it all.
Will we pick ‘other things’ that are handed to us from ‘out there’ as what we ‘ought’ to do by ‘wise’ ‘other’ beings who seem to have it all figured out?
Or will we allow ‘other things’ to come from the whispering, the deep wisdom from the deepest level of our being, beckoning to us to choose ‘other things’ with deep meaning, and to do them in ‘other ways’ – ways that have never been done before?
Finding our own way to add in some ‘other’ is what really gets our lives flowing in miraculous directions.
Flow, Creativity, and Miracles
No one else can do this life like you.
No one else has your proclivities, your preferences, your desires, your stories, your heart, your gifts, and your version of craziness. (I have yet to meet anyone without some.)
All of that is your gift, your magic, your key to letting life flow, and what I believe, life is all about.
Making conscious what is lurking around in your unconscious and letting it all hang out, if not in the ‘real’ world, in your ‘real’ life, then in safe creative communities, with other creative souls who are seeking to make their own creative whispers ‘real’ or who at least who are willing bring them out into the world to see what they have to say, is what living in flow is all about.
That’s the first step to getting our lives to really flow, and to writing words and creating creations that can truly heal wounds and weave together broken places—dropping down in through the first two layers, the gridlock of ‘what ifs,’ shoulds, the what-could-be and what-has-been, to find you—the true you—and bring her out into the world, just as she is, for all the world to see (or critique, whatever the case may be!).
Flow exists to let us shine our light, share our gifts, and do what we’re here to do—grow and evolve through one miraculous turnaround and creative breakthrough after the next—ideally, with other creative, flowing friends.
How About YOU?
What’s beneath your shoulds, woulds, coulds, and desires for things to be different that they are? Who is beneath them? What would she have to say about your best action in this moment?
This could be a fun flow write prompt!
A Flow Experiment
Imagine the person who is beyond your shoulds, woulds, coulds, and desires. Come up with a personality, and even a name for her/him/them/it. Practice going through life embodying this persona. See what happens. I’d love to hear what does!
For more Flow Questions and Flow Experiments, check out my book The Flow Habit.
Happy Flowing!
~Laurie 😊
(P.S. Have We Met?)
Hi there!
I’m Laurie Smith, speaker, podcast host, and author of several books about flow and creativity including my latest The Flow Habit: Creating Peace, Purpose, Passion, and Everyday Miracles (Hay House/Penguin Random House), a practical, research-backed guide to the flow state to help you uncover your own unique formula for flow.
While I’ve been writing, coaching, and teaching about creativity, intuition, and the true self for more than two decades, six years ago, I had a personal experience with flow that changed everything. Since then, I’ve been absolutely obsessed with flow, and it’s now the primary focus of my work.
I am continually amazed by how incredibly healing and transformational this natural, innate experience can be, and how dramatically our lives can change when we make flow a habit, a way of life.
You have unique gifts to offer the world, a unique energy that no one else can give—this is at the heart of everything I teach. I love supporting other creatives in connecting with their intuition, following their callings, and using the power of flow to share their unique gifts with the world.
My Free 28-Day Flow Challenge
My free 28-Day Flow Challenge is how my obsession with flow is began. You can read more about my 28-Day Flow Challenges on my website here, and sign up here for the series of 28 daily emails to support you in experimenting with a 5-minute Flow Habit (a joyful activity that you absolutely love to do and that has a high chance of getting you into flow).
Choosing the activity and following where it leads is so fun! If you decide to join and embark on your own adventure with flow, I’d love to hear about it—just hit reply to any of my emails, or email me directly at Laurie@LaurieSmith.com.
Let’s Flow Together!
I love creating safe spaces where we can flow and grow together—coaching groups, workshops, and community around flow, grounded in the motto: when we lift each other up, we all rise.
In addition to intuitive coaching, I offer ongoing Flow Circles on zoom, and in-person in the Bay Area of California. There’s magic when we do this together.
If the idea of flow or following your creative callings resonate, I hope you will follow, subscribe, reach out and connect.
Flow has a way of bringing the ‘just right’ people into our lives at the ‘just right time, making miracles happen.
I’m so glad we’ve found each other. I look forward to getting to know you more!