I rarely get a chance to sit and just write. Most of the time, adulting just gets in the way. Things just seem to conspire to stop me getting any work done on my stories.
Today, after tucking my partner in with one of her floofy teddy bears, I had a moment in which there was nothing else needed doing. So I made a tea (chai with some extra Cayenne Pepper), and sat down to do some writing. After chatting with some friends on Twitch (yes, I am usually one of the things conspiring to stop me getting any work done as well), I actually opened up Libre Office and started to write.
I have a great deal of books locked up inside my brain, and it usually takes a great deal of effort to eek out what little progress I can. Sorting through the mess and interconnected ideas that swim through my brain at all times is hard work. Partly due to my Dyslexia, and partly due to my inability to single track any train of thought from the mass of concurrent ideas swimming through my brain at any one time. I have said this before, but I will say it again, Parallel Processing is NOT all that useful with a dyslexic brain that can barely process that Up is Up, and Down is Down... I still have to wear my watch on my left hand so that I remember what is left and what is right (yes, I look at my hands each and every time, and have to remember that my watch is always on the left... every damn time).
This morning however, I was in a state of flow. I don't know if it was the music I was listening to, the tea being particularly spicy, or my general lack of sleep, but everything just flowed from the brain to the screen. There was no 'directing' by me, there was no 'editing' or 'overthinking' by me. I just got on with getting what changes needed done, and what new content needed adding in. I don't even remember doing it to be honest... my eyes feel like they have been open for three hours and I have not blinked once... I didn't even notice the time fly by at all... I only really realised I had been at this for a few hours when my bladder said "Oi! Dipshit! You Need A Toilet Break! Either that or you are going to need to clean the damn sofa!"... this broke my flow of course, but after I returned from the forced bathroom break, I started to read over what I had written, the changes I made, and I sat there crying for a moment...
It did not feel like I wrote it, I was hooked, I wanted to keep reading... but it stopped... I don't know what creature took over my body for those few hours, but could you kindly come back and finish the story please... I really enjoyed it... I mean, it was one of the stories I have locked up in my brain, and it went exactly how I expected it to... but the wording, the phrasing, the quality of the work was WAY above my usual. It usually takes me DAYS and WEEKS to get something even half that good... Damn you Bladder for breaking my concentration!
I wish that I could induce this feeling, this Flow State, at will. I feel I would get so much more work done than I do.
Do you ever get something similar when you are doing something?
It can be work, exercise, creativity, a really strong scene with whips and... well.. you get my drift, hell, it can even be a good gaming session... you just lose track of everything, something takes a hold, and you just go with it, nothing matters, none of the usual interruptions from your brain, no "You are doing it all wrong" moments, no "You will never succeed"... Just... Flow. Powerful, endless (till your body breaks you out of it) Flow.
Here is to everyone getting something done today, even if its just breathing;
You did well!
I salute you!
I am proud of the random person you are! ((to me... you are not random to you... just go with me on this... ACCEPT MY RANDOM COMPLIMENTS))
Anyway, as you can see, the multitude of ideas have come flooding back, and now I am going to go and lay down, and hope that whatever creature inhabited my body earlier didn't lose patience and comes back to finish the story...
