Have you ever been so immersed in a creative adventure that it takes you to a different, alternative plain where your creative expression no longer feels like you, but a part of something more? Wikipedia defines the “flow state” as being “fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.” It is a serendipitous, spontaneous expression of joy. It is spontaneous because one’s greatest level of creativity emerges from the collective unconscious almost without your own planning it to happen. It just flows out of you, and in many cases, it rushes out of you like a waterfall. It is serendipitous because so much of your unique and beautiful creative discovery almost happens by accident in this flow state.
The energy of the flow state is passed on or transmitted to onlookers, such as an audience, or a passive participant in the activity. I’ve attended many live performances in the creative arts, even visited many fellow word pressers, and whether it’s someone’s live performance, garden reflections, a haiku poem, ikebana flower arrangement, or garden design, I feel the person’s flow state and their creative energy in their creations. This also happens when I listen to a brilliant musical performance. The artist gives me insight into the person’s connection with their creativity, their spirituality, and their connection to the world. Perhaps, this is what Carl Jung referred to as the “oceanic self”, a part of our being that is connected with all of Life, and the energy of Life.
The artistic expression can take us to another plain or spiritual state. I get this when I listen to the “chaos jazz” music of Li Pui Ming, the eternally optimistic consonance of Peter Kater, or in a very different way, the meditation music of Shakuhachi flutist Riley Lee and ukulele composer Jake Shimabukuro. Li Pui Ming takes me into her collective unconscious of order intermingling with chaos and a genius flow state. Riley Lee and Jake Shimabukuro take me to a meditative or contemplative “flow state” much like the Buddhist/ Taoist teaching of being in a state of “action through inaction.” Athletes enter this zone as well, according to Wikipedia. The famous martial arts expert Bruce Lee for example, encouraged his students to “Be like water …Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water.”
In my own musical performing experiences, it is not uncommon that the music takes me along a ride beyond me, in a zone where the music takes over, and takes me to an alternative plain. I feel this particularly when I play two musical pieces– Hatchidori Wa Hana Kara Hana e Tobu (Hatchidori, for short; translated to mean “The Hummingbird Flies from Flower to Flower”), and Kozan no Kaze (“Alpine Winds” or Alpine Wind Storm). The other day, a fellow musician mentioned after one of my performances that “you are one of those performers who can take the audience to a higher plain.” He referred it as like a “black hole” into the unconsciousness that gives a glimpse into another world or realm of reality. It was powerful to hear that.
I hope I can do that every time I play. But before I can make any credible comment on that, I would say my music needs refinement, and this means I need to play on a real piano with real weighted keys and full depth with an 88- key range more than once every one or two months. Then, at that point, I may come to a place where I agree with this person. It’s much easier to reach that flow state when I’m alone in my room playing my mini- electric keyboard with no one listening.
The artist’s great challenge is to share that openly when the opportunity arises (and we are all artists at some level), and be always willing to push the envelop. Creative expression is full of emotion, and if you keep your peace in tact, share your creativity with the world, even if you don’t think you’re quite ready. So what I mean by being “ready” is not ready performance-wise, but be emotionally ready even if your performance level is not where you believe it can or should be. Look at the crazy popularity of karaoke singing worldwide– it gives people that creative outlet that is now socially acceptable, acceptable to take a stab at belching out your favorite tunes even if you don’t have that refined Whitney Houston kind of a quality voice. For me, while this website does offer some “rough” samples of my music, it’s not yet nearly refined to where it can be, but in any case, I do love the process. I love playing. 🙂 I think you’ll love it too– yes, the music too, but the process. Enjoy the ride, and don’t ever let go of your creative spark! Be the Hummingbird. 😉
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