When was the last time you got completely lost in an activity? Probably not at work, even if you love what you do. And probably not in checking off those boxes on your ‘to-do’ list, either. ‘Lost’ as in the kind of focus you see in small children building a sandcastle on the beach, or the sort of concentration you see on the faces of athletes giving their all to accomplish their goal. Many times, life today allows us to pay attention to the things that bring immediate rewards, such as our livelihood, bringing us the paycheck that fuels our lives, or perhaps attention we give to a report at work that moves our business forward. Each of those have their ‘rewards’ in one form or another, but do our lives have room for those things that may not make money for us, but provides us the joy of creativity. In my case, time spent at the piano, practicing scales, and then the pieces I’m working on right now, gives me that opportunity to get totally lost in the activity of playing the piano, sometimes better, sometimes worse, depending on when I last practiced, but allows me to get up from the instrument, feeling that ‘flow’ state of creative energy. Even if I’ve practiced to the point that I am quite mentally tired—and with tired fingers, as well—I leave the keyboard with a euphoria that goes with me into the rest of my life, and lasts for quite a while.
Whatever it is that gives each of us that state of mind is so vitally important, even if, and maybe particularly if it doesn’t make us a nickel. Times spent focused on something we love to do, be it music, or sports, or sewing, or building things, is time spent refreshing our minds, taking us away from the spectre of mortgages, bills, deadlines, and so forth, and simply allows us to play, if you will, taking us into another world, another plane of existence, where only the focus on the activity itself counts for anything. Why? Because it gives us license to mentally step away from whatever responsibilities that demand our attention, and allows us to give ourselves the attention we were able to give ourselves when we were much younger. ‘Living,’ or getting lost in that space frees our mind, and allows so many things and ideas to enter our heads, sometimes sparking other creative ideas, and sometimes things we think about momentarily and then later forget. And either way, it doesn’t matter. Because this time is how we keep ourselves fresh and vital, and not preoccupied with matter that will only cause us stress. There is always time in our lives for the responsibilities we have taken on, as well as thought for what ‘needs’ to be done in our lives. ‘Getting lost’ is a complement to that, and allows us the down time we all desperately need in order to navigate those more stressful pieces of our lives, because we have allowed ourselves to do something that gives us a sense of meaning the minute we finish doing it. Bringing this balance into our lives also allows us to be more in the present moment as we move through what life presents to us at any given moment, and allows us to see that we can have that wonderful, yet imperfect life that too few manage to create.