Making Friday – Flow

All I seem to do in these strange days is flail around, feeling impotent, making nothing, getting nowhere. In a frustrated text to a friend I described myself as “disappointingly unfocussed”. She felt the same way. It seems pretty common these days.

I even read an article about it – aimed at parents, actually – which referenced a study suggesting an antidote:

“… experiencing [a flow state] mitigated the adverse mental health effects of quarantine … Carving out time to drop into a state of flow is important at all times but even more so during quarantine.

Flow is the dance between your skill level and the challenge of the activity in which you’re engaging. An activity will stimulate flow if it:  provides a challenge; requires skill and concentration; provides immediate and unambiguous feedback; provides a sense of control; presents clear goals.”

That sounds exactly like Making Friday, right? I know how to do that! I made rules for it, after all!

So this week I did it. I just went to my studio, no plans in mind, no investment in outcomes, and what I saw as I walked in was a studio full of stripes. Also, I was wearing stripes.

So, for the rest of the day… and the next afternoon too… I stuck down strips of masking tape on fabric, used an old credit card as a squeegee, and I printed piles and piles of stripes… and a couple of checks, too.

The change in my mood and sense of wellbeing was amazing, which is why I’m doubling down on the Making Friday message today, reminding you that it doesn’t matter WHAT you make, and HOW useful it is at the end of it all, what’s really important is DOING IT, just because it’s good for you.

So do it.