>> Carla Sinclair is editor-in-chief of CRAFT magazine.
carla@craftzine.com
Flow is the mental state of operation
in which the person is fully immersed in
what he or she is doing, characterized by
a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and
success in the process of the activity.
—Wikipedia
When we first decided to devote this volume to Play, I mentioned to the other CRAFT editors that, in a way, you’re playing when you craft. I wasn’t sure if they got what I meant, since I myself wasn’t quite sure why I thought playing and crafting were intertwined. Later, as I tried to define my thoughts, I realized that it wasn’t the activities that were related as much as the experience of getting lost in the moment that both crafting and playing sometimes produced.
We’ve all experienced it, that Zen-like ecstasy of becoming one with what you’re doing when fully engaged in an activity. All other thoughts and worries, as well as a sense of time, vanish during this elevated state. Athletes call it “in the zone,” jazz musicians have called it “in the groove,” but I like referring to it as “flow,” a term coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Finding Flow (Basic Books).
Csikszentmihalyi explains that a flow state happens when we become so focused on an activity that, similar to a deep state of meditation, we block out all other distractions and become completely immersed in the task at hand. Hours seem to pass both instantaneously and indefinitely, and afterward we’re left with a deep sense of well-being.
I’ve tripped on flow from all kinds of activities, losing myself while acting in a school play, weeding the garden around my porch, practicing the piano, competing in a tennis tournament, embroidering a tea towel, even painting a rock to make a paperweight. In all these instances the concept of time disappeared, and my mind — feeling strangely
electric and calm simultaneously — became one with the activity.
Although flow isn’t partial to crafting and playing — I have turned on the flow while reading a book, editing an article, and driving long distances, for example — Csikszentmihalyi rates the “active leisures” of crafting and playing as activities that most frequently produce a flow state. The trick to finding flow is to choose a project — or game or hobby — that is challenging enough to capture your complete interest without being so difficult that you want to prematurely throw in the towel.
Anyone hoping to get their flow on will have countless opportunities with the dozens of projects in these pages. You might find your flow while making, or later playing with, the flashing LED hula hoop (page 54), adorable Japanese “otedama” juggling toys (page 50), personalized coloring book (page 48), or thumb piano made from objects found around the house (page 38).
But of course crafting itself offers flow whether it’s playful or not, and so we also offer the usual eclectic mix of projects (sew a T-shirt wedding dress, stitch plushie monsters, build a kerosene lantern chandelier, make solar-lit jewelry, and much more) that will appeal to crafters of all skill levels.
“It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life,” says Csikszentmihalyi. So let the games — and the crafting — flow! ×
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