Lose Yourself In The Moment And Accomplish What You Set Out To Do

The idea of losing yourself in the moment sounds vague, weird almost nonsensical.

On hearing the idea, you go huh?.. What?

Losing yourself in the moment is not uncommon and is done quite frequently sometime deliberately. Most often, it occurs when you are doing something that gives you great pleasure or when you are in a moment of reflection. It comes in the form of day dreaming, some call it being in the zone and others call it -in flow.

One of the best experiences I've had losing myself in the moment was while sitting in the studio working on two painting projects. Both were new ideas I was trying to recreate from an artist I've been following and whose free spirited work I really like and is inspired by - Angela Anderson

Project #1 Freestyle flower painting

Free-style flower painting

The first piece was all messy, which I didn't mind because it was meant to look that way and I was putting my own twist on it. The second piece was more polished with vibrant, eye popping colors, and I was feeling really pleased with myself. I was pleased with the way the sketch turned out, how the new background paint- over an old failed piece I had previously painted looked and though I didn't have her exact colors and skill, I was doing my own thing and it was alright.

Project #2 Daisy Flower painting

Daisy flower painting

Changing Focus

It was just after midnight and there was something different happening. Something that was outside of the usual where I would notice the everything around me and get totally distracted after a few minutes. Tonight though was different as my focus just seemed to change the moment the video audio was turned off and I began focusing on the task at hand. Slowly my focus shifted from outward to inward and I was just gliding along in the creative process.

It was the most relaxing feeling ever even though I was making many errors here and there that had to be cleaned up along the way it didn't matter. I was mentally happy to redo it and keep going. Time at that moment seemed nonexistent.

Lost in Time

Only now, it seems as if the struggle had vanished and the stress that came with it disappeared, dissolved into nothingness. I was lost in my own special world that I had some how managed to create without effort and it felt wonderful, almost like a dream.

Except, it was a dream happening in real time. A dream that even after the painting was completed, lingered. A feeling that elicit excitement deep within and makes you want to exist in the moment again, where care of thought, struggle, surrounding and time is tossed aside leaving you to revel in your own perfect imaginings.

How to Lose Yourself in the Moment

First you must find your own quiet space where you can remove all distractions which includes the phone television, radio, even the barking dog. You can also choose a time of day when all is quiet and you can work quietly without any distractions so you can focus steadily on the task in front of you.

In addition to turning off all the things around you that will cause distractions, you also need to turn off the things inside you that will cause distractions too, like worrying about weather what you are doing will work or not. You should also clear your mind of distractions that will cause you to wander off in another direction and lose focus.

What you work on in entirely up to you but it should be something you like doing that's a bit challenging but when completed will make you feel so happy. Don't try to multitask by working on more than one thing at a time. You should first complete one task before you start the other like in my projects above. They weren't painted together, once one was finished and I knew that I was finished with it, I started the other one and if it wasn't after 1:00 am , I probably would have started on the third project.

This goes to show that flow could last a very long time.

Conclusion

Losing yourself in the moment pushes worry and struggle aside and allows you to experience a moment like none other, where everything works like magic. This moment can last for hours as long as the conditions of being focused with no distractions both internal and external are met, what you're working on is slightly challenging and you know exactly what you want to accomplish.

Until next time

Be blessed