5 Comments
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Holly Jansen's avatar

Thanks for an interesting read. I love the combination of paddling and photography. I find landscape photography to be my go to meditation, but I never thought of it as being in the flow, but I will now.

Martha Davidge's avatar

Thanks for this piece on the flow state. I find this happens in both art and while writing. I’d like to quote you while teaching little classes on these that I do through Community Ed. Would that be okay? Thanks!

Bryan Hansel's avatar

Thanks. Yes, quoting me would be okay.

Roy Hakala's avatar

Seems very much like zen archery: maybe, the camera that is not aimed.

Nikolas Bayuk's avatar

This really resonated. While I’m not a photographer, I recognize the feeling you’re describing. I get it when I’m setting up my hammock in the BWCA, the small, deliberate steps, the quiet calibration with the trees, the way the world narrows until it’s just you and the task in front of you. There’s something deeply grounding about that kind of attention.

In a world that feels increasingly loud and fragmented, being able to focus on one thing and to do it well, patiently, without an audience, feels almost like a form of resistance. Thanks for putting words to that experience. It’s a good reminder that flow doesn’t have to be productive to be meaningful.