Kayla Hammond - Flow (Personal Choice)

     In a psychology class I learned that flow is being so engrossed in a task that we forget of all else. This is interesting to me because in this class the state of flow goes a lot deeper. It is an emptying of self, and you become less self conscious. As it relates to a spiritual journey flow is similar to waking up from a good dream. One can not force themselves to enter into a state of flow instead it just happens. Looking back I believe I entered into this state when I was hiking up to the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. It was a freezing cold day and on the outskirts of the trail was leftover snow from the night before. At first I was not enjoying the hike because it all I could think about was how cold I was. Once we got to one of the many shrines along this trail we were told to spend a few moments in silence. I then began to focus on other things like how the leaves crumbled under the snow when people walked on it, the sound of water running from the nearby, and soft voices from afar. In this moment I became at peace with my surroundings and was able to focus. Once we reached to the top where the Grotto was located I was awestruck by the beauty this place held and had completely forgotten about being cold. However, in the future I will remember a much thicker coat!