There are a lot of stereotypes of creative people. The absent-minded professor comes to mind. And, like said professor, I sink like a stone into whatever I’m doing and lose track of other things. The professor – played by Fred McMurray in 1961 – was so absorbed in his work that he missed his wedding. I remember that vividly from when I saw it, at age 8 or 9, on TV.

It’s funny, I just googled the movie, to brush up on its deets, and what I remember about the movie was that he was enthralled by his work. What captured my attention was this concept of getting “lost” in your creative work. It had happened to me, and I’d gotten in trouble for it, too. I loved the movie for that reason.

What the rest of the world remembers about the movie is… of course… FLUBBER! The gravity-defying green stuff that he was busily inventing!

Flubber and Flow

It makes me think of Flubber and Flow as the yin and yang of creativity. (Now, there’s some science for you.)

  • Flubber is what you’re making – your WIP. It has its qualities, its ups and downs and ins and outs. The Professor’s WIP blew up, and behaved outrageously, once created. It had a life of its own. Isn’t this what we’d all hope for in our WIP?
  • Flow is how you feel as you create. He was captivated, fascinated… enthralled. I don’t even necessarily think it was bec Flubber was going to change the world in extraordinary ways. He was engaged before it was anything but a disappointing green blob.

He was in flow.

Flow is the state of being when creating, wherein everything else in the world seems to fall away. Flow was discovered and defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who interviewed hundreds of creators who described their experience with this state of focus, exhilaration and absorption.

You can be so engrossed, that you don’t remember ordinary things, like bodily needs, scheduled events, or phone calls you were supposed to make. Dinner doesn’t get made. Kids don’t get picked up on time.

Flubber got all your attention.

I’m very fortunate to have great Flubber right now, wonderful work that is keeping me in Flow. I love this work – helping writers with creative process. I love the projects it brings to me, and the Flubber it keeps gifting me with. Mine is not the disappointing green blob (well, except sometimes) and in its way, it can defy gravity.

I wish you all Flow.