
The OED defines “flow” as: (noun) “movement in a current or stream;…the gradual deformation of a solid under pressure;…continuous movement;…a flood;…” (verb) to move on a gently inclined surface;…to circulate;…to suffer a permanent, non-elastic change;…to issue or proceed from;…to be in flood;…” Nowhere does it mention capital “F” flow as in the state of aroused hyper-attentiveness coined by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi uses the term flow to indicate the state of aroused concentration we experience in intense concentration, one in which we are intently focused on a task, activity, or thought to the exclusion of distracting stimuli. He rambles on about it on TED.There are probably more concise descriptions; the book is excellent.
While most often associated with high-level sports (downhill skiing, rock climbing) or religious meditation, I believe we can experience flow in such everyday activities as manual dishwashing or house-cleaning. Certainly I am in a flow state when I am fully engaged in creative writing (as opposed to typing an email): many are the times I have not heard my name being called, or realized the tea I made has been left, untouched and cold, or noticed day has become night.
I’m writing a paper which examines the effect walks in nature had on the philosophies of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Muir. For both men, entering a state of reverie was crucial to the experience; at other times they were intensely engaged in botanical study, which requires, in the field, a narrow focus of attention on a single plant, and to a single flower of that plant.
If we accept the basic premise of the chart below, flow is not adjacent to relaxation, which one might typically associate with reverie. Yet reverie is not boredom, nor is it simple relaxation. It requires attentiveness, although as Rousseau writes, it “needs only enough of such ideas to allow one to be conscious of one’s existence while forgetting all one’s troubles. This type of reverie can be enjoyed anywhere where one is undisturbed…” (Rousseau, Reveries of the Solitary Walker. 1782. London: Penguin, 2004)
(Chart can be found in either “Flow” or “Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi” wikipedia entries.)
So would reverie be considered a flow experience? Is highly-focused attentiveness reverie or flow; are they the same thing? Perhaps reverie might better be thought of as an open awareness that does not resemble daydreaming, but is more like meditation. Your thoughts?
I’ve been hoping more of you who read some of the essays on this site would consider sending your essay(s) to Coastline. If they are interdisciplinary in nature (for the intelligent reader who isn’t looking for a specialist’s paper), and well-written, we’d like to publish it.