I hope this finds you well!

I got a new calm piano session ready to share with you! The title is Flow Of Life.

[above: a single frame from this session's upcoming YouTube video, which I recorded back at home...]

I chose the title because I liked how the phrase sounds at first. When doing some research I noticed some of the ideas behind the flow of life concept are ideas I’ve been exploring with my past piano sessions already.

So, how could I personally live more with the flow of life? And, is it something worth being aware of, or even to strive for at all?

To live with the flow of life might mean to live in harmony with myself, others, and the environment. It could involve a sense of balance and integration between different aspects of life, such as work and leisure, activity and rest (aka relaxdaily), ambition and contentment. I’m saying this also to my future self, as I want to learn to balance those aspects of life a little better. I also want to continue to immerse myself in new experiences that help me understand myself better. Because how can I live in harmony with myself if I don't even know myself? Luckily, I feel like I'm already halfway there in this regard.

To live with the flow of life could also mean being fully present in the moment, letting go of worries about the past or anxieties about the future, and immersing myself completely in the present experience, task, or moment of joy.

[… this is the view of the part of Porto, Portugal, where I’m writing these lines, and also recharge my personal batteries for a hopefully exciting, wonderful, powerful, possibly with lots of flow of life, and still unfolding 2024]

It could also mean to embrace life as it unfolds without resistance. Like water that flows through a valley in the form of a river, I might learn to accept and acknowledge reality as it is and respond to it with calmness and wisdom. A huge rock or even an impossible to climb mountain in my path is not a challenge when I find a way around it.

It could mean to trust my intuition and the subtle guidance of my inner voice and inner wisdom and allowing it to guide decisions and actions.

It could mean to engage in activities with a sense of effortlessness and ease, acting spontaneously and effortlessly in accordance with the natural flow of events. Effortlessness doesn’t mean to only engage in extremely easily manageable tasks, like eating ice-cream or Portuguese Pasteis De Nata. Effortlessness can be found with complex or high skill tasks that through training and experience might have become easy to me, like the kind of piano music I do right now feels super easy and effortless to me, after having spent a few years with the piano. Or it might be following a process that’s highly effective and efficient or well designed.

[…Portuguese Pasteis De Nata, a sweet pastries that goes perfect with an espresso]

Back to the flowing water image: like the landscape from the perspective of the flowing river constantly changes, so does life. The river doesn’t say “I don’t want this”. It accepts reality and circumstances. It’s flexible. It adapts. Presented with unexpected circumstances, it finds a new way and adjusts its route. Many of us, like me, learned, or are used to creating a specific life for ourselves with imagination, willpower, strength and action. I really love this ability of being a human. And yet, not every idea, especially those highly ambitious ones, is meant to be realized during a single lifetime, or by a single person. To know when letting go of rigid expectations, adapting, teaming up with others, letting go of unhealthy goals, and maybe also to embrace uncertainty of existence might be a skill that could help living a well balanced life.

Lastly, I think being grateful for the abundance and beauty life has to offer, the beauty I can see everyday around me, might help me to experience the flow of life. Gratitude makes me aware of my mental and physical me in time and space, in our world, and connects me to the present moment.

I read somewhere that “...flow of life is about living authentically, joyfully, and in alignment with self and the deeper currents of existence. It's a dynamic and ongoing process of growth, learning, and discovery”. I like that. I want to experiment for myself how much I want and can balance my life between the above ideas and my old thinking that centers around goal setting and goal achievement. Maybe the later can be included and contained within the concept of flow of life?

Does some of the above make sense to you? Would you like to add something?

You can download the music as always through this post, via the Patreon App, or (for other file formats) via the folder I share with you with most audio posts here on Patreon.

I hope you enjoy the music!

💛 🤗 Michael

music/ video ©/Ⓟ 2024 Michael Fesser | relaxdaily.net | patreon.com/relaxdaily