Letters to Celestia - #16

Dear Princess Celestia,

In the past few days, I learned a lesson. A lot of the time we hear ponies claiming that we only use 10% of our brains. Modern Equestrian arcane science has taught us that this is bunk. But many ponies persisted to believe that unlocking more of their brain’s potential was the secret to productivity, progress, and satisfaction. What I learned is that “more is not necessarily better” also apparently pertains to neuroscience in one particular way:

You see, Your Highness, there is a state of mind we all know in our world, and some of us call it “flow”. Flow is the state of mind where we are at our best, our most focused, our most efficient state, with the most mental clarity and sense of purpose. When in flow, time seems to slow down and speed up at the same time. We feel a sense of ‘one-ness’ with reality. We feel a distinct lack of conflict. Flow is actually well documented in the Medical Community via Magical Resonance Imaging (MRI)… and what we’ve all learned is that in states of Flow…

Less of our brain is active.

It completely blindsided me, but totally changed me over the course of one day. It’s that, sometimes, we think too hard. And we know that we’re thinking too hard, so we try to think less hard, only to discover that we’re thinking too hard about thinking less hard. When we’re thinking too hard, we’re getting in our own way; we’re distracting ourselves from what we want to do. Our brains are actually misfiring as we obsess over everything that our brains can possibly do for us.

The pop culture misconception is that “if only we could devote more of our brains to what we wanted, we would be so much faster/smarter/stronger”. But the parts of our brain that aren’t related to what we want to do just can’t help us with those things. Just, fundamentally. There’s no “what if we could”; What if you could fit square pegs through round holes? What if you could “fall up”? What if you could make a triangle with five sides? It’s not just futile; it’s destructive.The true answer is far, far simpler, and makes so much more sense that it's almost hilarious. We work better when we don't have unhelpful parts of our minds shouting over what we want to focus on. Less is more.

I believe I have learned how to embrace the mental state of flow, now that I am equipped with the knowledge of what it means. That sense of one-ness with the universe is literally the temporary partial suspension of the cluster of brain cells that handle identity. The way time dilates or compresses is likewise the area of our brains that handles time perception taking a break. The lack of conflict and ability to focus means that the parts of our brains not specifically relevant to an individual task are actually at rest. And that’s … just so wonderful… I can hardly think straight. And the best part is, I don’t have to!

The day before yesterday, I noticed that I was feeling just a little bit loopy. And that loopyness, well, I realized, felt nice. But moreover, it felt kind of like that sensation of connectedness, that expansion of time… and I thought, golly, what if I might be entering a state of flow? So instead of trying to ‘pull myself together’ or ‘get serious’, I fed it, embraced it, and discovered… that I could draw again. I drew pictures, Princess! I drew them unprompted! With no ear-twisting or tail pulling!

And when the day came to a close, I felt… good. Just so good. I felt like I loved my friends, which I clearly, dearly, very much do. I felt that without any questions or doubts or “buts”. I even felt.. like they maybe even loved me back. I told my special somepony how much I loved her without leaving any lingering fears about what tomorrow will bring. I listened to a song a friend of mine played on his guitar using strings that I bought for him out of the blue… and it was so beautiful I wanted to cry. I felt--and still feel--like a tremendous weight is out of my saddlebags, and I got so much more done because I was doing things instead of thinking about doing things.

Even right now, even though I’m not presently “in the flow”, I actually feel like the kind of pony anypony would like to know. For the first time in months, I like who I am again…! And I even feel like, if I really wanted to, I could enter a state of flow again. Horsefeathers; I even MIGHT! Because now I know how to get here:

When feeling a hint of random euphoria, indulge it.

If you then see a path where your own self becomes blurry, follow it.

After that, If you detect a chance to lose track of time, take it.

And finally, when you smell inspiration, breathe deep.

From where I sit right now, all the problems seem so tiny next to the enormity of the truth that we are all here in the first place. Isn’t that wonderful enough already without even considering yet all the things that are possible?

Exultantly Yours,
Your Loyal Subject,
Cyclone Dusk