I have looked at every possibility, and the life of pure flow is the greatest of them, The best possible human experience or life would be the one in pure flow, All other parts of life would be at their maximum potential in that life

And flow doesn't prevent any other aspiration including spiritual aspirations

02: you separate yourself from that way by defining it too precisely I can see how this is true

But it doesn't matter if it's too precise for the mind to grasp and it causes a disconnect, because the things that come to you come to you,

they come to you not because your mind figured it out, they come to you because you consistently looked in that direction,

and that which is in that direction came to meet you.

You are never the causation of the result, the result is outside of you, not something you manufacture.

This is similar to logic, but is more like science, It's like saying, "You are what you think about,

Because who is that kind of person?

Who is the kind of person that thinks about those things?"

What kind of person thinks about the heart all of the time?

What kind of person thinks about murder all the time?

If you have a focus, the things in that focus will inevitably come into your field of view, It isn't a matter of your mental ability, it is only a matter of time.

You can't make a shooting star fly by, You have to look in the direction of the sky, and wait for it.

This is not unlike, "the person who thinks about opportunity all of the time will see opportunities" It is not really that they come to him more, It is that because he was constantly scanning, he will notice the shooting star when it flies by,

Much information is flying by you, if you're constantly scanning for specific information, you're going to notice when it comes by,

If you aren't scanning, you might miss it

If this is so, then any result you want is inevitable, and life is a matter of your priorities, your active focuses.

In other words, If my priorities are 40% god, 20% chickens, 10% relationships, 30% videogames, I will grow in those things in that proportional measure up to the point that I die.

Knowing this is the case is giving my mind ease.

Realizing that it's not a matter of when I think that things should happen, because that is entirely out of my control. What is in my control is learning.

Will a future version of me wish I had pursued my hobby Or have regretted spending time on on my hobby?

03: In my experience, it doesn’t matter what one chooses to pursue, there is hard work to be done no matter what, and in my opinion the importance is in what one chooses to learn from opportunities given, and how they choose to make of it.

What matters to me is if I allowed my heart to expand, and I don't mean that philosophically, I mean the experience of an open heart where the beauty pours out,

Just like I saw in my teacher today, Where the senses of fascination and wonder and intuition and magic and interest are arising from the heart, the alternative being the mind that just takes everything away.

03: What did your teacher do?

They chose the right path. They chose their real self.

03: Huge respect to people who choose their real self.

It's definitely not the easy way.

04: Why don’t I listen to my real self.. probably because I would have dropped out, and did something else if I did.. Maybe there is no real self.

Because you have to survive in society, and that means expectations.

03: real!

And it means that others don't support you, and don't agree with you, and don't give you validation and acceptance for a period of time, But the payoff is real inner validation, and then also the outer validation.

04: Without support, it's very tough.

It is tough, it is like choosing to be a defender of the vulnerable part of you and fight to give it a space to grow even though no one is going to tell you to pursue being happy, Because they are not happy.

The Real Self

The real self, it is hard to remind people of. It really is who you were as a child before social conditioning, It is not a child, it is you, and it comes out of you if you it feels allowed to do so. Basically it's just this:

Natural self-directed curiosity that once manifested while you were playing with something specific as a child,

and allowed to do so without any outside influence.

This is basically not only the path to real self but also genius 04: When allowed to be oneself, it flows naturally

Allowance is that key word,

and I think it comes from having the space and not trying to do anything in that space.

Now I see why pursuing flow as an abstract term for a year was fruitless, One has to do the things that bring the flow, the problem cannot be solved,

the fascination has to be grown.

Which means a hobby may be worthwhile, because if it has flow, then one can expand into more that has flow again, and have happiness, and happiness is priceless.

"How do you open the heart? You meditate."

How do you open the heart? You play.

All the deep traditions speak of being childlike, but it is not to be like a child, it is to be in the state of a child, to return to the state of play.

In play is expansion, limitless growth, and effortlessness in all things.

How do you just be, without trying, without pressure,

how do you let go, how do you be your real self,

how do you let go of failure and fear and worry,

you play.