The old word ‘flow’ has been given a brand-new meaning.
The source word is very old, coming from the days when Old English was a Germanic language.
So, from more than a thousand years ago.
The official meaning of ‘flow’ is: ‘to move along in a current’ (Oxford).
Not that we need to be told—we all know this word.
But now we are told that ‘flow’ means a mental state—a state of mind.
A recent study out of Drexel University's Creative Research Lab in Philadelphia, led by Dr. John Kounios, sought to examine the 'neural and psychological correlates of flow' in a sample of jazz guitarists.
In other words, while these musicians were playing their brain were wired up to measure which parts of the brain were doing what sorts of things.
And, we are told, that what was happening in their brains when they were being creative was ‘flow.’
(Well, if they were going to do this study, they had to call it something, right? But why they picked on the word ‘flow’ is still not clear to me.)
Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (no, don’t ask me for a pronunciation guide!) was the psychologist who first identified flow: ‘a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.’
According to one online report: ‘For people working in highly competitive fields where optimised performance is vital, like music performance, being able to tap into tools like flow can make a huge difference for success.’
Then one of the researchers goes on to say that ‘flow is about letting go.’
(Maybe that’s where they got the word from? From the old expression of ‘go with the flow’—which, let’s face it, just means stop resisting and let yourself be carried along by whatever is happening. Mind you, if that means being ‘carried along’ by a chanting crowd of angry protestors, perhaps it’s not such a good thing?)
The great jazzman Charlie Parker once said: ‘You’ve got to learn your instrument. Then, you practise, practise, practise. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.’
So, perhaps that’s what this new meaning of ‘flow’ is—just wail?
Which brings us to the question: does this so-called new meaning of ‘flow’ make any sense?
No. Outside the world of psychobabble it means nothing!
The latest issue of The Spectator Australia is now available at newsagents -- including my "Language" column.
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The March-April issue of Australian Geographic is out now (with the curlew on the cover) -- inside are my two small columns on 'Placenames' and 'Ozwords'.
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
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