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The Beauty of Losing Yourself — Transcript

by Final Somow · 3,190 words · 549 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Can you hear it?
0:02Can you hear the
0:12There are moments when the world fades
0:14black.
0:15There's a faint noise that echoes in
0:17your ear, but it's instead just far
0:19enough to ignore.
0:21Your heartbeat slows down.
0:23Your body moves ahead of your thoughts.
0:26Mistakes stops happening and time itself
0:29stops behaving the way you expect it to.
0:31Athletes call it the game slowing down.
0:34Musicians say they vanish into the
0:35sound, while filmmakers say the shot
0:38find itself.
0:39It's the moment hesitation is left
0:41behind and all that's left is instinct.
0:44You're no longer thinking, you're simply
0:46moving. And when it's over, you can't
0:49explain how it happened.
0:51Only that for a brief moment everything
0:54felt
0:55exactly
0:57>> [music]
0:58>> right.
1:00Let me paint a scene.
1:02>> [music]
1:05>> You're playing a game of basketball.
1:07Your team is down by eight points with
1:0840 seconds left on the clock. The crowd
1:10is loud. The clock is ticking. What do
1:13you do?
1:39You're in game seven of the RLCS World
1:41Championship.
1:42>> We go into our final game of season five
1:45of the Rocket League Championship
1:47Series.
1:47>> stage in the world and your team is down
1:50one point.
1:52Your entire season, the practice, the
1:55sacrifice, all the effort all comes down
1:58to this single moment.
1:59>> They call it What do you do?
2:15>> [screaming]
2:23>> Now, imagine something quieter.
2:26You're listening to a song, maybe a
2:28freestyle, something about the lyrics,
2:31the beat, the rhythm pulls you in.
2:36Your surroundings begins to fade out.
2:38You're completely absorbed, so locked in
2:40that, without realizing it, you've
2:43slipped into another world. Many people
2:46describe this state as being tunnel
2:47vision, having a spike of adrenaline, or
2:50just relying on instinct.
2:52But, no matter what you're doing,
2:53whether it's playing a sport, creating
2:55art, making music, or fighting in
2:57general, there's a zone that a select
3:00few people can reach. A zone where
3:03everything clicks.
3:05A zone few people have yet to
3:06experience. And a zone many people spend
3:10their entire lives chasing, trying to
3:12relive that exact feeling. There's many
3:15names for this feeling, being locked in,
3:17hyper-focused, a different side of you
3:19taking over. But, the one I and many
3:22others choose to call it is being in the
3:25flow state.
3:46>> That day, I suddenly realized that I was
3:49no longer
3:50driving it
3:52conscious.
3:54and I was in a different dimension for
3:56me.
3:58The circuit for me was a tunnel
4:00which I was just going, going, going
4:03and I realized I was well beyond my
4:06conscious understanding.
4:15>> Getting that zone is just [music] a
4:16supreme confidence that you know it's
4:19going to
4:20>> I feel like I'm on drugs. I feel like
4:22I'm in that mental state without doing
4:24anything.
4:24>> I see these shots.
4:26I see these sequences and I don't shy
4:29away from them.
4:30>> Uh when you're in a flow state, you tend
4:32to perform better at the task um that
4:35you're currently engaged in.
4:39>> The feeling is is unexplainable because
4:42it's it's like a movie. It's like when
4:43you're watching a movie and when they
4:45break it down in slow motion.
4:46>> Michael Jordan tells me one day he wants
4:48to be the best player to ever play here.
4:50>> [music]
4:50>> And I said, "Well, you got to work hard
4:51than you did in high school." He said,
4:53"I worked as hard as everybody else." I
4:54said, "Oh, excuse me."
4:56I thought you just told me you wanted to
4:57be the best player to ever play here. He
4:59said, "I'm going to show you. Nobody
5:00will ever work as hard as I will."
5:01[music]
5:13>> So, what exactly does flow mean?
5:16Well, the textbook definition defines it
5:19as quote a positive mental state
5:21experienced when you're completely
5:23absorbed, focused, and involved in an
5:25activity. Time passes without you
5:27noticing and you're free from
5:29distractions, boredom, and
5:31self-consciousness.
5:32Not a bad definition, but a bit too
5:35simple for my liking.
5:37Others refer to flow as
5:39>> Flow is more than just concentrating or
5:41paying attention. Psychologists go so
5:43far as to define flow as an altered
5:46state of consciousness with several
5:48defining features.
5:49>> It refers to those moments of total
5:51absorption when we get so focused
5:53[music] on the task at hand that
5:55everything else disappears. So, our
5:57sense of self, our sense of
5:58self-consciousness, they vanish. [music]
6:01Time dilates, which means sometimes it
6:02slows down, you get that freeze-frame
6:04effect [music] familiar to anybody who's
6:05seen The Matrix or been in a car crash.
6:07Sometimes it speeds up and 5 hours will
6:09pass [music] by in like 5 minutes. And
6:11throughout all aspects of performance,
6:13so mental and physical, [music]
6:14go through the roof.
6:16>> Then, there's the side of the internet
6:17that just sees it as being in a state of
6:19almost bliss. The moment where
6:21everything seems to just connect.
6:23Moments like the cadence or rhythm in a
6:25song, doing a test, or breezing through
6:27an assignment that's due in one sitting,
6:29eating
6:31wings and fries while also getting
6:34water.
6:35The internet obviously sees flow state
6:37as something I can't quite grasp.
6:40>> [music]
6:42>> Okay.
6:44Dude, we might be evolving backwards.
6:47>> Flow seems to originate from a lot of
6:49things. To trigger them, one must be
6:51hyper-focused, and there has to be some
6:52sort of complexity to the task at hand.
6:55It has to spark emotions of curiosity,
6:58passion, and many, many more.
7:01I like to think of flow as a mental
7:02state where you become completely
7:04absorbed in what you're doing.
7:06Your focus becomes so strong that
7:08distractions fade away, and action
7:10starts to feel automatic. You're not
7:12overthinking each move. Time feels
7:14dilated, either slowing down or speeding
7:17up. And when it's over, it can be hard
7:20to explain how you performed so well.
7:22Flow isn't the same as adrenaline or
7:24chaos, however. While adrenaline can
7:26make you feel rushed or frantic, flow
7:29feels calm and controlled, even during
7:31intense moments. You're alert, but not
7:34anxious. The mind quiets down, allowing
7:37the body or creativity to take over.
7:40This is why people often describe being
7:41in a flow state as being peaceful, even
7:44when the situation itself is high
7:46pressure. But, what I want to know is
7:48the psychology and origins of who coined
7:50the term flow state. How does one enter
7:54that zone? Can it be trained? What's the
7:56science behind it? And
7:58how do you know when you're in that
8:00state?
8:03Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, otherwise known
8:06as the godfather of flow, was a
8:08Hungarian-American psychologist best
8:10known for introducing and developing the
8:12concept of flow. He spent decades
8:15seeking to answer the question of what
8:17makes life worth living when everything
8:19else is stripped away.
8:21After witnessing the devastation of
8:23World War II as a child, he noticed that
8:25many people lost their sense of purpose
8:27and fuel to keep pushing forward. In a
8:30TED Talk where he spoke about the secret
8:31to happiness, he said, quote, "I grew up
8:34in Europe and World War II caught me
8:36when I was between 7 and 10 years old.
8:39And I realized how few of the grown-ups
8:41that I knew were able to withstand the
8:42tragedies that the war visited on them.
8:45How few of them could even resemble a
8:47normal, contented, [music] satisfied,
8:49happy life once their jobs, their home,
8:53their security was destroyed by the war.
8:55>> [music]
8:55>> So, I became interested in understanding
8:57what contributed to a life that was
9:00worth living."
9:01>> About 40 years ago, I began to look at
9:04uh creative people, first artists, then
9:07scientists, and so forth, trying to
9:09understand what made them
9:13uh feel that it was worth
9:15uh
9:17essentially spending their life
9:20doing things for which many of them
9:22didn't expect either fame or fortune,
9:25but which made their life meaningful and
9:28worth
9:29uh doing.
9:30>> this optimal experience flow, describing
9:33it as a state where self-consciousness
9:35fades, time distorts, and the activity
9:37becomes rewarding in itself. [music]
9:39Through interviews, diaries, and
9:42experience sampling methods, he
9:44identified consistent patterns across
9:46artists, athletes, surgeons, gamers,
9:49writers, and everyday people. He learned
9:51that when people enter a flow state,
9:54they aren't relaxed or passive. Based on
9:56his findings, he later on would write a
9:58book called Flow: The Psychology of
10:00Optimal Experience, which brought these
10:03ideas to a wider audience. While his
10:05study focused on what people experience
10:07during flow, it doesn't really go into
10:09detail of what's happening under the
10:11hood, the neuroscience and things our
10:13brain experiences when we're in that
10:15zone.
10:20When someone is in a flow state, the
10:22brain shifts modes that instead are more
10:24suited for being in a hyper-focused
10:26state. Your prefrontal cortex, the
10:28brain's command center, decreases
10:30activity, resulting in a process known
10:33as transient hypofrontality.
10:36At the same time, your attention becomes
10:38very focused on one thing. The brain
10:40filters out irrelevant information and
10:42channels mental energy towards one goal.
10:45During this process, you release a huge
10:47amounts of dopamine, making you feel
10:49good. Sensory information is processed
10:51more cleanly, making the world feel
10:53vivid, yet simple. And you end up with a
10:56feeling of complete absorption, where
10:58effort feels natural and performance
11:00improves. So, now that we have a better
11:03understanding of how and where flow
11:05comes from,
11:06let's look at some examples, with the
11:07first being
11:37>> What they experience is really like.
11:39When athletes enter flow, the sport
11:42stops feeling like a series of separate
11:43action and instead becomes one
11:46continuous moment. Movement happens
11:48without conscious effort. Reactions are
11:50instant and athletes feel completely in
11:52sync with their body and surroundings.
11:55This leads to the question of when does
11:57flow actually happen?
11:59>> [music]
12:00>> Flow appears when skill and challenge
12:02are perfectly balanced. If the task is
12:04too easy, the mind wanders, but if it's
12:07too hard, anxiety starts to take over.
12:10But when we're pushed just enough
12:12between the two, the brain recognizes
12:14this and locks in.
12:16Athletes adapt faster, take smarter risk
12:19and move with such confidence that they
12:21start trying new things they would have
12:22never done had they not been in a flow
12:24state.
12:25>> Got to a point I was just out there
12:26trying one leg off the wrong foot.
12:29Bump fades off off my right shoulder.
12:31I'm not even a right shoulder bump fade
12:33guy.
12:33>> This is why streaks happen in sports.
12:36Heat checks.
12:39Perfect runs.
12:43Dominant stretches or when a driver
12:45enters a state where the track narrows
12:48in their mind. Corners, breaking points,
12:51apexes and exits connect to one
12:54continuous rhythm. You can see these
12:56effects in any sport whether it's
12:58basketball, football, baseball, track,
13:01e-sports, it doesn't really matter.
13:04Damian Lillard's 37-foot game winner
13:06against OKC.
13:08Mbappe having the world at the edge of
13:10their seats, single-handedly shifting
13:12the momentum in the World Cup. Daigo
13:15perfectly pairing every hit at Evo to
13:17name a few are moments when a person is
13:19in another zone.
13:22These same ideas are explored in sports
13:24anime which exaggerated a bit more, but
13:28that's pretty normal. It is anime.
13:32Haikyuu players enter moments where the
13:34world narrows, the crowd disappears, and
13:36the only thing visible is them and the
13:39ball.
13:40Blue Lock directly names and visualizes
13:42flow as a heightened mental state where
13:45instinct and confidence merges. Kuroko
13:48no Basket slows time and sharpens
13:50awareness when one is able to tap into
13:52that zone. Flow in anime is earned.
13:55Characters usually struggle, fail, and
13:58train before entering it. It appears at
14:00the moments when preparation finally
14:03meets pressure.
14:04That's why these scenes always hit
14:06different. They're moments in the story
14:08where winning a point or scoring a goal
14:11isn't the main focus, but about a
14:13character fully becoming the athlete
14:15they've worked to be.
14:18>> [screaming]
14:19>> That's why flow is often remembered as
14:21one of the most powerful experiences in
14:23sports. Not just because of the results,
14:26but because everything feels aligned
14:28exactly as it should be.
14:32Flow state in mediums like films or in
14:34anime, even a video game, works a little
14:37differently than how it appears in real
14:38life. In live-action films, the
14:40character may look completely absorbed,
14:43but reality is the person who's in this
14:45flow state is the actor or actress
14:47playing the role.
14:51WHEN A person delivers a scene so
14:52powerful that it pulls you in,
14:55it makes you forget you're watching
14:56someone act.
15:00That's often because the performer is
15:01locked into the moment.
15:04Fully focused on [laughter] timing,
15:09emotion, and presence all at once.
15:15Leonardo DiCaprio in one battle after
15:17another and his ability to embody a man
15:20constantly at war with himself. Cillian
15:22Murphy's ability to show both the
15:24intellectual obsession and moral weight
15:27Oppenheimer has [music] in the film.
15:29Denzel in Training Day and his ability
15:31to take a script and heighten it to new
15:34lengths.
15:35Actors aside, the same sense of total
15:37absorption appears within the world of
15:40films themselves. When we step back from
15:42performances and look at the characters,
15:44we begin to notice moments where the
15:46story slows, the noise falls away, and
15:49action takes over instinct. Spider-Man
15:52moving faster than thought to save
15:54everyone from Electro. Or that moment in
15:56the Spider-Man game where the fallen
15:58crane is coming down and you see this
16:00man totally locked in. The final race
16:03segment in Speed Racers or the hallway
16:05fight scene in The Raid.
16:09These scenes aren't just displays of
16:11skill. They're depictions of characters
16:13losing themselves in the task at hand.
16:15>> [screaming]
16:20>> It's at this point when conscious
16:21thought dissolves into pure execution
16:24that film naturally transitions into
16:26animations and anime where flow state is
16:29often portrayed not as explosive but as
16:32a quiet disappearance of the self rather
16:34than a burst of excitement. Animation
16:37often slows down, background soften, and
16:40dialogue fade signaling that the
16:42character's attention has narrowed to
16:44the present moment. Some of my favorite
16:47moments are when Itadori and Todo fought
16:49Yuji in Jujutsu [music] Kaisen or when
16:52Gojo reached the state of total bliss
16:55where he quite literally starts
16:56floating.
16:58Madara versus the entire Shinobi
17:00Alliance. Puss in Boots confronting
17:03Death for the last time. Miles' leap of
17:05faith. Batman saving Gotham in a single
17:08night.
17:10Animation has a unique advantage in
17:12showing flow since it's something that
17:13is constructed from an intention and not
17:15captured from reality. Every frame is
17:18chosen and drawn. It can reshape time to
17:20match a character's mental state, and
17:22seconds can stretch to minutes.
17:25A single breath can be held across
17:27multiple cuts. Or an entire sequence can
17:30unfold with no dialogue at all.
17:33Outside of films or anime, video games
17:35give a unique look into flow state. We
17:38can look at performances from motion
17:39capture, or moments where voice actors
17:42give a performance so memorable that it
17:44sticks with you, no matter the hundreds
17:46of other games you play.
17:51In a medium where you're watching rather
17:53than playing, audiences remain outside
17:55the moment. Even when something feels
17:57completely immersive, what you're
17:59watching is a person experiencing being
18:01in a flow state. You can admire it and
18:03feel its intensity, but the burden of
18:06maintaining that state never rests on
18:08you. Games removes that distance since
18:10it's hands-on and interactive. When you
18:13play a game, you have free reign on how
18:15to play, what to do, how you want to
18:17approach a fight, really anything. Flow
18:19happens when the game you're playing
18:21stop feeling like commands and starts
18:23feeling like instinct.
18:25It's the reason why when you're playing
18:26a game like Sekiro, and you reach a
18:28point where every
18:30feels second nature. Or when you're
18:31playing a fighting game, and no matter
18:33what move is thrown in front of you,
18:36you always have an answer.
18:39Or the times when you're playing a
18:40shooter, and it feels like you just
18:41can't miss.
18:47It's here at this point where instinct
18:49replaces instruction. That flow in games
18:51began to resemble one of its purest
18:54forms, music.
18:57Flow in music is perhaps the most
18:59literal form of losing oneself. There is
19:02no character to hide behind, and no
19:04visual spectacle required. Only sound,
19:07timing, and attention. Whether you're
19:09listening or performing, music has a
19:11unique ability to pull consciousness out
19:14of language and into sensation. Music is
19:16a universal language that anyone can
19:18understand. For listeners, flow often
19:21arrives unexpectedly. A song comes on
19:23and suddenly the space around you
19:25disappears. You might still be walking,
19:27driving, or sitting still.
19:29>> [music]
19:29>> The rhythm syncs with your breathing,
19:32melodies triggers memory and feelings
19:34without words, [music] and minutes
19:36passes unnoticed. Music can reveal the
19:39emotions of a person. It acts as a tool
19:41that exposes the inner self, [music]
19:43offering a glimpse into the soul, and
19:45teaching you a great deal about someone
19:47through the way they [music] touch,
19:49shape, and express the sounds on the
19:51instrument. Be a motor die in Blue
19:53Giant, Nana, Yukio in Beck, or someone
19:56like Andrew Neiman final drum solo that
19:59shows the climax of the film
20:01>> [music]
20:01>> and the result of everything he's
20:02experienced all coming out in this one
20:05scene.
20:07The movie Soul, when Joe finally gets
20:09his chance to perform with one of his
20:11idols. He doesn't fully know what's
20:13being played at first. Instead of
20:15thinking, he lets the music carry him,
20:17pulling him into a different space, a
20:19world where nothing exists except him
20:22and the sound unfolding in the moment.
20:24Then there's a side of music where if
20:26you just look at live performances, we
20:28can see a person be consumed and
20:30transformed entirely. Icons like Michael
20:33Jackson to Jimi Hendrix to modern-day
20:35artists like Keita, Kanye, Travis Scott,
20:39and many, many more. What makes flow
20:40state in music distinct from other
20:42mediums is responsibility. There is no
20:45cut, no animation trick, no safety net.
20:48If flow breaks, the sound immediately
20:50reflects it. When everything clicks,
20:52tempo, touch, emotion, the self
20:55disappears because it has to. There's no
20:58room for doubt or distraction. In this
21:00way, music may be the purest expression
21:03of flow. It doesn't represent losing
21:05oneself, but instead requires it. The
21:09moment you think about how well you're
21:10playing, you're already out. Flow in
21:12music exist only as long as attention,
21:15emotion, and action remain perfectly
21:18aligned. And when it ends, all that's
21:20left is the echo and the feeling that
21:23for a brief moment
21:25you are somewhere else.
21:30So, why are we obsessed with these
21:31moments?
21:35>> [music]
21:37>> Why chase this feeling?
21:40Well, it's because it's one of the rare
21:42moments where the constant chatter of
21:43the mind, the doubts, the fears, all
21:46self-judgment falls away.
21:49It's a moment in time where we truly
21:51feel alive and present in the moment
21:53where action, [music]
21:54attention, and emotion align perfectly.
21:57Whether through training, creating,
21:59competing, or even watching others
22:01perform,
22:03flow lets us step outside of ordinary
22:05consciousness, experience a sense of
22:07control and clarity, and feel connected
22:09to something
22:10larger than ourselves.
22:14>> [music]
22:25[music]
22:30[music]
22:37[music]

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