Looking and Seeing

Reading this recollection, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of “flow” may have come to your mind, because it did to mine. Csikszentmihalyi, too, began his research into this idea of “staying in flow” inspired first of all by artists. The question behind his theory, which has resonated around the world, is said to have been this: “How can artists work on a piece without eating, drinking, or even sleeping?” Did you, too, get the feeling that he was researching Şevket Dağ’s words above?

Şevket Dağ is said to have been the first painter to explain the difference between looking and seeing. In coaching, too, when we explore our potential or look for our “flow” zone, the real matter is “seeing” what is inside us, and that is possible only through art… Art is not only healing; it is also a remarkably effective tool for enabling abstract thinking and clearing our heads. In a ten-minute piece of writing, in seven minutes of music we listen to, in a five-minute drawing, in every photograph we look over for a moment… Across all kinds of topics and situations, art has a side that does us good and prompts us to think, understand and imagine from other angles.

Here’s to beautiful days when you see your true self along the way and step boldly into new beginnings...