Terry Kath‘s brilliant solo from 2:58 to 5:21 is a quintessential example of flow. If you play the guitar, you’ll have an even better appreciation for the skill and virtuosity displayed by Kath in a span of 2 minutes and 24 seconds. Jim Hendrix once told Chicago’s founding saxophonist Walt Parazaider that “your guitar player is better than me,” the highest compliment from one of the greatest guitarists of his generation.

Flow in positive psychology, also known colloquially as being in the zone or focused, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by the complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting transformation in one’s sense of time.  Flow is the melting together of action and consciousness; the state of finding a balance between a skill and how challenging that task is. It requires a high level of concentration.

Here’s another Terry Kath solo in Liberation (1969).

Do you ever experience flow? (I hope you so!) If so, when?

MAA