Forget going with the flow – funnel your flow

“I’m like a receptionist for my mind.” Stephen Wright

(Photo by Nicholas Ng on Unsplash)

For many years, artists have described how they are the instrument, that creative inspiration and ideas flow through them.

They can’t pinpoint exactly where it comes from. They only know that concepts strike from a seemingly unknown source.

Comedian Stephen Wright is brilliant. His style is unique for many reasons, including his distinct monotone delivery.

What fascinates me about him is to perform a series of one-liner in rapid succession throughout an entire show requires so much writing. The thought of how much time he must dedicate to his craft is dizzying.

Successful comedians don’t just crack jokes. When it comes to writing, they crack the whip. As another great comedian, Chris Rock said, “During the day is when you make the money. We collect it at night, but we make it during the day.”

So, when I saw a clip of Stephen Wright on Stephen Colbert’s show and Colbert asked him what his process for writing jokes was, I was glued to it. Wright said he gets up, exercises, and then drinks coffee. He said, “I think coffee is one of the best things about being alive. My mind goes crazy on coffee. I get up in the morning and exercise. Then I’ll go and drink coffee somewhere and then I’m just, I’m like a receptionist for my mind.”

“I’m like a receptionist for my mind.”

That was so perfectly put that it stopped me in my tracks and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck at the same time.

Flow. That’s how Stephen Wright gets into his flow.

But he doesn’t wait for it. He knows what he has to do to make his flow go. He funnels his flow through himself.

Writing machine Tim Denning shares very specific directions on how to get into flow. Search his essay on it. it’s on the money, and coincidentally, includes coffee.

But the key is that Tim knows how to tap into himself, so the writing flows through him and onto the page. Or onto the screen if you insist.

You know when you’ve reached flow. Now, your mission is to be aware of the conditions and the steps that it took for you to reach it. Time will stop, and you will go.

Pay attention, and you will be repaid with the funnel to your flow.