“Go with the Flow”

Hippie Aphorism 

Symbols and Color

• Atom: Scholar Set Symbol,
• Target Bullseye: Goal Group
• Equipoise: Neutrality
• Spade: Assimilative Axis
• Color: Yellow – Scholar Set Color and Background

Implications of the Upright Position or Positive Pole

Ah, a cup of cafe au-lait at a Paris bistro, that is the life: Relaxation at its finest! I took this photo on a trip to France, and experienced that total Flow of Being! And having a cup of coffee, for many people in the world, is associated with “taking a break” or “having a chat with friends”, a flowing and relaxing experience. Like the cup, still in this photograph, it signifies another concept related to this goal as  a suspension of activity. In its most universal form, it does not mean ‘stopping’, it refers to being moved with the currents of that one finds themselves afloat in.

Card messages in the  Illuminated position.

+ Adaptability

(flow, suspension, stretch, flexible, release, play, spontaneity, ad libitum, equilibrium, unattachment)

1. “Go with the flow” is the popular adage, yet can you recognize what the flow is? Relaxation at best is trusting life that things will “work out.” All that is called for is to release stress and sail along with the breeze!
2. There is no such thing as a flow that travels uphill. If you are having to swim against the current or move opposite than what is native to you, then turn around and follow the path of least resistance.
3. Surfers and parasailers rely on being attuned and fluid to the waves and winds. Exert energy only to steer your course, not direct it.
4. This is one of those rides where sitting back and floating with the current is your best option. Might as well enjoy the ride.
5. In this case, if you adopt a hands-off approach, things will right themselves.
6. Stretch and get flexible. Let whatever effort move naturally.
7. “Everyone makes their own fun. If you don’t make it yourself; it isn’t fun, it’s entertainment.” Film – State & Main by the Character Annie. Make a good time for yourself, don’t rely on someone else to entertain you.
8. Time to suspend everything. Let go and float with the current and enjoy the ride. Exert energy only to steer straight downstream.
9. Equilibrium is what happens when things are in balance. Relax and let things get back into balance.
10. In this case, if you adopt a hands-on approach, things will right themselves.

Quotes signifying this pole

• “Everyone makes their own fun. If you don’t make it yourself; it isn’t fun, it’s entertainment.” Film – State & Main by the Character Annie
• “If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.” Herodotus
• “The obligations of law and equity reach only to mankind; but kindness and beneficence should be extended to the creatures of every species, and these will flow from the breast of a true man, as streams that issue from the living fountain.” Plutarch
• “The power that creates and sustains the universe also flows within us all.” Deepak Chopra

Implications of the Reversed Position or the Negative Pole

In stagnation, there is a tendency to wait or linger, and let things happen around you. The three vultures sitting atop this dead tree, taken from my back porch, show no movement but still imply a steady-state of indifference. Inertia, another adjective for this negative pole of relaxation, has the dual meaning of something being still or motionless, or moving along at a constant rate and only changing when something acts upon it. Like these birds waiting for death to produce a meal for them, they seldom hunt for themselves. Inertia is always waiting for something to happen to it.

Card messages associated with Shadow position.

– Stagnation

( inertia, bewilderment, floatation, dissociative, lazy, lethargic, aimless, disengaged)

1. If you feel inertia you have stopped enjoying the ride and are being dragged along by the currents. Stagnation is a being caught in the momentum of habit, lacking desire or
   motivation from within. Are you stuck in the doldrums? Rise to the surface whatever is running involuntarily beneath the currents and take a good look at it.  It could be malfunctioning.
2. The only reason to stop is because you are dead. If you are reading this, we can rule that out. Move your position preferably in the direction which appears to lead away from where you are stuck.
3. Are you stuck in the doldrums? If you are lacking desire or motivation, then go get laughing! Before you know it you’ll feel alive again and the depression with lift.
4. Stuck emotions are like lead, a toxin. That heaviness needs to be offloaded. Stop burying your feelings before they bury you. Find any way you can to make your task enjoyable.
5. Laziness doesn’t mean you are flowing. In fact, being a blob can indicate missing out on everything. No surfer ever rode a wave from the shoreline. Dive in and get in the current.
6. An old adage says, “Nothing is interesting if you’re not interested.” Procrastination kills.
7. Inertia shows up when someone is stuck in a rut and will take no action to see if they can alter their fate. Granted, if you were a slave with no power and no freedom, you might be stuck. But you can also change your mind and use your imagination.
8. Your problem comes from the lethargy of no purpose. Even if it is to get to the grocery store, feed the cat, or clean your room, you are overcoming stuckness. Start with a small task with a foreseeable completion. You will feel better. Get going.
9. Couch potatoes become rooted in the soil of lethargy. This ground grows nothing. It just buries things beneath it.
10. Some down time is called for now. Trying to force anything is only going to drain you.
11. There is no such thing as a flow that travels uphill. If you are having to swim against the current or move opposite than what is native to you, then turn around and follow the path of least resistance.

Quotes signifying this pole

• “In other centuries, human beings wanted to be saved, or improved, of freed, or educated. But in our century, they want to be entertained. The great fear is not that of disease or death, but of boredom. A sense of time on our hands, a sense of nothing to do. A sense that we are not amused.” Character of Robert Doniger – Timeline pg 443 by Michael Crighton
• “Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation … even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.” Leonardo DaVinci

Relevance within the Michael Teaching 

A Goal that has had as many names as it has expressions. More than anyone issue consistent with this goal, it might be thought of as dis-identification. In a way, this Goal puts all other in Suspension. Essence will choose this Goal as a means of assimilating any number of previously undigested experiences, completed but not inculcated.  It allows for a Personality to be driven-less, sometimes unambitious, but generally taking experiences as face-value and with an air of play.

Stagnation, the original name for this Goal, implied that no movement might reign during a life, particularly with the idea of inertia as the negative pole. But Relaxation or Flow as it also came to be known, is more concerned with the freedom to move, with little attachment or compulsion.

However, stagnation is not to be confused with passivity. A person in this Goal, in combination with other Overleaves, can be tossed about without motivation or direction. Then, for those in Passion or Aggression, for instance, one could be very engaged and active.

In one way, Relaxation as a Goal might seem odd or perhaps a bit sociopathic or totally dissociative. Serial killer Ted Bundy had this Goal and was unconcerned about anything or anyone else accept the thrill of killing.

Famous Persons or Characters

George Clooney, Clark Gable, Cyndi Lauper, Bugs Bunny, George Hamilton, Buddha, John Denver, Morgan Freeman, Ringo Starr, Barry Manilow, Ted Bundy, Georgia O’Keefe,

Cultural Relevance

Who couldn’t use a vacation?! A respite, a change of  scenery, a moment to let go? To release ones’ grip on the burdens and perspective one clings to and allow for time to assimilate, digest, or distill? Questions which have within them the seeds of there own answer are those which rhetoric has designed to see the folly of our own blindness.

In classic Tarot, the Fool walks with calm and openness toward the cliff of risk.  Looking at the sky, envisioning the wonder and being swayed by the whims of his momentary fancies. This is the purpose of relaxation: to notice, to be in the present; not through some exercise in discipline but through attention completely unfettered with a specific task or purpose. “Chill Dude” could be their motto!

At no time, does relaxation dis-serve. A muscle gripped must release in order to restore. A breath is released and tension slips away, even but for a moment. A cycle completes and begins anew. In it, the conservation of energy occurs without effort. But with the engagement of the fun and the enthusiasm of play, in fact is it possible to restore what has seemed to be drained. But the modern day demands participation and work. Even fun and free time is to be managed, utilized, compartmentalized, orchestrated, and set aside. Anything resembling the kind of free flowing attention to ones whims is considered to be waste, or fool hardiness or indolence, or the greatest sin laziness.