Image and Pilgrimage...Flow- Mary Ragan

A while ago we talked about flow in class which is written about and explained in Turner's book. Sometimes I feel like I get this concept of of total involvement and "being in the zone." It seems simple when relating it to things like sports. But Turner describes it more in depth and as a holistic sensation involving more than just the five senses, using emotions and thoughts. I like when it says that you can't be aware that you're aware of what you're doing. Going further than relating flow to plays or sports, the book relates it to religious rituals such as reciting prayers and in chanting groups which results in being able to shut out the mundane world and really focus. This makes a lot of sense to me, including doing things like singing worship songs as you really get caught in it and just focus in on what you're doing or saying. There is such a sense of enjoyment and you get caught in a kind of high. These things contain many of the 9 factors like being intrinsically rewarding, concentration, and a distorted sense of time. Flow is "the crucial component of enjoyment" where there is "no apparent need for conscious intervention on our part"(p. 254).