Flow State: R&D

Flow State R&D: Q1, 2025

Flow State — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 21:33:21 GMT

This is Flow State’s quarterly behind-the-scenes newsletter exclusively for members of our R&D tier. This update includes recent milestones, new features, reflections, and a draft idea inspired by Liz Pelly’s recent book, Mood Machine.

As you read this edition, we suggest listening to the following Cluster & Eno-inspired demo forthcoming on Flow State Records, recorded with a Waldorf Blofeld synth, Fender Strat guitar, RAT distortion pedal, Chase Bliss Mood MKII, and EBow.

Flow State R&D: Q4, 2024

Flow State — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 06:04:06 GMT

This is Flow State’s R&D report for the fourth quarter of 2024. These reports – which reflect on our music recs, podcasts, clothing, and a bunch of other aspects of our business – are for members of our R&D tier.

Remembering Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow

Flow State — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 02:20:44 GMT

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the Hungarian-American psychologist who developed the theory of psychological “flow,” passed away on Friday at 87. There would be no Flow State newsletter without Csikszentmihalyi. Our moniker “MC” is a nod to him. We wanted to honor the psychologist’s memory by sharing a few of his ideas that influence our work.

In 1990, Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced cheek-sent-me-high) published Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience based on his research at the University of Chicago. The book is best known for its novel description of what it feels like to be in a flow state. A person in flow is blissfully immersed in a goldilocks activity: something not too hard but not too easy. More technically, flow is the sensation that

one’s skills are adequate to cope with the challenges at hand, in a goal-directed, rule-bound action system that provides clear clues as to how well one is performing. Self-consciousness disappears, and the sense of time becomes distorted.

When we think about the happiest times of our lives, we often think about times we’ve been in a state of flow. Csikszentmihalyi’s achievement was to describe this flow sensation, trace its roots in the structure of consciousness, and outline the conditions that engender it.

People who’ve heard of Flow are generally familiar with the above. A few lesser-known insights, however, make the book invaluable.