Studying flow gets to be quite humorous when you start talking about cultural terms and word usage. One of my friends says he feels like an idiot because he doesn’t understand all these millenial terms such as blogging, podcasting, metatags, and so on. I was watching a show on some teen channel the other day and some girl was saying how that group was “sick” and “illing”. And, of course, I always get a kick out of watching the Brady Bunch where it seems every other word out of the kids’ mouths is “groovy”. Ask any automaker if they make a station wagon and they will resolutely tell you no such thing exists, but they do make “5 doors”, “sport wagons”, and “family haulers”.
The reality is, intentionally or not, words can confuse and even cause blockages. The world, like flow itself, stays relatively constant as far as the human experience and it is simple. Let me explain. When I first heard the term “blog” and “blogging” I couldn’t figure out what it was and felt somewhat dumb for not understanding. But once I investigated a little I realized all a blog is is an online diary, albeit a more advanced one. So now when I ask people “have you seen my blog?” and they ask what a blog is, I simply tell them it’s my online diary. Simple. And nothing humans haven’t been doing for thousands of years.
But people often use names and terms to assert control or create blockages. They can overwhelm you with terms so you get confused and simply take what they say at face value, or they degrade you by saying things such as “well, if you don’t know what that means then you must be stupid”.
Yes, you should always search for knowledge. But keep in mind that when someone uses terms that make you uncomfortable (which is a reaction by your flow!) don’t buy into what they are saying until you find out why you’re not comfortable.