Brittany Wissen -- Asceticism in Flow

Flow is a term defined by sociologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as “the merging of action and awareness, the crucial component of enjoyment” (Turner 254). Most often experienced in sports, it is a feeling of energized focus and full immersion into one’s activity. When an athlete is “in the moment,” he or she is experiencing flow. They don’t think about what they are doing, instead they just do it. It is another spontaneous occurrence, one that might also occur in pilgrims making long journeys. When one has forgotten and/or willingly given up the everyday luxuries of life not on the road, they practice what is called asceticism, in which “the weariness of the body is submitted to hard discipline loosening the bonds of matter to liberate the spirit” (95). It removes the self from the securities one is used to and liberates the spirit by focusing on other—more important—aspects of life on the trail.

source:
Turner, Victor and Edith L. B. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978.