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Positive Flow

  • Writer: Deborah (Ellen) Wildish
    Deborah (Ellen) Wildish
  • Mar 22, 2022
  • 2 min read

Updated: Apr 6


Cinder to Flame Positive Flow

I’ve coined the concept: positive flow, to represent my combined insights from two Ted Talks. My husband took this photo of Fairy Falls (Oregon), aptly named to portray the magical quality of positive flow.


Dr. Barbara Fredrickson is a researcher who studies positive emotions. Her Ted Talk links positivity with the ability to engage in creative thinking and open one’s mind to new possibilities, opportunities, ideas and innovative solutions. This heightened awareness starts with gratitude for wherever you’re at, right now. Sources of positive inspiration come from nature, love, laughter and being in tune with life. Positive emotions are linked to an expansive mindset, a broader view, the ability to apply systems thinking, make better decisions and exercise resilience.


Dr. Adam Grant (an organizational psychologist) presented a very entertaining Ted Talk. He described the mental state of people living through the pandemic who were not considered to have depression, anxiety or being burnt out - as languishing. He defined this mental state with these descriptors: exhibiting lack of motivation, aimless behavior, emptiness, stagnation, joylessness and ennui. (This Ted Talk is from July 2021, before the seemingly endless impact of the pandemic, coupled with other traumatic world and life events.) Dr. Grant offers a solution, that he named flow or “being in the zone” and living in the moment, enabling total immersion in an activity and full participation in real life.


Imagine positive flow as a magical experience:


A healthy obsession toward a challenging goal. It commences with a waterfall of ideas that join a pool of possibilities at the base. It harnesses the power of turbulence, shoots the rapids, and moves swiftly with, or arduously against the current. When approached appositely, it is a refreshing journey that exercises a positive mindset, sustained high energy and net momentum forward. Bear in mind that the ability to sustain a high level of energy is dependent upon one’s health and well-being - and this is integrated into Cinder to Flame's services.

Cinder to Flame helps Corporations solve complex challenges with strategic services that energize people, fuel a healthy corporate culture and ignite major innovation.


Mindset is one of multiple facets of a healthy corporate culture, and it is either an enabler or a barrier to major innovation and change tolerance.


May each article stimulate thinking that favours positive flow. You are invited to join me on this journey, you can connect on LinkedIn or contact me: https://www.cindertoflame.ca/contact


Here are links to the two Ted Talks:



© Deborah (Ellen) Wildish, Cinder to Flame 2022-Present. All Rights Reserved.


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