By Brian Chou, OD, 
FAAO
April 8, 2015
Professional services in eyecare can be divided into two camps: restoring normalcy from disease and sickness, and then enhancing vision and wellness. The former rehabilitative aspect has traditionally resided within ophthalmology, with optometry expanding into this realm with therapeutic expansion. The latter visual enhancement aspect has traditionally resided in optometry, with ophthalmology expanding into this realm by opening optical dispensaries and offering laser vision correction.
Like eyecare, the field of psychology has the yin and yang facets of rehabilitation and enhancement. The roots of psychology deals with maladies like schizophrenia, anxiety and depression. Yet there is also the newer face of psychology, called “positive psychology,” focused on what makes us feel happy and alive.
A fascinating concept in positive psychology is Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s “state of flow.” Flow is about entering a blissful mental state of total immersion. I describe flow as the enthralling feeling a musician might get composing a song or what a carpenter might feel building a fireplace mantle. They lose track of time, forgetting to eat, drink and go to the bathroom. Flow is the “zone” that basketball players get into when they can’t miss a shot.
The fortunate have found flow in how they earn a living. Attaining a state of flow doesn’t require a glamorous occupation. For example, there are assembly-line workers who find flow in what they do. Generally, though, flow requires a high level of both challenge and skill. Others find flow in an avocation, perhaps in yoga, playing poker, skiing, basketball or acting. Some have not yet identified what puts them into flow.
Perhaps you have found flow in practicing optometry. If you lose track of time while engaged with patient care, and it makes you feel alive and energized, you just may be in flow. To be sure, the occasional interruptions by the unreasonable patient, or problems related to staffing, can rain on your parade, taking you out of flow. Some of us have developed skills in business management, and find healthy challenge in the non-clinical aspects of running an optometric practice, and these keep us in flow.
Yet optometry is not a fulfilling profession to all, and if you yearn for something more, perhaps you’ll find flow elsewhere.
Flow may come from unexpected places. Take, for example, the story of John Kitchin, MD, who abandoned his neurology practice and high-consumption lifestyle for inline skating in his unique slow-motion-like style. On most days, you can find him skating up and down the boardwalk in Mission Beach, San Diego. The locals call him “Slomo,” and he is a fixture in Mission Beach, with most onlookers not realizing that he’s educated, articulate, and arguably more enlightened than most of us. Slomo is a living reminder for each of us to simply do what we want to. In some cases, finding flow can require a dramatic detour in life – even having to turn away from your profession to make room for another pursuit.
Do you find flow in optometry? How do you make optometry an immersive and satisfying profession?
Brian Chou, OD, FAAO, is a partner with EyeLux Optometry in San Diego, Calif. To contact him: chou@refractivesource.com.
