TOW #25 "Should You Go With the Flow?"

   Our language is full of overused sayings that we here all the time in everyday life. Sometimes they may seem appropriate for a situation, but other times they may seem to be contradictory or have negative implications. For example, Ronald Pies notes that the saying "go with the flow" can "become an excuse for apathy or indifference." In order to counteract this sense of the saying, in this essay from Tuft's University's Magazine, professor of psychiatry Ronald Pies analyzes the meaning and origin behind the concept of "going with the flow" to discuss how it applies positively to our lives.
   Pies first explores the themes of going with the flow emphasized in ancient traditions such as Taoism and Buddhism. He quotes a Taoist name Elizabeth Reninger who defines the central concept as "'“a state of being in which our actions are quite effortlessly in alignment with the ebb and flow of the elemental cycles of the natural world.'" What this saying really means is that we should live in harmony with the natural order of things. This idea is spiritual in nature but has been secularized in our society today as the cliché "go with the flow." 
   Pies then applies this idea to real life by presenting a personal anecdote. He writes about a time when his mother was seriously sick and he needed to take care of her. The uncertainty of his situation was difficult as he didn't know when he would be needed. Pies uses this situation to show how the idea of "going with the flow" can be applied positively to our lives. During the time when his mother needed him, Pies just went with the natural order of his life; a child cares for his sick parent. This helped him to be flexible and adapt to the uncertainties of the situation. 
   But Pies explores the idea further by asking rhetorical questions. He began in the introduction of the essay by asking "How can we apply this phrase wisely?" As his personal anecdote showed, the idea can be encouragement in times of uncertainty and struggle to help oneself be flexible and do what needs to be done. But Pies recognizes that this saying can be used to support inaction where action is necessary and he asks, "But what does a morally responsible person do when confronted with prejudice, injustice, or hatred? Should one go with the flow, saying 'Oh, well, that’s life'?" These questions serve to stimulate the readers own internal contemplation of the idea before Pies gives his own answer. Pies then cites examples of nonviolent resisters such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi who may have went against the flow of injustice but by resisting injustice were going with the flow of order and reason and human connection. Ultimately Pies concludes the essay by answering his first question but in a way that leaves the readers minds wide open to consider the implications of the idea of "going with the flow" in their own lives. 

Article: http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/winter2014/think-tank/mind.html