When the Flow Stops

Finding Freedom in Untangling Life’s Kinks

I often teach that we are all like garden hoses - conduits meant to carry life’s energy, creativity, and love into the world. Yet some of us have more kinks than others. There are moments when the flow is effortless, and life feels expansive. Then, something happens: a loss, a wound, a fear. The hose bends, the flow slows, and sometimes the kink is so tight it feels almost impossible to release.

The truth is, kinks are part of the hose’s nature. They’re not flaws, but inevitable experiences of being human. The deeper wisdom lies in learning how to notice them quickly, untwist them with compassion, and restore the flow. When we ignore the kinks, pressure builds inside us - resentment, anxiety, and pain - and eventually that pressure will demand to be released, often in ways that cost us dearly.

Freedom isn’t found in never having kinks. Freedom is in becoming skilled at untangling them before they strangle the life out of our spirit.

~ Richard