quieto :: notas curiosity killed the cat, but cats have 9 lives

Go with the Flow

This year I noticed creatives of all sorts mentioning this book. People are making a living out of some of its ideas and it recently even inspired (at least the name) of a game. I believe Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi came up with the Theory of Flow when he was investigating “happiness” and how it is achieved through “optimal experience”. The amazing thing is how this “optimal experience” closely describes the creative process. I read it a few months ago and plan to read it again. For now, for those interested in creativity and how it works, here is a quick snippet about Flow straight out if Wikipedia:

1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one’s skill set and abilities).
2. Concentrating and focusing, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
3. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
4. Distorted sense of time, one’s subjective experience of time is altered.
5. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).
6. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
7. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.
9. People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975. p.72).

Not all are needed for flow to be experienced.

Go ahead and try to find flow. Try to be creative. If you don’t succeed immediately, at least you’ll make yourself happier. Trust me.