A good life is one that is characterised by complete absorption in what one doesWe all have had the experience of being intensely absorbed in an activity, and experiment or a feeling. This is what psychologists Mihali Csiksgentmihalyi, a leading psychologist at the Clare Mont Graduate University, calls flow. In the 1960s, studying the creative process, Mihali Csiksgentmihalyi was struck by the fact that when the creation of a painting was going well, the artist was completely absorbed in his work and stayed with it to completion, unaware of being tired, hungry, or uncomfortable. But when the work was done, his interest dropped away abruptly. He had experienced the state of flow, during which the fact of being immersed in what we are doing counts for more than the end result.
Intrigued by this phenomenon,Mihali Csiksgentmihalyi interviewed numerous artists, mountain climbers, chess players, surgeons, writers and manual labourers for whom the sheer enjoyment of the act was the principle incentive. It is obvious that for a rock climber who has climbed the same rock face dozens of times, being at the top counts for less than the enjoyment of getting there. The same goes for someone cruising around the bay on a sail boat with no particular destination in mind, playing music, or playing a game of solitaire. At such times, one becomes " completely involved in a an activity for its own sake. There is a sense of transcending the ego and time. Every action, movement, and thought follows in inevitably from the previous one like playing Jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you are using your skills to the utmost. "
William James wrote, " My experience is what I agree to attend to." Entering the state of flow depends closely on the amount of attention given to the lived experience. If we are to enter into flow the task must monopolise all our attention and present a challenge commensurate with our abilities. If it is too difficult, tension sets in, followed by anxiety, too easy, and we relax and are soon bored. In the experience of flow, a resonance is establish between the action, the external environment and the mind. In most cases this fluidity is felt as an optimal experience with a great sense of satisfaction. It is the inverse not only of boredom and depression, but also of agitation and distraction. It is interesting to note, to, that so long as the state lasts, there is a loss of reflective self consciousness. All that remains is the alertness of the subject, who becomes one with his action and has seized observing himself.
