Living life to the fullest is being in the flow
- November 12th, 2009
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Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s famous investigations of ‘optimal experience’ have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called ‘flow’. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life.
This category is devoted to thoughts and discussions on ‘flow’.Below is an extract from Stuart Wilde on being in the flow:
“I believe that life was never really meant to be a struggle, but somehow we’re taught that life is one of effort, hard work, anguish, difficulty, and battling on, regardless. Yet, when we look at nature and we look at what’s around us, we see simplicity and flow. Does the tiger get up in the morning and say,”I’m gonna try hard today; I’m gonna jog around the block and stick alfalfa sprouts up my nose and eat my vitamins, and I’m gonna really struggle like crazy and hopefully by lunchtime I’ll get something to eat”? No, it doesn’t.
It just gets up, has a little sniff under its tiger armpits, wanders into the forest, and there on the path is lunch. It’s the same for you if you get into the flow and you pull away from the emotion of struggling. Sure, you may have to drive across town to pick up a check and take it to your bank, but it doesn’t have to be anguish – it doesn’t have to laced with emotion. Effort is part of the physical condition. Struggle is effort laced with emotion. And you don’t need that.”
