| Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Part Four << Back
Cultivating Flow in Everyday Life The rebirth of curiosity doesn’t last long, however, unless we learn to enjoy being curious. Entropy, the force behind the famous Second Law of Thermodynamics, applies not only to physical systems, but to the functioning of the mind as well; when there is nothing specific to do, our thoughts soon return to the most predictable state, which is randomness or confusion. We pay attention and concentrate when we must – when dressing, driving the car, staying awake at school or work. But when there is no external force demanding that we concentrate, the mind begins to lose focus. It falls to the lowest energetic state, where the least amount of effort is required. When this happens, a sort of mental chaos takes over. Unpleasant thoughts flash into awareness, forgotten regrets resurface, and we become depressed. Then we turn on the TV set, look at the advertising section of the newspaper, have pointless conversations – anything to keep our thoughts on an even keel and avoid becoming frightened by what is happening in the mind. Taking refuge is passive entertainment keeps chaos temporarily at bay, but the attention it absorbs gets wasted. On the other hand, when we learn to enjoy using our latent creative energy so that it generates its own internal force to keep concentration focused, we not only avoid depression, but also increase the complexity of our capacities to relate to the world. How can we learn to do this? How can we relearn to enjoy curiosity so that the pursuit of new experiences and new knowledge becomes self-sustaining? Wake up in the morning with a specific goal to look forward to. Creative individuals don’t have to be dragged out of bed; they are eager to start the day. This is not because they are cheerful, enthusiastic types. Nor do they necessarily have something exciting to do. But they do believe there is something meaningful to accomplish each day, and they can’t wait to get started. Most of us don’t feel that our actions are that meaningful. Yet everyone can discover at least one thing every day that is worth waking up for. It could be meeting a certain person, shopping for a special item, potting a plant, cleaning the office desk, writing a letter to a friend, trying on a new outfit. It is easier if each night before falling asleep, you review the next day and choose a particular task that, compared to the rest of the day, should be relatively interesting and exciting. Then next morning, open your eyes and visualize the chosen event - play it out briefly in your mind, like an inner videotape, until you can hardly wait to get dressed and get going. It does not matter if at first the goals are trivial and not that interesting. The important thing is to take the easy first steps until you master the habit, and then slowly work up to more complex goals. Eventually most of the day should consist of tasks you look forward to, until you feel that getting up in the morning is a privilege, not a chore. If you do anything well, it becomes enjoyable. Whether writing a poem, or cleaning the house, running a scientific experiment or a race, the quality of experience tends to improve in proportion to the effort invested in it. The runner may be exhausted and aching, yet she also is exhilarated if she is putting all her strength into the race. The more activities we do with excellence and style, the more of life becomes intrinsically rewarding. The conditions that make flow possible suggest how to transform everyday activities so that they are more enjoyable. Having clear goals and expectations for whatever we do, paying attention to the consequences of our actions, adjusting skills to the opportunities for action in the environment, concentration on the task at hand without distractions - these are the simple rules that can make the difference between an unpleasant and an enjoyable experience. If I decide to learn to play the piano or speak a foreign language but feel frustrated or bored doing so, the chances are that I will give up at the first opportunity. But if I apply the flow conditions to the learning task, then it is likely that I will continue to expand my creative potential, because doing do is fun. It is easier to start with the most mundane activities all of us have to take care of. How can you get more enjoyment from brushing your teeth? Dressing? Eating breakfast? Getting to work? Take the simplest of these routines and experiment with engineering its flow potential. How do you apply flow conditions to loading the dishwasher? If you take this question seriously and try to answer by testing various alternatives, you will be surprised at how much fun brushing teeth can be. It will never be as enjoyable as skiing or playing in a string quartet, but it might beat watching most television programs. After you have practiced improving the quality of experience in a few everyday activities, you might feel ready to tackle something more difficult - such as a hobby or a new interest. Eventually you will master the most important skill of all, the metaskill that consists in being able to turn any activity into an occasion of flow. If the autotelic metaskill is developed enough, you should be able to enjoy any new challenge and be on the way to the self-sustaining chain reaction of creativity. To keep enjoying something, you need to increase its complexity. As Herodotus remarked, we cannot step in the same river twice. Nor can you enjoy the same activity over and over, unless you discover new challenges, new opportunities in it. Otherwise it becomes boring. Brushing teeth cannot stay enjoyable for very long - it's an activity that just does not have enough potential for complexity. True, one can preserve the challenge of even the simplest activity by combining it with something else - for instance, while brushing teeth you might plan the coming day or reflect on what happened yesterday. But generally it is more satisfying to become involved in activities that are inexhaustible - music, poetry, carpentry, computers, gardening, philosophy, or deep personal relationships. Most domains are so complex that they cannot be exhausted in a lifetime, not even the lifetime of the human race. It is always possible to learn a new song, or to write one. It is always possible to find a better way to do anything. That is why creativity - the attempt to expand the boundaries of a domain - makes a lifetime of enjoyment possible. Vocabulary
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