MIHALY'S FLOW ....!!!

" Enjoyment  appears  at  the  boundary  between  boredom  and  anxiety , when  the  challenges  are  just  balanced  with  a  person's  capacity  to  act ."
                                                  
                                                       -- Mihaly  Csikszentmihalyi --


Flow  is  an  optimal  state  in  which  one  feels  totally engaged  in  an  activity . Whether  long  distance  cycling  or  blog  writing , sumo  wrestling , reading  or  sex  for  some . In  a  state  of  flow  one  is  neither  bored  nor  anxious , and  one  wouldn't  question  his  own  adequacy , hours  pass  without  your  noticing .

The  psychologist  "Mihaly  Csikszentmihalyi"  coined  the  word  "flow"  for  this  type  of  situations . Flow  often  occurs  , he  writes , in  conditions  in  which  people  become  independent  of  the  social  environment  to  the  degree  that  they  no  longer  respond  exclusively  in  terms  of  its  rewards  and  punishments ,  to  achieve  such  autonomy , a  person  has  to  learn  to  provide  rewards  to  himself .

The  fulfillment  that  comes  from  deep  absorbtion  in  an  activity  outside  oneself ,  activities  that  are  not  about  approach  or  avoidance , gain  or  loss , but  about  something  greatly intense .

Psychological  theories  usually  assume  that  we  are  motivated  either  by  the  need  to  eliminate  an  unpleasant  condition  like  hunger  or  fear , or  by  expectation  of  some  future  reward  such  as  money , status , or  prestige . Csikszentmihalyi  though  argues ,  that  in  flow , a  person  could  work  around  the  clock  for  days  on  end , and  for  no  better  reason  than  to  keep  on  working  fulfilling  his  vigor  and  interest .

So  every  person  should  be  true  to  oneself . If  one  really  desire  something , one  should  go  all  the  way  to  get  it . One  ought  to  stay  true  to  his  own  nature , being  relatively  unmoved  by  rewards  gives  one  a  great  amount  of  power  to  go  his  own  way . It  would  be  up  to  the  individual  to  use  that  independence  to  good  effects .




My gratitude  to miss Cain , for pointing out some  of  the  different  aspects  of  Mihaly's  psychological  studies , thanks  to you  all for  your  time  and  patience , salamat.

A SENECAN PRAEMEDITATIO ......

The  wise  will  start  each  day  with  the  thought ...

Fortune gives us nothing which we can really own ."

"Nothing , whether public or private , is stable ; the destinies of men , no less than those of cities , are in a whirl ."

"Whatever structure has been reared by a long sequence of years , at the cost of great toil and through the great kindness of the gods , is scattered and dispersed in a single day . NO , he who has said ' a day' has granted too long a postponement to swift actions and misfortunes , an hour , an instant of time , suffices for the overthrow of empires and tyrants ."

"How often have cities in Asia , how often in Achaia , been laid low by a single shock of earthquake ? How many towns in Syria , how many in Macedonia , have been destroyed and swallowed up ?? How often has this kind of devastation laid Cyprus in ruins ."

"We live in the middle of things which have all been destined to die . Mortal have you been born , to mortals have you given birth ."

" Reckon on everything , expect everything ."

"The  wise  will  start  each  day  with  the  thought ...

The  same  could  naturally  be  conveyed  in  other  ways  and  for  other  times , our  actual  times , and  state  of  affairs .  We  do  not  know  what  will  happen  next ; we  must  expect  something  in  the  early  morning  every  morning .

We  should  undertake  what  Seneca  termed  a  praemeditatio , a  meditation  in  advance , on  all  the  sorrows  of  mind  and  bodies , the  sorrows  of  nations , of  peoples , of  wrong  doings  which  the  gods  have  and   may  subsequently  subject  us .




Seneca , a  first  century  Roman  philosopher ,  as to  me ,  my  usual  thanks  for  your  time , salamat.       

MONTAIGNE'S PHILOSOPHY .....

Montaigne said :  " to  learn  that  we  have  said  or  done  a  stupid  thing  is  nothing , we  must  learn  a  more  ample  and  important  lesson ; that  we  are  at  times  foolish  and  blockheads ."

"And  the  biggest  blockheads  of  all  beings  are  those  who  had  never  suspected  they  might  even  be  such  things ," misplaced  confidence  in  reason  could  be  the  ultimate  idiocy , and  indirectly  also  of  inadequacy ."

We  take  pride  in  our  fair  and  orderly  reasoning  and  our  capacity  to  fairly  judge , and  to  know , and  say  the  truth , but  to  live  with  such  rules , we  have  to  pay  a  price ,  which  is  generally  expensive  and  sometimes  excessive .

It  often  pays  to  be  quiet  and  gracious , to  listen  more  than  talk . And  to  have  an  instinct  for  harmony  rather  than  conflict . With  this  style , one  can  fake  advantages  and  be  more  persuasive  with  certain  positions  without  inflaming  your  counterpart's  ego . We  should  all  realise  that  in  most  conversations  and  arguments , most  people  priorities  are  to  be  liked , rather  than  to  speak  the  truth .

To  attain  wisdom , argues  Montaigne , is  by  learning  not  to  aggravate  the  state  of  affairs  through  our  own  responses , through  spasms  of  rage , self  pity , anxiety , bitterness , and  self-righteousness  and  paranoia . We  must  reconcile  ourselves  to  the  true  dimensions  of  reality  and  so  spare  ourselves  of  harsh  frustrations  and  the  accompanying  destructive  emotions .

That  we  are  ultimately  still  adequate  in  our  own  distinctive  half-wise , half  blockheadish  ways , should  not  keep  us  from  distinguishing  and  accepting  our  frailties , and  prevent  us  from  claiming  a  mastery  we  do  not  have .  That  is  what  Montaigne's  philosophy  teach  us .





As  usual  my  gratitude  for  your  patience  and  time , salamat .