Go with the Flow

Contrary to what we usually believe, moments like these, the best moments in our lives, are not passive, receptive, relaxing times - although such experiences can be enjoyable, if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.

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Mihály Csíkszentmihályi from his book "Flow"

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I came across that quotation on Mind Hacks- the page I daily visit, dedicated to psychology issues. Taken from the book "Flow" which presents the theory of the state called by the author "the state of flow", the idea interested me very much. Flow (in short) is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.

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I understand it as the moment of pure creativity, when the person is totally engrossed in the action, forgetting about the whole world, concentrating on this one and only thing. How many times it did happen to me- I can't even count. It's like getting into the depth of oneself and pouring one's inner consciousness into the activity, blending oneself with what one is doing, becoming the thing one is creating. It can be anything- drawing, singing, knitting, baking a cake, scrapbooking, learning new skills- whatever that makes me fully involved and happy. Though I try to live consciously and always mindfullness is my goal, those moments of full, subconscious engagement in activities are really precious to me.