What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all About???

"The Flow"

I've been interested in this concept of a "flow state" ever since I read about it in a psych class waaaay back during my college years (hehe). Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (say that 5 times fast!) came up with this term to describe that feeling when you become so completely absorbed in the project at hand that time seems to stand still.

In his words, it's "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost."

Typically, it occurs when the project at hand is just outside your set of expertise or comfort zone (actually, video games are a perfect example, as they constantly adjust to push you beyond your individual level). This particular facet of flow has helped me be able to understand why I often feel unsatisfied with activities that are supposed to be relaxing or satisfying (of course, i'm not against some mindless entertainment or just "vegging" when you've just pushed yourself a lot, so context does matter here).

Anyway, on this trip thus far, the majority of my most satisfying moments have shown the above characteristics; two of them happened today!

Firstly, I went off for a 2 hour bike ride to help me get situated here in Wageningen and, of course, enjoy the plentiful, well-maintained bike paths and warm sunshine (not typical for this time of year!). It was great to push myself a bit physically, while also staying mentally alert and attentive to my surroundings (I'm going to need to be so I don't get lost!).

I eventually found myself at the local university's long stretches of fields (which reminded me a bit of Iowa, but greener!). The awesome thing about them was that they had these small, unobtrusive concrete bike trails going through them, so I spent a lot of time just riding through the fields, away from the cars and, for the most part, other people! It was exactly the type of non-tourist activity I was craving after Ireland (but I blame no one but myself for the fact that I did lots of touristy things, some of them to good effect).

Secondly, my aunt and I sat down and poured over her incredible paper collection in order to make some christmas cards! The creativity involved in visual arts can sometimes be so maddening and frustrating, but at other times can flow better than almost anything else (other than sports, for me). Tonight, it was just so much fun - Carol Lynn and I compared ideas but also enjoyed periods of silence while we remained engrossed in the creative process. We definitely lost track of time and were almost late to an engagement this weekend! I'm looking forward to more of that during the rest of the trip... | posted by Cheryl, 10/29/2005 06:13:00 PM