Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi: Feeling Alive And "In The Flow"

"How do adults recapture that feeling of joy that children get from play?" asks a psychologist who has spent decades studying the state of being that he calls "flow." We experience flow when we are totally absorbed in a challenging activity for its own sake, and not for the sake of the results. The flow state is accessible to everyone, can occur at any level of skill, and is in fact necessary for real enjoyment of life beyond simple pleasure-seeking. "You don't get much out of the passive consumption of pleasure," Csikszentmihalyi says, "compared to enjoyment which is much more active and creative and self-directive." He goes further, to explore ethical considerations and the meaning of wisdom. This program may change the way you live your daily life!

Csikszentmihalyi is the author of several books including Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (HarperCollins 1990) and The Evolving Self (HarperCollins 1993).

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