Getting into the Flow of Happiness

摘要

Happiness can be elusive. Go into any self-help section in a book store or online and there is no shortage of opinions on how to make a journey to happiness. Recently, one batch of psychology and sports research caught my eye. Pioneered by Polish-born scientist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, these studies have uncovered the description and execution of a state of mind that can be achieved by humans called "Flow." As defined by Mihaly and others, Flow is a mental state of total immersion, where everything but the focused activity fades away. We feel and perform at our maximum best with effortless creativity, and the path to our goal becomes as straight as the crow flies. Our mental boundaries break and so too does our sense of time. Seconds become hours, and hours can pass in seconds. Studies show that most people have experienced this state of Flow at one time or another in their lives.