Encouraging Readers to Seek Flow

This being National Library Week I thought I would continue on discussing reading and Flow. At our New Braunfels Public Library I came across a book, Going with the Flow: How to Engage Boys (and girls in Their Literacy Learning.) It was written by Dr. Michael W. Smith an education Professor at Temple University and Dr. Jeffrey Wilhelm an English professor at Boise State University. Although the book was written in 2006 to this day both authors still show a passion for encouraging reading and literacy. I am thankful when I read about people such as these men who encourage reading.

This book is based off of research that came out of a previous work they did, Reading Don’t Fix No Chevy’s. Their work revolved around trying to encourage young boys in reading which talking to teachers is a struggle more these days. I know in counseling clients when working with children I have found girls are more often open to reading than boys. At the college level I see the same phenomenon that it is the girls that tend to enjoy reading more. Smith and Wilhelm point out how in education studies that girls tend to outperform boys in reading. That seemed to be one driving passion in their research.

What I found interesting in the book was in their interactions with the boys they found a connection to Dr. Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Theory. As mentioned last week, Flow is the experience in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does with a sense of enjoyment. The authors found that the boys outside of the “prison of school” (some of the boys perceptions of school), had flow activities they enjoyed. Some of these activities were rapping, sports, video games and art.

They found that the boys were not totally against reading as a number of them read outside of school but often on subjects that they enjoyed such as the sports and video gaming activities. Part of the thinking on encouraging reading in boys was to keep encouraging them to read things they enjoy. I thought as I read the book it was that encouragement that could help the boys connect elements of flow to their reading. They point out near the end of the book that “We found that the five features of flow experience that we discuss in this book -- a sense of competence and control, an appropriate level of challenge, clear goals and feedback, a focus on the immediate, and the importance of the social – explained why our boys liked to do the things that they did. We found that these five features were equally explanatory of the boys’ literate engagement, both in school and out.” (page 171)

I haven’t crunched the numbers from my flow assignment with my college students but those seem to be the core elements of flow that my students felt would apply the best to college studies and flow. I have had students who were taking remedial reading at the college level and they made statements similar to the boys in the book. They would say they enjoy reading things they like but the struggle was reading material they did not like in classes. I would often reply that was hard for me to relate to, as being a Bookhead I enjoyed reading what I liked to read but in school I always enjoyed textbooks as well. I would often tell them I am crazy that way. I agree though that to build the habit of reading we need to encourage people to focus in on reading what they enjoy reading and branch out from there.

One other point I fully agree with is their thoughts on the emphasis on mandatory testing in schools. I have heard from stressed out teachers over the years how they hate teaching to the test. In counseling children many get very stressed out over the Texas state mandated tests. I have asked sometimes to an overly stressed child do the teachers appear nervous about the testing? Several times I have had the children reply in the positive that yes, they notice the teacher nervous about the testing. So if the teachers are stressed out how can we expect the children to perform well? The authors rightly point out how the emphasis on testing makes the emphasis on doing school, rather than learning to enjoy learning and mentally growing. “Our worry is that the more we overtly prepare students for tests, the less our assignments are for the enjoyment of doing them, or for the immediate power of application in the present. Increasingly, what students are asked to do in school is for the instrumental purpose of passing a test, often one in the distant future, instead of doing something for immediate purposes that provide intrinsic satisfaction.” (p. 160) Our test emphasis is counterproductive in building flow into students’ lives. No wonder so many drop out or lose their love of learning; which in the world we live in we should be building students who love learning.

So this National Library Week stop by your local library and support the work they do in encouraging reading. Continue to build the flow of reading in your own life and encourage it in others.

Reflection: Pick up a new book to read in an area of personal interest at your local public library.

Enjoying Reading as a Flow State

From foter

This semester in my College Success courses one assignment I gave students related to Dr. Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Theory. Flow is the experience in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. I had the students consider their outside of class activities they enjoy and think through various elements that make up flow. They were to write a reflection of whether they actually experience flow in their favorite activities.
The elements of flow that I had them reflect over came from Dr. Csikszmentmihalyi’s book, Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention. The elements are as follows:

1. There are clear goals – In flow the individual knows what needs to be done. The musician knows what note to play next. The rock climber knows what move to take next up the mountain.
2. Immediate feedback to ones actions – In a flow experience we know how well we are doing. The musician knows if he is playing the right note. The rock climber knows if the next move is a correct one.
3. There is a balance between challenge and skill – A person in flow feels their abilities are well matched to the opportunities for action. If the challenge is too high to the skill level frustration sets in. If the challenge is too low boredom sets in. There is a continual growth in skill.
4. Action and awareness are merged – In flow our concentration is focused on the activity being done. One-pointedness of mind is required by the close match between challenge and skills, and it is made possible by the clarity of goals and constant availability of feedback.
5. Distractions are excluded from consciousness – In flow there is an awareness of what is relevant for the here and now. Flow is the result of intense concentration on the present, which relieves from fear.
6. There is no worry of failure – In flow the participant is too involved to worry about failure. There is a confident sense of control.
7. Self-consciousness disappears – There is a lack of sense of the self instead there is a oneness with the activity. The pianist is one with their piano. The skater is one with the ice A paradox occurs in that the self expands through this act of selflessness and oneness in their flow activity.
8. Sense of time is distorted – In flow hours may feel like minutes so there is a sense of time distortion.
9. The activity becomes autotelic -- The flow activity becomes more enjoyable for its sake. The activity is an end in itself. (pages 111-113)

I was amazed at their responses as none of them had ever heard of flow. A few had coaches who taught them about being “in the zone” which is a similar concept. Through a myriad of favorite activities such as various sports, writing poetry, drawing, video games, dancing and many others, most of them could see the elements of flow in their lives as they did their favorite activities.

With the coming National Library Week still on my mind, my favorite flow activity came to mind. That flow activity is reading. I was glad to see a number of my current students listed reading as one of their flow activities. I should have given those students extra points for enjoying reading. How does flow relate to the habit and enjoyment of reading? Allow me to walk through my personal thoughts on how I see flow in my reading. With each book I read there is the goal to understand the story or glean helpful information for my personal or professional growth. The feedback I receive in reading is that relaxed enjoyment of the story that grows my creativity or the information I glean to improve myself. Depending on the book the level of challenge to my skill of reading varies. In reading for me the challenge relates more to the more academic texts I study. Increased ability to concentrate I have seen in my reading. When I read on a plane or in my home office being in the flow of reading, I focus in on the story or the information I am reading. Time seems like it flies by when I read so I often need to keep track of time if I only have a set time to read between appointments. Reading is definitely autotelic for me in that I enjoy reading whether it is for my Ph.D. assignments or leisure reading.

from foter

In living a Living More Than OK life, engaging in flow activities adds to the overall fulfillment of our daily lives. Flow activities in our free time helps in overcoming burnout or the angst of boredom. Of course I highly recommend that all people add the flow activity of reading into a portion of their free time. Reading builds up the creativity and the critical thinking aspects of our minds. As I stated near the beginning there are a wide variety of flow activities. Active is the key part. What are you active in? Just living ok keeps us stuck in the mundane mode of okness and passivity. It leads to flat lining in our life journey. Take some time to think through ways you can add to your life through flow activities you may enjoy.

Reflection: When you read do you feel any of the elements of being in flow? What are some of your favorite free time activities? Do you see the elements of flow in your activities?

Conquering Stress With Flow

After finishing a term paper for my Social Psychology course in my PhD program I reflected over one article I had read about showing the importance of leisure activities. The article looked at how our leisure activities can act as a stress reliever in our lives. The researchers mentioned in the article how participants shared their activities moved them into a flow state of mind. As I have mentioned in the past, Flow is based on the research and observations of Dr. Mihalyi Csikszentmihali. It is that state of mind and emotion where the person is totally absorbed in an activity they enjoy and have a high skill level to match the activity. There is a sense of timelessness and ownership in doing the activity. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi’s research came from observing people involved in sports activities and the arts. So he was observing people doing their leisure activities and hobbies. He found that nine primary elements made up flow: having clear goals, immediate feedback, skills met the challenge at hand, focus of action and awareness, ability to overcome distractions, lack of worry, lack of self-consciousness, a sense of timelessness, and activity becomes intrinsically enjoyable.

From looking at the elements of flow described it is clear how Flow activities can aid in stress reduction. By being absorbed is something you enjoy doing, there is less worry, the mind is more focused and there in more internal joy in your life, These elements of Flow can counter act against stress. With stress having such negative effects in our health and overall life experience it is helpful to know by building time into our lives to do special activities we enjoy can help relieve stress.

Flow acts as a change agent that helps move the internal state of our mind and emotions to being more calm and joy filled. As stated at the beginning, flow is based on the observational research work of Dr. Csikszentmihalyi. He spent time observing rock climbers, chess players, dancers and other such activities for many years. Then with a questioning mind thought why did they spend so much personal time in those activities? He found they had a deep sense of enjoyment in the activities. There was also a skill enhancing aspect they held to internally. If you think about it the dancer wants to improve her skills and learn new dances. The rock climber wants to climb new areas. And artists wants to continue to improve in their paining style. He created the term flow to stand for the sense of optimal experience the participants felt inside with their absorption and enjoyment into the activity.

The article I mentioned that especially caught my mind is based on a research study to consider how leisure activities can counter stress and build resilience in individuals. Their participants were a varied group of adults from Canada. They made use of focus groups and grouped the people in related categories. The topics of the groups revolved around discussing stress in their lives and then discussing what did they do in their leisure that helped relieve the stress thus making them more resilient to stress. Some of the activities mentioned by the participants were doing puzzles, exercise, playing musical instruments, knitting, dancing and reading. My favorite is in the list is reading. Some of the resulting effects in the participants were feeling a sense of balance, renewed, and recharged. For many, the activities allowed them to put the stressors of life in perspective by taking their minds off the stress and being absorbed in the activities they found enjoyable. This sounds very much like the effects of flow in a person’s life. Many of the activities mentioned were activities that required a level of skill enhancement and they were activities the people deeply enjoyed. This is an important aspect to flow activities so that people do not tire of them as there is always room to grow in the activity with new understanding and new skill. What the researchers were describing was very similar to Dr. Csikszentmihaliyi’s observations of people who were involved with flow activates. This shows that flow has a positive effect in relation to stress.

From reflecting over the preceding literature on flow there can be seen positive connections to how flow can help people overcome stress by doing activities they enjoy. The mentioned connections between flow and increased inner motivation can aid in the strengthening of the building blocks of resilience which help conquer stress. The important question do we take the time to involve ourselves in such activities?

Reflection – What are your favorite activities and hobbies? Do these activities help in lowering stress in your life?

Iwasaki, Y., Mactavish, J., Mackay, K. (2005). Building on strengths and resilience: Leisure as a stress survival strategy. British Journal of Guidance & Counseling, 33. 81-100. Doi: 10.1080/03069880412331335894.

Good Exhaustion and Flow

I came back yesterday from Chicago where I attended a PhD Colloquial with Capella University. Since the lion share of the course work for my psychology program is online I had been looking forward to meeting face to face with some of my fellow students. The experience was very intense study in formulating and narrowing down a topic for my future dissertation. I came back to Texas very tired and exhausted. As I thought about my exhaustion I felt it was a good exhaustion.

I call it a good exhaustion as it came out of a time of creatively thinking through a dissertation topic that had meaning to me. It was good as well from critically listening to the sharing by those in my general psychology cohort. I loved hearing my fellow classmates’ passion for their topics. The topics were varied touching on topics such as helps for public school students, drug abuse issues and chronic pain, fire fighter families, problems with social media and new tools for psychotherapists to use in treating clients. I could see how each person’s passion for their topic tied into their life story. That is one tip I encourage college students with. When they do a project try to find an angle to the project that taps into their interests and passion. It allows the student to have more motivation for the project and become personally absorbed into the project.

My dissertation topic will be focusing in on a topic I have mentioned in the past that of Flow which was first researched and termed by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Since I have been emphasizing reading this Summer I will mention one book of his that I re-read this Summer, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. I like the thought of Optimal Experience Dr. Csikszentmihalyi emphasizes in the book. It is living our lives to the full level of happiness which is what I am trying to get at with Living More Than OK. We are meant to live for more than just existing.

As I have mentioned before Flow is the deep concentration and pleasure one experiences when absorbed in an activity they enjoy where they have a competent level of skill. The examples that always come into my mind is seeing a painter absorbed in painting. They may have people walking by them on the beach as they paint the ocean view but they are not distracted as their focus is on the subject of the painting. My flow activities are reading, music, prayer and exercise. The whole concept I feel relates to natural highs that I promote from the website naturalhigh.org.

Dr. Csikszentmihalyi’s in his researching of Flow reveals in the book eight aspects of Flow that are important in reminding us the importance to incorporate Flow activities in our person lives. One is where we do activities that we have an inner confidence we can do them. Second is that we can focus in and concentrate on the activity. Three is where we mentally establish clear goals for the activity. Fourth is where we can gain immediate feedback from self or others. Fifth is that it is an activity that we absorb ourselves in and not worry about what is going on around us. Sixth is when we do enjoyable activities we use personal control in doing the activity. Seventh is a paradox of losing the sense of self while doing the activity yet we feel more positive about ourselves after doing the activity. Then the eighth and last aspect is that our perception of the sense of time is altered. The activity is not boring so we lose track of time. Think of when you have done something where you say, “I could do this for hours!” (page 48).

If you think of the eight aspects of Flow you can see how they add to living life abundantly and to the full. Having read through the writings of Dr. Csikszentmihalyi it reminds me of a former Professor I had who spoke of the “Power of One”. Meaning that one person can have a large impact on the world. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi’s years of work and research on Flow have added so much to humanity in reminding us of the need to break away from passive existence. Examples of passive existence is wasting too much of our time on passively watching television or mindless videos on the internet. His work is an encouragement to actively seek out Flow activities that add meaning to our living and expand our minds and skills.

Reflection: What are your Flow activities? Do you take time to make time in your schedule during the week for activities you enjoy?

Getting’ In The Flow With Van Morrison

As I was watching the news on TV a commercial for a new Van Morrison CD caught my attention. The title struck me, Born to Sing: No Plan B. Being a Career Counselor I always encourage students to have a plan B & C in their lives so the title caught me off guard. Then what really drew me was the R & B hook of the first song’s chorus, “Open the door to your heart, Open the door to your heart, Get back in the flow, open the door to your heart.” This made me want to explore the song more as the concept of the chorus speaks to me of moving in a positive direction.

In the liner notes for the cd the description of the song, Open The Door To Your Heart is stated this way, “the private man, (meaning Van Morrison), introduces us to some of his permanent truths”. Later in the liner notes Van Morrison states concerning the messages in the songs of the album, “These are all just ideas…songs are just ideas, concepts and you just put the mic there and go. There are no rules that say you can’t have different ideas – in fact why not? Why not have different ideas.” So as usual when I focus in on a song listen to the song first and I will share some ideas that came to me in the song. Click on the title above the lyrics to hear a live version of Van Morrison performing the song.

Open The Door To Your Heart by Van Morrison

Open the door to your heart, Open the door to your heart,
Get back in the flow, open the door to your heart.
Money doesn’t make you fulfilled, Money’s just to pay the bills,
It’s need not greed, Open the door to your heart
If You’ve got eyes to see and ears to hear,
Then why don’t you quit crying in your beer my dear.

If nobody gets what they want, tell me what’s the use in that,
Everybody just gets fat, open the door to your heart,
Backbiters always make mistakes if you want to get an even break,
Think of everything that’s at stake, Open the door to your heart.

Don’t you think I know who my enemies are,
Their slip is showing and the door is ajar,
Well this time they pushed me too far, open the door to your heart.
If You’ve got eyes to see and ears to hear,
Then why don’t you quit crying in your beer my dear.

If you can’t hear the song your wrong, I’ve been around too long,
Just listen to the words that’s all, open the door to your heart,
Open the door to your heart, Got to get back in the flow
Open the door to your heart, Come on,
Yeah, Yeah, Open the door to your heart, Open the door to your heart
Get back in the flow, open the door to your heart.

The chorus is what first drew me to the song. The phrase “Got to get back in the Flow”, reminds me of the concept of Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his work on the concept of Flow. That feeling of being absorbed and fulfilled in what we are doing. IN the sports world they speak of being in the zone. That is flow which is important to living more than ok. It is living at peak performance. This part of the song to me causes me to think of how am I living my life? Am I closed off to the desires of my heart just existing in drudgery or a dullness of life? I should open the door in my heart to all that my God has for me in life to enjoy and fulfilling my potential. Getting back in the flow of what my potential and possibilities are brings fulfillment.

Van Morrison states what will not bring fulfillment. Money and greed does not bring fulfillment. Materialistic greed is one theme that goes through the CD. Granted money is needed in life but the quest for more and more does not truly satisfy the heart. Also he repeats the phrase, “quit cryin in your beer.” Moping around and feeling sorry for oneself will not fulfill us as well. Have a pity party and see how many people come. People will stay away. He keeps going back to the choice we need to make to, “Open the door to your heart, Got to get back in the flow Open the door to your heart, Come on, Yeah, Yeah, Open the door to your heart, Open the door to your heart Get back in the flow, open the door to your heart.” If we “got eyes to see and ears to hear” we should listen to his words. The song on the CD ends with a joyful emphasis on repeating the chorus.

Reflection: Are you living with an open heart? How can you get into the flow personally for a more fulfilling and joyful life? Jot down a few ways you can personally move more towards getting into the flow of life.

Learning SFT in Utopia

This past weekend we watched the movie 7 Days in Utopia . We are not golfers so, I had put off seeing it thinking it just a golf movie. As I watched the story unfold, I saw several life principles at work. One primary one was for the young lead character to learn life was more than golf. The movie presents principles that can be transferred into any person’s career life and personal life balance.

The opening of the movie has Luke Chisholm exploding in anger over a disintegrating performance in a golf game. As he is recklessly driving due to his emotions he crashes through a rancher’s fence. The elderly rancher, John, comes to his rescue and requests he stay with him for 7 days to get his golf game back. There are many dynamics in the story. Does Luke really want to play golf? Or was that his dad’s dream for him? There is shown in flash backs the tensions between he and his father, who was his over demanding coach and caddy. This made me wonder if golf was really Luke’s thing or his dad’s.

Instead of just playing golf John, who was a former golfer himself, has Luke do other things that relate to golf but initially seem very strange. Just one for an example, he has him study a golf shot in a wooded area and the instead of just hitting the ball has him paint the view of hitting the ball first. So the ideas tap into creativity and that particular example was encouraging a deep level of visualizing before trying the difficult shot. John is trying to get Luke to explore his passion level for golf and to allow him to see God has a purpose for his life greater than golf. Life is more than just a job or career we need to discover our greater purpose.

I was impressed by the concept of SFT that comes up in the movie early as John is speaking about Luke’s putting. He emphasized to not think but to See, Feel, and Trust. There is a truth in that, that we in our work have to move beyond over thinking to See, which means to visualize the big picture of what you are doing, Then Feel is having confidence in the visualization process to move forward. Finally to trust is to step out and act on that confidence to complete what you are trying to do. As I watched that work out in the film; the SFT concept reminded me of Dr. Cziksentmihalyi’s Flow concept of having a sense of mastery and trust in your competence so that you are not over thinking but you are one with your work that you are doing.

The movie goes deeper into the SFT concept looking at it in a spiritual level. John tells Luke near the end of the movie to make Luke understand that he needs to find a greater purpose in life than golf. How does Luke want to be remembered after his life is over? Here John explains that he needs to See God’s face, Feel God’s presence and Trust God’s love – SFT. Looking at life from a God centered perspective it was no accident that Luke turned towards Utopia. Granted, he could have taken the other turn and gone to another town and not experienced the 7 days in Utopia. But God had a purpose for Luke to be there. In those 7 days, he had the opportunity to understand that relationships are important, reflect on his passion and conviction level for golf and reach a point of feeling the presence of God. As spiritual beings, we need to first know who God is by seeing His face and feeling His presence. Then we can learn to trust in His love and know as is stated in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God has good plans for us even after a terrible game or problem occurs. That is a truth and promise we can hold onto in difficult and good times.

At this point in the movie the older ex golf pro gives Luke a box. In it is a Bible, a note from John, a pencil and two pieces of paper. With the papers Luke is told to draw up two lists. One is a list of all the lies he has listened to about himself. For Luke lies such as his self worth lies in how well he does with a little white golf ball. Lies that he told himself such as his father only cared about him if he did well in golf. We each over our lifetime can fill our minds with lies about ourselves which can spiral us down in to subpar just ok existing instead of the abundant life we were created for. That list of lies he was to write was to be buried in the box as a symbol of being rid of the lies. The other sheet of paper Luke was to write down truths about himself that he was to keep as a remembrance to give him strength in his life going forward. What are truths we can write and hold onto? Truths such as God loves us, and has a greater purpose for our lives. That we each have talents, that can be used to help improve the lives of those around us. We need to focus on the truths and not the lies.

If you have not seen this movie I highly recommend it. Enjoy the story and acting. Then also think through your life as to how the SFT concept relates to your life. Think through the purpose God has for you in your living more than ok on your life journey.

Reflection: Take some time to write up a list of lies that you have are presently are telling yourself. How are these lies negatively effecting you life? Destroy the list of lies. Then also write down a list of truths about yourself. Post this truth list somewhere you can regularly see it. Also take some time to reflect on your bigger purpose in life.

Tapping Into Your Creative Brain

In our pursuit of Living More Than OK, which is moving beyond mere boring existence, creativity is important to build into our lives. We tend to think of creativity only in the realm of the Arts: music, painting, poetry, theater and dance. These are important and I encourage people to grow their talents in one or more of these. Yet it is important to remember that creativity has a greater impact in all areas of life. Creativity can be used in solving problems, coming up with new ways to keep relationships fresh and alive, or discovering new ways to enjoy life. It is up to each of us to choose to tap into our creative side.

This brings me to a book I highly recommend to help you tap into your creativity. The book is Your Creative Brain , by Dr. Shelley Carson, a professor and researcher at Harvard University. In the opening chapter she states, “We are all creative. Creativity is the hallmark human capacity that has allowed us to survive thus far. Our brains are wired to be creative,…” This reminds me of the words of creative writing professor, Brenda Euland, “…you are all original and talented and need to let it out of yourselves; that is to say you have the creative impulse.” We are all creative. I like how Dr. Carson mentions it is the hallmark human capacity. When I visit the zoo I do not see turtles and bears painting murals on their habitat walls. As I visit the monkey area I have never seen one typing out a new fiction novel on its laptop. Creativity is one of the things that separate us from the rest of the animal kingdom.

Dr. Carson in her book helps us to see how expansive creativity can be into all areas of our lives if we are open to tapping into what she calls the CREATES brainsets. Her hypothesis she sets forth is what I see as 7 thought patterns we have that relate to creativity in our thinking. Her seven brainsets are:
Connect – Looking for connections between items and ideas to come up with new ideas and solutions.

Reason – Making use of the information you have and analyze and organize it for problem solving.
Envision – Using your imagination to explore the possibilities and answer the “What ifs” that come to mind. This reminds me of possibility thinking.
Absorb - This is opening your mind to new ideas and experiences and savor how these new ideas can shape and form something new and creative.
Transform – Dr. Carson says of this, that it is our tapping into our negative energy and distress we may be feeling. We can then transform the pains of life to solutions for future situations. For me it is reminder that we can choose to remain bitter over pain and hurt or transform and learn to be more empathetic to others going through pain.
Evaluate - This is the critiquing phase of looking at creative ideas and seeing which is best to follow.
Stream – This relates to Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow where creativity seems to be in oneness with our activity and thinking.

Her book goes into detail of her seven brainsets and gives practical exercises at the end of each chapter you can try out to improve your creativity. That is the important help in this book as she shows we are each wired for creativity and that we each can improve our level of creativity.

I want to just share a couple of important helps from the book to help you in your quest to improve your creativity. Then also this may encourage you to seek out this book at your local library or local bookstore. The first item is that a way to being more creative is to continue in lifelong learning. Be open to studying new topics and ideas. This helps build a broad based foundation of general knowledge for the Connect brainset. Don’t be narrowly focused in just one area. Dr. Carson provides examples of great people with broad based life experience. Benjamin Franklin was a writer, philosopher and inventor, John Grisham was a lawyer and now a writer, Leonardo Da Vinci was an inventor and an artist. I remember I had a physics teacher who brought in his cello to class and played for us students. Just recently I heard a jazz combo with a killer upright bass player. I found out his day job was that of a math teacher. So be open to adding variety to your ideas and skills.

Then also here are some of her ideas to help improve your creative mood of the absorb brainset: Make a playlist of inspirational songs that help encourage creativity, find a relaxing spot that quiets your mind, (hopefully this is a place linked to nature), Take a walk in a favorite natural setting like a park or beach, or carry a notepad or digital recorder to capture creative ideas you may have.
I hope by now if you started with a “But I am not creative” mindset you have changed your mind. This can be a first step to improve your creativity and help you in Living More Than OK.

Reflection: I want for this reflection to use one of Dr. Carson’s exercises from chapter 10.
Feelings: Describe Your Feelings
Aim of exercise: To better understand and describe your feelings. You will need a blank sheet of paper and a writing utensil. This exercise will take around 12 minutes.

Procedure: Sit in a quiet place and try to step outside your current feeling state and observe it objectively:
Write down a description of your feeling state. What emotions, moods, or affect are you feeling right now? Try to write at least 3 sentences that describe how you feel.
Now write what physical feelings you are experiencing right now. Scan your body for any area that might feel tense, painful, or constricted. Write down these physical feelings. Do you think they are related to your feelings? If so, write down how your think your current physical and emotional states are connected.
Now think about your mental state. Are you having trouble concentrating due to your feelings?
Finally think about your action tendencies. Are you feeling the urge to act in a certain way? Run away or escape, lash out at someone or something, disappear into the floor, put your arms around someone?
The goal of this exercise is to write a detailed and precise a description of your feeling state as possible. When you’ve finished, read over what you wrote. Does it adequately describe what you are feeling?
Try to do this exercise at least once a week. It will provide insight into your feelings and also develop your skills for self expression. This exercise will also help you develop emotional intelligence, a quality that will enhance your creative work.

Go for Natural Highs

From my involvement as a Counselor in local drug/alcohol groups and as I think back to my high school days knowing students who used drugs, their quest seemed to aim at getting high. They were bored and they wanted to move beyond more than ok and the booze and drugs gave them that immediate high, euphoric feeling that took them away from the dullness of their existence.

Back in high school as a Christian, I could never figure out drug users and those who drank. Even my oldest brother who was an alcoholic, as I observed him drunk, I did not see what the enticement was. Once in senior high school chemistry I remember two students at my table were laughing about how they got smashed at a party saying how fun it was. One said he drank 12 beers. Out of curiosity how one person could drink that much I asked how could he drink 12 cans of beer? His buddy laughed saying he threw up 3 or 4 times. They were laughing but I did not say anything. I just thought “what fun?!”. I never enjoyed having the stomach flu and throwing up! It sounded like the party experience was that!

In reading books and research articles on boredom I do know that one reason why people do alcohol and drugs is they want that high. They want the feeling of something beyond boring okness. The problems are the crash after the high are headaches, grogginess, forgetting what they were doing while high, (which is often very foolish things). There is also the creation of an addiction to the alcohol or drugs creating anxiety, depression, paranoia, and criminal acts to feed the addiction. I remember always thinking to myself in high school as I considered the foolishness of drugs, that I would rather enjoy myself being in control of my full faculties and knowing what I enjoyed so I can do it again. Instead the chemical high places people in a mental stupor to do foolish and even deadly things to themselves and others all for the sake of fun?? I will take a natural high any day.

What is a natural high? From the website www.naturalhigh.orgthey say a natural high is “ is an activity, art form, or sport that you LOVE to do and makes you feel good inside; A Natural High does not involve drugs and alcohol”. So it is doing a hobby or activity that you really enjoy and brings pleasure to you, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of Flow which I have spoken of before fits well with the going for natural highs. In his book Beyond Boredom and Anxiety he presents the elements of flow. He states that the person is aware of their actions but you are not thinking about how to do the actions. Awareness and action merge into a oneness. Flow happens when a person’s ability is of a level where they can move through the activity be it, playing an instrument, painting, sports activity, or any other favorite activity and not have to think through the steps. They can flow through the activity. There is a timelessness and being in the moment during the feeling of flow. So being in the state of flow is a natural high as a person is feeling a oneness with the activity and not consciously aware. His book reveals how Flow moves us beyond boredom and what I call more than ok..

So what are some ways you can go for a natural high in your life. One important thing to realize is we do not need to be high all the time. As Lars Svendsen, a philosopher in Norway, says in the Philosophy of Boredom -- boredom is. We all experience it. Life is not a Hollywood action movie. So much of our life is in the ok zone and can feel boring. Yet to have a full life and make the most of having joy in our journey and living more than ok overall, we need those high times. We need to realize though that natural highs are the way to go. If everyone is enjoying a life of natural highs there will be no need for the illegal drugs. Going for Natural highs will help lower crime rates and stop the senseless killings as we see presently in the drug wars in Mexico. For the addict they need to see what times and what feelings trigger the use of their substances in the desire to get high and replace them with activities, hobbies, and other alternatives to drugs and then go for the natural highs. For the non addict as wel, l to enjoy more of life they can find flow activities that can bring natural highs into their life experiences.

A good place to go for new ideas on natural highs are websites like the previous one mentioned or another website I discovered that focuses on natural highs – www.naturalhighs.ning.com
At those websites you can view testimonials on the personal enjoyment of natural highs. Also there are videos and blogs on the topics as well. With these websites and personal brainstorming on natural highs that fit your likes and desires, there is no need for anyone to go for the false, damaging highs of drugs and alcohol. And I strongly say damaging for the individual addict, their friends, and family not to mention the cost to employers and society. That goes for marijuana too, the darling drug of Hollywood and rockers. I remember working with a student once who told me, “Sir they say marijuana is not addictive but they lie. It is” He had started smoking it at age 12 and by the time he was in college he was hooked. He told me his addiction to marijuana had dulled his learning ability. It had also sapped him of passion for a career. Instead the addiction tempted him to just hang around, do nothing, and be high. The best way to combat the drug problem is to give young people and everyone alternatives to drug induced highs and that is by supporting and promoting natural highs.

Reflection:
Take some time to explore the websites below on natural highs. Tell others about them as well. Then take 15 minutes to brainstorm natural highs you wish to go for in your life.
Websites on natural highs.

www.naturalhighs.ning.com

www.naturalhigh.org

Going With Flow In the Workplace

With my last posting I introduced incorporating awareness of flow in our interest activities we enjoy doing, as a way of growing in Living More Than OK. In this I mean activities with the emphasis on active, something where you are an active participant – painting, sewing, fishing, or gardening. Television is not a flow activity as we just sit there passively absorbed into the screen.

I would like to continue thinking of Dr. Csikzenmihalyi’s thoughts on flow in the context of flow and work. With flow the focus is often in doing activities we have a passion and interest in doing. Work often has a negative connotation -- something we have to do. I remember one warehouse where I worked in shipping, one worker had a saying, “I owe, I owe, It’s off to work we go”. That is so true of many people in their work lives. It is a duty they do not enjoy and often go home full of frustration which affects their personal life. So is it possible to make work a flow experience? And why is flow important in the work setting? In his research on flow, Dr. Csikzenmihalyi reveals how it helps improve our creativity and helps people be more engaged in what they are doing. SO there is a better chance of having a more satisfying work experience. Since we spend about 85,000 hours of our life in the workplace it makes sense to utilize techniques that will help us enjoy our work time.

In Dr. Csikzenmihalyi’s Beyond Boredom and Anxiety he studies the issue of work and flow. He used Surgeons as his main example. Many would think the main reason to be a surgeon is the money . Interviewing surgeons he found that the primary reasons were intrinsic as to the challenge in defeating a disease and helping patients be cured. These are intrinsic factors that can bring flow into their work. Also increasing competence keeps them growing to meet the challenges they face in their work. So elements of flow can be brought into the workplace to enhance our work experience.

Here are some ideas. Part of the flow process is having a goal orientation. In your work do you have set clear specific goals you are aiming for.? These give you a sense of direction to focus on in guiding your work energy. Being in flow relates to being absorbed and focused so the goals give you a basis for your focus which builds your concentration powers.

A balance of challenge and ability helps with flow in your work. If you are not challenging yourself in your work and settled for just doing enough to get by you get in to a rut of routine which creates boredom and not flow. So within the goal creations in your work set the level high enough to make your work challenging. Place time in your schedule to grow in your knowledge and ability for your work. This is the importance of lifelong learning. If you are not growing in knowledge for your work and work is getting more challenging then frustration and stress occurs instead of flow.

As to increasing your abilities and opening up opportunities for flow in your work ask yourself these questions and reflect over ideas to improve your work.:

In looking at your work activities can they be done better, more efficiently?
What steps will make my work contribution more valuable?
How can I make my work personally meaningful?
Are there tasks where I feel incompetent?
How can I learn and improve the needed skills?

Here are some examples of flow in the workplace. Consider a Supermarket clerk who makes it his purpose to instead of just bagging the groceries to pay special attention to the customers in giving a cheery hello and offering to be of help in taking groceries to the cars if need be. A physician who cares about his patients in a holistic manner. Being concerned about their total well being is more important then rushing through as many patients as possible. Or a reporter who is interested in reporting from the standpoint of truth and not just sensationalism to make a name for himself.

Take some quiet time to reflect over the previous questions and see what areas of your work you can turn into flow time. Brainstorm ideas and possible new ideas to use in your work.

Living More than Ok with Flow

In considering overcoming the boredom in life which is part of Living More than OK, we can move to more than OK by becoming aware of Flow moments and activities in our lives. Writings and research such as Finding Flow and Beyond Boredom and Anxiety; fully describe the Flow process and importance of it by the author, Dr. Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, a professor of Positive Psychology and Creativity now at Claremont Graduate University. http://www.brainchannels.com/thinker/mihaly.html

Flow is that experience where you are totally absorbed in what you are doing? It occurs most often when we are doing things we enjoy. One definition of it is , “The state of complete absorption and interest in a task occurring when ability/skill and challenge are high” (LeFevre & Csikszenmihalyi”). Have you ever been involved in a favorite activity and it felt like time stopped and you were able to accomplish more than you imagined you could? You were in a Flow state. Much of Dr. Csikszentmihalyi’s research initially was on sports and musicians -- studying their flow states as Flow in seen easily in these activities.

One may think if Flow just happens why study it? I appreciated in Dr. Csikszentmihalyi’s books how in his research of the issue his main concern is for people to live living happier and more complete lives. People living more fulfilling lives and moving beyond the mundaneness of boredom is one main reason I started this blog. If being aware of Flow helps people live more fulfilled then a thought that comes to my mind is how can we increase the amount of time we are experiencing flow? Of course we can’t live in complete absorption all of the time. Dr Csikszenmihalyi points out that we can’t be in flow all of the time. If we were we would be like a world of Energizer Bunnies or Flow itself would become boring.
Flow is often found in the activities you really enjoy doing. Next time you are doing your favorite activity, photography, writing, fishing, quilting, or gardening see afterwards if you felt re-energized by the activity. Ask yourself is you felt like time just flew by. Did you feel a deeper sense of concentration? Most likely you were in Flow.

In the studies on Flow, there were common aspects of those who experienced flow. Here are some of the main aspects. One is having Goals. Clear specific concrete goals can help us improve in our lives and enhance our opportunities of flow experiences. The goals are guides often for the activities we enjoy doing and desire to excel in them. Again the example of sports comes to mind. Coaches and athletes often make use of goals in their practice and competition.
Concentration and focus are helpful in attaining flow. I have observed artists at their canvas and they don’t distractingly look around but are absorbed in their work on the canvas. If you watch Sport stars in gymnastics and ice skating you can see intensity in their eyes as they are mentally focusing at the task at hand. Some sports stars will mention in interviews that they are often visualizing their performance in their split seconds before the game or sports activity. We have great power given to us to focus on our tasks if we tap into that power God has given us in our minds.

Importance of having a balance of ability and challenge is another aid to flow. Dr. Mihalyi C. in his research looked at ability levels. Flow occurs when we feel challenged yet we have enough knowledge and ability to have confidence in that we can meet the challenge. If we don’t have the ability to do the activity then frustration occurs which is definitely not a flow experience. We can continue to improve as we grow in our abilities to reach higher levels of expertise on those things we enjoy doing.

Another main aspect I would like to point out is then merging our awareness and action together. With the goals and focus in place we then move into doing the activity. Here we do the activity and we simply enjoy doing it. Mental activity and physical action merge into oneness as we paint, swim, jog, write or sew. Now flow occurs and we don’t overanalyze. What stops the flow is if we start to judge ourselves –“what are others thinking of me?” “Am I doing this right?” Leave the questions for a later reflection time simply do it! For example a swimmer in a race doesn’t have the opportunity mid-race to stop and reflect on his progress. Reflection on performance has its place after the activity but to win the race the swimmer must stay in the flow of the race experience trusting his talents.
By making use of flow activities in our lives we can enjoy our daily life more. We can continue to improve and find delight is our favorite activities. Also since focus and concentration are part of the Flow experience we can build up our ability to focus better in other activities by replicating the power of focus in our flow activity. Other benefit to flow is that we are exercising our mind so our mental facilities are strengthened. As we increase our ability level our ability to reach new challenges grows. This can aid in improvement in creativity as we consider new ways to engage in our favorite activities. The more we make use of flow in life the more we have opportunities to enjoy the life journey we are on.

Reflection –
What are some of your favorite flow activities? Are you learning more about that activity to keep increasing your challenge level? What one new activity would you like to add in your life schedule?