Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a University psychologist
of Chicago, who has devoted much of his life to studying creativeness in humans. In his
numerous studies observe a central concept: the creative flow.
we work almost automatically and with very little effort, but we succeed
however to keep ourselves focused on the goal. For this, when
we undertake an activity and manage to reach the creative flow,
we get to increase our capabilities by consuming less energy. In the beginning the concept of creative flow can
be something difficult to understand. Put simply, it's about
a kind of trance in which the individual
forgets or disconnects from everything around him by concentrating
completely about what he is accomplishing. At this moment everything flows in
spontaneous and natural form. Positive emotions and extreme lucidity are felt. Csikszentmihalyi refers to some
characteristics of the creative flow: 1. Clarity
goals: when we are immersed in this flow we know
exactly what we need to do and what our goals are. The target
final is very clear and obviously this represents a lot of motivation
strong that stimulates us to continue with the activity. 2. Answer
immediate to actions: in this state of creative flow we know a lot
well what are we doing and we can give a quick answer to all problems
that arise. As for the course of a river, which despite the stones on the
its path, it always follows its path bypassing or passing over them. 3.
Balance between dexterity and difficulty: very often, in the face of the activities that
we undertake daily, we are assailed by fear and anxiety because we believe
of not being up to par On the contrary, at other times we are aware that the activity
we are making is below our capabilities and we are bored. In the state where we experience the creative flow
there is a balance between the two so that we stick to each other
adequately motivated by having the necessary strength and skills to cope
the activity. At the same time, we are not afraid of failure but rather we are
pervaded by a feeling of security and trust. 4. Activities
and consciousness unite: in the state of creative flow we are like this
deeply focused and involved in what we are doing which is as if
we became one with the activity we are doing. The "I" and the outside
they are much less separated than in other moments of everyday life. Indeed,
Csikszentmihalyi states that self-awareness in the long run is only one
weight that limits the creative process. On the contrary, “we are too absorbed in flowing
in what we are doing to care about protecting the ego ”. 5. Not there
they are distractions: our attention is focused on: here and now.
Flow is simply an intense focus on the present. 6. The sense
time disappears: when we are immersed in the creative flow there
we forget about time, the hours go by without us realizing it e
we think it's only been a few minutes. 7. The activity
becomes "autotelic": the autotelic word is of Greek origin and indicates the
an end in itself, there is no basis (economic, social or rational) other than the
pleasure given by the activity itself. At this point you are all wondering how
get to reach the state of creative flow. Good; there are some
tricks: - Focus consciously on the activity from
realize, little by little the creative flow will appear by itself. - Determine in advance what the real goal is
of what you are doing. - Immediately, isolate ourselves from all the stimuli they can
distract us. - Plan challenges that test the
our abilities but which are at the same time achievable. - Stop being critical and learn a
relax, discovering the pleasure of what we are doing. - Stop constantly asking us the reasons and the
reasons for our behavior. Finally, I leave you with a phrase by Csikszentmihalyi: "the secret of a happy life is to be able to
establish a creative flow in most of the activities we do
daily basis". Or as popular wisdom would say: “the secret of happiness does not depend on
possess everything you want but from loving everything you own ".
