My thirst for learning is embodied in my being. I was born with a burning desire to learn, and learn at break neck speed. At times, I feel like I am never going gather information fast enough to quench the thirst of my parched body. If you have ever neared the point of dehydration, then you can relate to the energy I feel percolating inside me.
Why do I enjoy learning so much? Learning creates the space for me to expand my perspective, be more curious about life, challenge my current belief structure, open myself to new possibilities, practice my actively listen and communication skills, and live in the world with a beginner’s mind set.
My learning is driven by whatever interests me at that moment in time. Some topics ignite an intense passion, while others stimulate so little interest, I cannot read the first sentence. When passion arises, each and every point of view on the topic is interesting and engaging. I experience flow.
In 1990, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi authored a book entitled “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.” At a high level, Csikszentmihalyi believed people are most happy when they are in a state of Flow. To further explain this concept further, I have borrowed the below citations from Wikipedia.
“Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.”
“Csikszentmihalyi identifies the following nine factors as accompanying an experience of flow.
- Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one’s skill set and abilities). Moreover, the challenge level and skill level should both be high
- Concentrating and focusing, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
- A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
- Distorted sense of time, one’s subjective experience of time is altered.
- Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).
- Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
- A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
- The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.
- People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.
Not all are needed for flow to be experienced.”
“In an interview with Wired magazine, Csíkszentmihályi described flow as “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.”
Flow is where our attention, motivation, and situation meet.
This begs the question, is our personal happiness determined by whether or not we live a life of focusing our energy and attention on what we deeply care about?
The concept of “Cares” shows up in our everyday society through various life forms, from values statements, manifestos, mission statements, advertisements, etc. For example, the coffee shop I am sitting in right now has a big banner ad stating “97% of the world’s coffee beans aren’t good enough for us, or you, honestly.” In this case, the brand is communicating what matters most to them is using only the best possible beans to make their coffee. The rest of the ad hopes you will embody the same “care” and only purchase coffee from this coffee chain.
It doesn’t matter what terminology you use to describe what is important to you; what matters most is you learn what you “Care” about so you can live everyday in “flow.”
What do you care about? What matters most to you?
