Happiness and the Flow State

As phenomenal as we are, we have an unsustainable habit of denying ourselves agency in authoring our own sense of happiness. Doe-eyed, we look around us for our supply and throw a tantrum when we are not provided for; a race of overgrown babies. It’s adorable for a while, but we have to take the wheel and turn the search inwards before it starts to bite.

This is the Psychological Flow Model chart described by Csikszentmihalyi, a positive psychologist and pioneer in Flow Theory. It serves to provide the nomenclature for the various states of the active brain in relation to the skill set of the person undertaking a particular task. Each individual has a different center point, depending a great deal on one’s interest in a particular field. According to it, a low-skilled man who is given a highly challenging task will, reasonably, feel anxious as he struggles to fulfill it while a high-skilled man given a low challenging task will be at relative ease (relaxation). A somewhat redundant observation, admittedly. But Csikszentmihalyi intended more than to state the obvious.

The primary highlight of the chart is the state of Flow, the namesake of the whole design. The ultimate destination of all the other states, Flow is a realm of immense potential and pleasure entered upon only by the fulfillment of the pre-requisite skill set. What this means is that a person can experience Flow while performing an activity only when he has mastered the field. A famous example is Michael Jordan who, after scoring 6 three-pointers in the 1992 NBA Finals game, explained it away with a shrug and said he was just “in the zone”. The Zone is the state of Flow, when every conscious mental activity is devoted to the task at hand; a fully immersive experience at the expense of the sense of self, space and time. It is the workspace of the accomplished and the aspirers.

When one is in Flow, he is completely engaged with the present and is at one with the task. There is no question of hunger, fatigue or late-hour as the mind scavenges attention from these aspects to be recruited into the task force. Individuals who have tapped into Flow described, almost unanimously, timelessness and neat ‘coming-togetherness of things’. In a sense, I suppose Flow is similar to the meditative state: they’re both highly focused states of mind, transcendent and, albeit difficult to enter, once experienced, are radically transformative. Flow is, in fact, so transformative that the original goal of the task becomes secondary to the process; the means becomes an end in itself. Csikszentmihalyi wrote the following in his book Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness:

“Why does the artist typically keep seeking ever more complex challenges, why does he constantly perfect his skills if the whole point is to experience vicariously the simple forbidden pleasures of his sexual programming?”

He was convinced that the action of painting, composing, writing or playing is more rewarding than the end-product of the activities; means as an end. The almost religious yearning for and seeking of the experience by the masters of a field led Csikszentmihalyi to suggest that Flow must be key, if not equal, to happiness, further cementing the old maxim “do what makes you happy”.

From the meagre point of view of the inexperienced or rather, the mere book-learned, I agree, in undue boldness, that the attainment of ‘happiness’ is the direct result of the pursuit of ambition. Having a goal to live for no doubt lends purpose to life. However, it is not in the fulfillment but the occupation of it that weaves the real magic. By allowing ourselves to be whisked away by the refined machinations of our mind, we surrender our sense of self in the penultimate gesture of cosmic indifference, second only to the meditative renouncement of the Ego.

The theory seems to make a mockery of our immature dependence on everything outside of ourselves in the search for contentment. “Did it ever occur to you to check your own backyard?” A vast, hidden realm exists within us, accessible only to those who seek it out. Csikszentmihalyi called it the Flow state, and I think it is the answer to our search for purpose.