Phenomenological
dimensions of Flow:
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1
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Balance of skill and demand
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2
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Action and awareness merged
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3
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Concentration on task
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4
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Sense of potential control
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5
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Loss of self‑consciousness
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6
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Altered sense of time
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7
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Autotelic (self‑rewarding) experience
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The
metaphor of flowing or “flow” is used by Csikszentmihalyi to designate the
moods of life that are the basis of optimal experiences. He as describes these
moments as:
These exceptional moments are what I have called flow
experiences. The metaphor of flow is one that many people have used to describe
the sense of effortless action they feel in moments that stand out as the best
in their lives. Athletes refer to it as "being in the zone",
religious mystics as being in ecstasy, and artists and musicians as aesthetic
rapture. Athletes, mystics, and artists do very different things when they
reach flow, yet their descriptions of the experience are remarkably similar.[2]
In modern sports psychology, athletes and coaches
have referred to this flowing mood as “being in the zone”. “Being in the zone”
is a calm yet energized, challenged yet confident, focused yet instinctive
mood. A mood characterized by confidence and only slight resistance.
In regards to religion, Csikszentmihalyi
thinks that the “flow” phenomenon equivalent to ecstasy. I disagree and would
not equate religious ecstasy always with “flow”. Ecstasy is itself an elated
mood but different then flow. Therefore to maintain the religious connections,
“flow” may be closer to the Zen Buddhist phenomena of muga or “no-mind.” The state of muga,
occurs when the split between the acting self and the self-observing self
disappears, and the act becomes effortless, automatic, and entranced.
In the arts, this “flow” phenomenon is frequently
called aesthetic rapture. It was this phenomenon of aesthetic rapture that was
the basis for the interest and the development of the metaphor of “flow” by
Csikszentmihalyi. This is because Csikszentmihalyi doctoral thesis focused on
how visual artists create art. To do this, he studied photos taken every three
minutes as artists created a painting. After looking at many of the photos he
writes:
Struck by how deeply they were involved in work, forgetting
everything else. That state seemed so intriguing that I started also looking
for it in chess players, in rock climbers, in dancers and in musicians. I
expected to find substantial
differences in all their activities, but people reported very similar accounts of how they felt.
Then, I started looking at professions like surgery and found the same elements
there in a challenge which provides clear, high goals and immediate feedback...
They forget themselves, the time, and their problems.[3]
As
it is shown, flowing involves a special experience of the self, reality, time
and is filled with emotions of satisfaction and great enjoyment.
