Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

This is one of the best books available on the subject of happiness. It offers specific and detailed instruction about options available for both improving the quality of life, and achieving greater fulfillment.

That said, it is not an easy read, and real application is required.

I recommend taking brief notes. I went to the trouble of doing this, and I find that my notes from this book have become an excellent quick reference whenever I want to remind myself of options for wise and truly fulfilling actions.

I highly recommend the book to anyone who is a serious student of life itself.

If you're looking for an easy read, you may be best served looking elsewhere.

I do not want to use Amazon again since I just received 2 of the last 4 books I ordered about Flow and P.A. reviews ... I only wanted 1 of each and now have to send 4 books back. Also it took hours to cancel the Amazon .Prime so I find it offensive when you do not offer and easy cancel subscription.
Connie Hanninen...I'll go to a store where I can get customer service.

The perceptive reader will spot Csikszentmihalyi's first chapter as the standard introduction of a (usually religious) huckster: all these good and bad things go on in the world, you can't control them and feel lost a lot of the time; instead, don't fight it, forget all that and concentrate on developing your own individual happiness by increasing those moments of "optimal experience." Follow my theory and learn to get into the "flow" in whatever you're doing, and life will feel so much more satisfying. Or, put another way: "being in the zone" is a good feeling; learn to maximize its occurrences.

Counterpoint: What if your "optimal experience" comes from participating with others in collective activity to transform the world in some essential way, such as overthrowing an economic system that is built ideologically on the centrality and benefits of maximizing individual happiness? The general theory then falls apart (it does with lesser collective goals as well). Or, more properly, it is exposed for being a philosophical variant consistent with, and thus supportive of, the way capitalism (ostensibly) works. It's not accidental that the author finds kinship with John Stuart Mill (though Mill is not listed separately in the references - and there is no index!). Other reviewers have suggested a Zen-like underpinning to the author's ideas. Whether or not that particular analysis is accurate, he does not have kind words for those who "try to achieve happiness on their own, with the support of a faith..." In Csikszentmihalyi's view, the latter are chiefly out for wealth, power and sex. So that's what atheism is all about! (btw, what's wrong with sex as a "chief goal?")

I came across this book from it being on the U.S. Ski Team's recommended reading list. Stripped of it's general approach and put in the context of focused effort, i.e., allowing oneself to get into the moment and learning to stay there, it can be a helpful psychological tool for those who have trouble doing that. Almost all of us do at least at some moment or another. But if going with the flow is frequently difficult to achieve, then there's likely a lot more that needs dealing with - and one's psychology may (or may not) be the center of it.

Csikszentmihalyi's Optimal Experience is another cognitively-centered psychological approach to dealing with life. If, however, you believe that we are primarily products of our environment (actually multiple environments), and that willful human consciousness can be powerful but operates within a very narrow realm, then his general approach will not only seem thin, but also at heart anti-Darwinian.

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a book that demonstrates how enjoyable it is to lose oneself in ones work or hobbies. What a wonderful experience a person can have once they understand "flow." "Flow" according to the author is when one understands the connection between satisfaction and daily activities. This book will aid you in your pursuit of happiness.




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Are you a spiritual retard, or are you on the path to ENLIGHTENMENT?
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This book was very used, wih notes, quotations, underlining and comments. It looks like the book was from a Goodwill store, which is OK, but I didn't expect it to be that " well read".