flow
Cicero once wrote that to be completely free one must become a slave to a set of laws. In other words, accepting limitations is liberating.
from Flow: The Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
baja added 2mo ago
But if one takes control of what the body can do, and learns to impose order on physical sensations, entropy yields to a sense of enjoyable harmony in consciousness.
from Flow: The Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
baja added 2mo ago
Fundamentally, hypnosis is the practice of changing the way we use our minds to control perception and the body itself. Like flow, it works by a state of complete absorption.
from Mind Magic by James Doty
baja added 4mo ago
The self becomes more differentiated as a result of flow because overcoming a challenge inevitably leaves a person feeling more capable, more skilled.
from Flow: The Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
baja added 6mo ago
Leisure provides a relaxing respite from work, but it generally consists of passively absorbing information, without using any skills or exploring new opportunities for action. As a result life passes in a sequence of boring and anxious experiences over which a person has little control.
from Flow: The Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
baja added 2mo ago
and regardless of all the stupendous scientific knowledge we can summon at will, people often end up feeling that their lives have been wasted, that instead of being filled with happiness their years were spent in anxiety and boredom.
from Flow: The Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
baja added 6mo ago
Unless a person takes charge of them, both work and free time are likely to be disappointing. Most jobs and many leisure activities—especially those involving the passive consumption of mass media—are not designed to make us happy and strong. Their purpose is to make money for someone else.
from Flow: The Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
baja added 2mo ago
As Freud and many others before and after him have noted, civilization is built on the repression of individual desires. It would be impossible to maintain any kind of social order, any complex division of labor, unless society’s members were forced to take on the habits and skills that the culture required, whether the individuals liked it or not.
... See morefrom Flow: The Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
baja added 6mo ago
This simple truth—that the control of consciousness determines the quality of life—has been known for a long time; in fact, for as long as human records exist.
from Flow: The Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
baja added 6mo ago