Mikhaly 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."
And flow is the doorway to higher-level mind functions: we MUST move beyond ego to access them. We must develop the ability to focus on process, not results, which means that the "I" must dissolve. For reasons both profound and mundane, it is vital to expand beyond the ordinary concept of self. Ironically from the perspective of ordinary mind, to be all we can be, we must be nothing at all.
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Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Why Learning to 'Forget Yourself' Is Important for Psychological Health Today
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The paradoxically sad part of this, though, is that the flow state, at least for me, suppresses memories of itself. It is impossible to savor the memories of my greatest accomplishments, because the memories are not accessible, either outside the flow state or in it.
It is possible to develop an "observer" self who stands outside the interaction, but witnesses. This is a higher level of the process, but definitely available.
I think everyone should read this. There are lots of cases just like this and I think this is not just a simple issue. We must give attention to this issue.
Self psychology evolved within a dyadic setting from the pioneering work of Heinz Kohut.
Thanks so much for this article, quite useful piece of writing.
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