Kalpana Sharma's Key Ideas from Flow
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

This, in turn, is related to goals and intentions. These processes are connected to each other by the self, or the dynamic mental representation we have of the entire system of our goals. These are the pieces that must be maneuvered if we wish to improve

Self → Psychic Energy → Attention → Goals & Intentions → Self

The mark of a person who is in control of consciousness is the ability to focus attention at will, to be oblivious to distractions, to concentrate for as long as it takes to achieve a goal, and not longer. And the person who can do this usually enjoys the normal course of everyday life

People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy.

1. Flow occurs when we confront tasks we have a chance of completing.
2. Ability to concentrate on what we are doing.
3. The concentration is possible because the task undertaken has clear goals and provides immediate feedback.
4. One acts with a deep but effortless involvement that removes from awareness the worries and frustrations of everyday life.
5. Enjoyable experiences allow people to exercise a sense of control over their actions.
6. Concern for the self disappears, yet paradoxically the sense of self emerges stronger after the flow experience is over.
7. The sense of the duration of time is altered.

 Complexity is the result of two broad psychological processes: differentiation and integration. Differentiation implies a movement toward uniqueness, toward separating oneself from others. Integration refers to its opposite: a union with other people, with ideas and entities beyond the self.

 It will be to describe how people manage to join all experience into a meaningful pattern. When that is accomplished, and a person feels in control of life and feels that it makes sense, there is nothing left to desire. The fact that one is not slim, rich, or powerful no longer matters. The tide of rising expectations is stilled; unfulfilled needs no longer trouble the mind. Even the most humdrum experiences become enjoyable. Thus Flow will explore what is involved in reaching these aims.

When an important goal is pursued with resolution, and all one’s varied activities fit together into a unified flow experience, the result is that harmony is brought to consciousness. Someone who knows his desires and works with purpose to achieve them is a person whose feelings, thoughts, and actions are congruent with one another, and is therefore a person who has achieved inner harmony.