Csikszentmihalyi’s secret

Merlin Mann found Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi’s secret to maintaining flow:

“The only solution to achieve enduring happiness, therefore, is to keep finding new opportunities to refine one’s skills: do one’s job better or faster, or expand the tasks that comprise it; find a new set of challenges more appropriate to your stage of life. Paradoxically, the feeling of happiness is only realized after the event. To acknowledge it at the time would only serve as distraction.”

This from an article in The Times called “The secrets of happiness.” Worth a read don’t you think?

I have experienced intense happiness and flow in the middle of an activity before. Once, playing at the launch of a CD of Irish music, in the middle of a set of reels (actually it was at the start of the B part of Over the Moor to Maggie) I was overcome with such intense happiness that I experienced a feeling like a star exploding in my chest. I began to weep with joy at the music we were making, and more importantly, the camaraderies of the musicians and the groove we were in. I had to stop playing and just close my eyes and experience the moment. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Definitely a distraction to the task at hand!