Happiness, Key 5: Creativity & Flow
[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Happiness: Positive Psychology ?2023]
Let’s talk now about our creativity, and being in a ‘flow’ state – zen, or zone.
One of the more significant concepts of positive psychology, mentioned a couple of times now, is that of flow. Being in a flow state of mind is also known as a 'zen' state in Buddhism, or in slang terms, 'in the zone' -- much as an athlete, a creative, or even a religious devotee might describe. Often connected with creativity and inspiration, it's a particular state of consciousness that’s highly focused and conducive to productivity, one in which external distractions are naturally shut out and one's focus becomes singular – what scientists call focused attention. It’s also akin to serenity, a state of equilibrium in which we feel especially calm, balanced, and undisturbed, similar to the state we're in during meditation.
Mihaly R Csikszentmihalyi (1935-2021) developed the theory of flow, publishing his first book on the topic, Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, in 1996; soon thereafter, he became one of the founders of the positive psychology field and one of its most significant researchers. He identified 8 characteristics of the flow state: a deep concentration on the task at hand which is inherently rewarding, sense of challenge accompanied by the necessary skill, sense of agency or control over the outcome, blending of action and awareness, crisp clarity of one's goals, transformation or distortion of time, feeling of serenity coupled with a lack of self-awareness, clear feedback from the task and the mental state itself in real time, and sense of meaning and purpose contained within both the task and the flow state (Csikszentmihalyi, 2021; Engeser, 2021).
This state has a purpose, in increasing the pleasure of the activity and providing a sense of fulfillment, improving performance and engagement which engender motivation to continue, providing an opportunity for self-actualization or development of our higher self, and opening us up to ever-increasing creativity.
What's flow got to do with happiness? Plenty, as it turns out. Being in this state of deep calm, of complete focus, of deep peace boosts immunity, releases tension and anxiety, and generally contributes to health. It’s the state of mind most often described in creative acts, and quite possibly engenders creativity. It's when our minds, free from the clutter of daily life, are able to better understand, to see things clearly, to come up with new ideas.
This flow state and the creativity associated with it have a direct link to wellbeing and happiness. It's also bidirectional: creative people tend to report greater levels of happiness and wellbeing, and in turn, those who experience wellbeing and happiness are more likely to engage in creativity -- thus providing a clear feedback loop (Acar et al., 2021; Tan et al., 2021). We can achieve a state of flow at will, with practice; it typically takes 10-15 minutes to achieve, then lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, and can also occur more than once in the course of a day (Csikszentmihalyi, 2021).
We are creative in a wide range of ways, each and every day, whether it's problem-solving, brainstorming, developing new concepts, cooking a meal, or any other number of forms. We humans are creative, and creativity is a deep source of happiness. Thus, by engaging in our own creativity, we exponentially increase our happiness.
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Exercises:
To deliberately create a flow state, we must first become clear about our intention, including an element of challenge (I will bake this bread / paint this picture / write my report); we must also minimize all distractions to the degree possible. Then, we practice meditation or a mindfulness exercise (e.g., focusing on breathing; very slow walking with complete focus) for 10-15 minutes while maintaining a focus on our intention -- and immediately thereafter, engage in the activity as planned.
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Meditating to bring about a flow state doesn't need to be the lotus-sitting, mind-emptying version. In fact, there are 4 universal forms of meditation which relate to body position (Arrien, 1993), and it's moving meditation, achieving a serene state of consciousness through a repetitive movement, that’s associated with creativity. Any type of repetitive and sustained motion, whether sport or rocking your body or vacuuming, can result in a state of flow.
For creativity, it's useful to engage in as many forms as possible; try your hand at drawing or painting, bake a cake, write a poem, and as many other forms of creative acts as you can manage. You are opening windows into your happiness.
We can increase our creativity through various means. A daily walk, or moving meditation, is one such tool. We can also set limits or constraints on a task, such as writing for only 15 minutes with a timer set, or the famous Ernest Hemingway writing exercise of telling a story in just 6 words – or writing a 3-line haiku. Such parameters force our brains to become more creative, akin to problem-solving. As well, when we regularly engage in a creative act already familiar to us, it will spill over into other areas -- creativity leads to more creativity. Visualization can also be helpful, whether guided or self-induced; the exercise of creating a fantasy scenario requires us to engage our imagination, an aspect of our creativity.
And so, creativity and a flow state of serenity and hyperfocus, the 'zone', are both useful for achieving happiness -- and closely related to one another.
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References:
Acar S, Tadik H, Myers D et al. (2021). Creativity and Well-being: A Meta-analysis. Journal of Creative Behavior, 55: 738-751. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.485
Csikszentmihalyi M (2021). Flow: A Component of the Good Life.?Positive Psychology: An International Perspective, 193-200.
Engeser S, Schiepe-Tiska A, and Peifer C (2021). Historical Lines and an Overview of Current Research on Flow. In: Peifer, C., Engeser, S. (eds) Advances in Flow Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53468-4_1
Tan C, Chuah C, Lee S et al. (2021). Being Creative Makes You Happier: The Positive Effect of Creativity on Subjective Well-Being.?International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(14):7244. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147244