Happy times

[eudemonia]

Csikszentmihalyi is a researcher and academic who specialises in the psychology of performance. He studied high performing athletes and noticed that they occasionally acquired an unusual psychological state of mind. After winning a race, athletes often reported reaching a state of effortless performance - time seemed to stand still, they lost awareness of self, their bodies seemed to take over with no conscious control and all this was accompanied by a sense of euphoria.

Since then, he maintains that we all achieve this sense of 'flow' at various times of our lives - often it is the fruition of hard work and challenge, but sometimes it is quite spontaneous.

I feel it is an important clue in the unravelling of self and identity. So when have you ever felt a sense of 'flow' or perhaps something nearing a sense of flow? If you haven't experienced this state yet (it is quite rare), when have you ever felt truly happy - losing that sense of self, being lost in the moment and experiencing a sense of pure joy? I am quite intrigued as to whether there are any commonalities in INTP moments of flow.

 

[loveofreason]

Moved from Fun. (Come on this is a deep and meaningful topic .)

I've experienced what you've described - none of your business what I was doing at the time .

At other times I get into a sense of flow when truly inspired and writing well. Hasn't happened in a while, and I wouldn't say a sense of joy or euphoria accompanies writing because it just doesn't cause a release of endorphins like physical effort does. But it really brings about a sense of wellbeing, ease, rightness.

...I need to get that frame of mind back now.

 

[eudemonia]

Moved from Fun. (Come on this is a deep and meaningful topic .)

Done it again! I really can't seem to develop my sense of humour - I'm way too serious. Even something I thought was 'fun' has been redefined as 'deep and meaningful'. You're right though

 

[Decaf]

I get that too and I think for the same reasons as the athlete. Usually I'm alone and its after I come up with something that I think is insightful or meaningful (like some new video game idea that could "revolutionize" how games are made ). Its a great feeling, but I often feel it to be distracting me from taking it a step further. Sometimes its frustrating feeling that lack of effort because it doesn't feel like I'm still climbing the hill so to speak. For an athlete the race is over, but for us, its never over.

 

[Jordan~]

Don't think I recognise the idea. I've had a sort of thoughtless chill after realising something.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

I'm not sure that I understand exactly what euphoria you referring to...

Perhaps you mean like when playing a really fast video game and going into the "zone". While in the "zone" a person can just watch themself play perfectly whilst their higher mental function just relax. For that limited time the "doing something" and "thinking" become separate functions.

 

[zxc]

I think I've experienced this with CSS, but never with table tennis.

 

[eudemonia]

what's css?

 

[zxc]

Counter-Strike Source, a computer game.

 

[eudemonia]

From what I understand, Csikszentmihalyi's notion of flow incoporates the zone - ie. being in the zone is part of the experience of flow. It could be said to be an extension of the zone. He describes it like this:

we have all experienced times when, instead of being buffeted by anonymous forces, we do feel in control of our actions, masters of our own fate. On the rare occasions that it happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished and thgat becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like. This is what we mean by optimal experience.

He gives examples of sailing when everything comes together, or the feeling that a parent experiences when seeing their baby smile for the first time. Even people who have survived concentration camps recalled that even in the midst of their ordeal they experienced 'extraordinarily rich epiphanies in response to such simple events as hearing the song of a bird in the forest or sharing a crust of bread with a friend'.

My first experience of being in flow came when I was teaching in Costa Rica. I was in the middle of some explanation and was joking with the students and someone made a remark - I had mispronounced their name and they were taking the piss. We were all laughing, then suddenly I became aware of myself again and got quite embarrassed. Afterwards I realised that I had completely lost any sense of self consciousness, I was in the zone, completely at one with the scene around me. And this was accompanied by a sense of euphoria - that euphoria that often accompanies a complete loss of self consciousness. This incident told me that I should be a teacher of some sort - it only took me 20 years to put that insight into practice!

Any other experiences of happiness like this? (Leaving out the ones that as Lor points out are none of my business)

 

[Vrecknidj]

I've experienced something like this a few times. Not usually with euphoria so much, but with the suspended sense of self.

I think this is what Aristotle was talking about when he was talking about the purpose of human life. It's often mistranslated as "happiness." I think that "flourishing" comes closer. But, it doesn't quite capture the essence of what, I think, is meant.

Dave

 

[Ermine]

I've experienced this "flow" a few times when I ran the 10k. Though the reality of this is iffy, it felt like I could have run another 10 km after I finished.

 

[IntenseBurger]

Ive experienced this a few times.
Once in lacrosse when the goalie was away from the goal, I actually knocked a guys feet from under him with my stick before he was about to score(completely illegal ) Everyone says the coach was cussing me out, but I don't even remember that.

I also did this once at a Halo 1 tournament (I'm a nerd)
It was the game for the win and the whole entire game my team was ahead by 1 kill.
pretty intense stuff

 

[flow]

I just love this discussion, as my username is flow.. and on a lot of other sites my user name is floweuphoria.

 

[Freddeh]

I think this flow is really interesting it is mentally touchable by some degree ( i remember some times when i was playing a guitar solo or sparring and i got this "flow" and everything i did after that went natural and went very well)
I could try to induce it with imagining the feeling but it doesn't work like that, you have to get it while unwittingly doing your thing, but when you get it and realize it, it turns into a really beautifull thing

 

[eudemonia]

I've experienced something like this a few times. Not usually with euphoria so much, but with the suspended sense of self.

I think this is what Aristotle was talking about when he was talking about the purpose of human life. It's often mistranslated as "happiness." I think that "flourishing" comes closer. But, it doesn't quite capture the essence of what, I think, is meant.

Dave

Are you referring to eudemonia?!

What were you doing when you experienced it - if its permissable to ask

@Flow/floweuphoria - can you share some times of flow that you have experienced. I'm interested in seeing whether there are any similarities in INTPs experience of flow.

@Freddeh - its wonderful when you get the experience when accomplishing a manual/artistic skill like that. I'm sure its something to do with not trying - just trusting that your fingers will hit the right place (like The Inner Game). HOwever, this is incredibly difficult to do - unbelievably difficult for an INTP who is always thinking and analysing and criticising all the time. I am just learning the piano for the first time. I find that when I concentrate I always make a few mistakes and its very rare for me to get through a piece without making at least one. However, if I stop 'trying' I can get through sometimes without a mistake BUT when I become aware of how well I'm doing, the whole things comes crashing down and my fingers stop moving and cannot resume from the place I left off. Weird.

 

[F.I.N.E.]

For me it is when I know I am close to a soultion to a theory that I have been working on. It is a sense that the mystery is about to be solved. It is almost inexplicable. Everything is melding together perfectly in a form that you stand in awe of such a simple and yet complex solution. At that moment I feel almost light headed.

 

[flow]

The last few times I've experienced it, it was while listening to music and writing an idea down. Whenever I'm writing down something that feels like a new absolute truth I get really excited while writing it down. I get the shakes! It's really a rush... I think it's something with your brain and basically the most pleasant state of mind you could ever reach. All of your current thoughts are pleasing and the euphoria flows in your brain.... hard to reach that place very often though.

 

[eudemonia]

OMG - I so identify with this Fine and Flow. I got a real high when I was writing my book and my thesis. It's a real high when you finally understand all the random bits of information and they finally fall into place. Better than anything else I have felt apart from falling in love

 

[Jesin]

if I stop 'trying' I can get through sometimes without a mistake BUT when I become aware of how well I'm doing, the whole things comes crashing down and my fingers stop moving and cannot resume from the place I left off. Weird.

Yes, someone said the surest way to ruin an athlete's performance is to say, "Wow, you're really doing great today! How do you do it? Come on, what's your secret?"