Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention

I've just finished reading the book, Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention for Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi.

The book summarizes interview with many creative people to find a common pattern.

Although the writer mentions in different times in the book that there is no definite one single pattern for those creative people.

But there are some broad feature they share while there are many others can have the opposite.

For example:

- They can afford to stay alone and enjoy solitude while they like being with people and know their problems.

In fact, being alone is the main time for being creative while many have reported that being with people has been their source for creative ideas.

- They have their inner feeling of self fulfillment. They enjoy being notified by others but first they know how to assess their work and enjoy doing it even if nobody notice it.

- They follow standards of their domains while they can be total rebellions to old thoughts and traditions.

- They are open to try many domains. Many interviewees have already mastered more than one domain in different disciplines.

- They are conservative when it comes to spending their physical power. They get enough sleep. They don't exhaust their bodies in destructive activities.

- They maintain their physical and mental ability an productivity even in their old ages.

- They all have stable families and enjoy spending times with them more than any other thing. Most of them mention having families as their best accomplishment in their lives.

The writer concludes some points for us to be creative in all aspects of our lives. Here are some:

- We need to be open to many activities in order to find our true purpose in life.

- Surprise yourself and other daily. Try something new and find a newer version of yourself.

- Try to enjoy each moment of your life. Try even to enjoy moments when you do things you have to do like work and chores. Most people find those times as being wasted because they are neither productive nor fun. But we can make our experience better by doing them with more attention.

You can find the book here.

Check books from my Amazon Author Page:

www.amazon.com/author/ahmedebeed

Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work

Today I've finished reading this book:
Stealing fire

This book considers the Zone. It's the state of Flow as the best phases of human performance.

It displays how the giants in industry, business and sport can deliberately enter this state of creativity and mindfulness.

Personally, I find the book very interesting and informative.

I agree with some areas in it and disagree with others.

What I agree with it is the idea of entering the Zone through natural ways such as mindfulness, concentration and sports.

Also by changing your state between being alert and relaxed, playfulness and seriousness.

But I also find it a little bit adopting the idea of entering this Zone using non usual chemicals and drugs. And that's what I don't agree with because it's not halal in my Islamic religion and it's also harmful to the mind and body.

I also don't agree with the idea of practicing some physical actions that seem natural in action but might have unnatural, harmful or dangerous effects on the mind and body. Those actions like hearing hallucinating sounds or watching mind altering animations.

Also there are many extreme athletes that seem like addicting to their practitioners. They may be very dangerous and they know it but they cannot stop it.

Finally, I believe that everyone of us has his own type of addiction that can get him into the Zone of peak performance and altered state of mind.

This addiction might be useful and might be harmful, valuable or a waste of time, legal or illegal, but this action is simply our way of getting out of ourselves. That's what the book calls 'Shutting down the self'.

When we find this action we keep practicing it exactly as people are addicted to drugs.

what keeps productive and creative people apart from the rest of us is that their addictive actions take them far beyond the production and creativity of normal people.

While they are driven by those compulsive addictions that in this case useful, they keep their spirits in high states and they are also productive and creative to the society.

I like the book in general and I find it influenced by books from the author who coined the term 'Flow' - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

That's why I've decided to start reading the second book from the positive psychology author 'Creativity'.

By reading books from this author and from others, I've found that since my early days I've been passionate about what I lately knew as positive psychology.

It's the branch of psychology that deals with people to make them lead a happy, meaningful life and flourish.

I hope I could get you to the point.

Flow: The cookbook for happiness

Just finished this great book of happiness. The ultimate manual of happiness for the human.

The cookbook for happiness

Aren't we all looking for happiness in our lives?

How to get into the state of flow and optimal experience.

The writer, Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi takes you into the trip of seeking happiness of human through every kind of daily experiences.

I must deny it, after reading that book my mind couldn't still be the same at all.

You will have the ability to enjoy yourself at every single step of your life

The writer gives you the way you can find flow in either big experiences like rock climbing, wave surfing or in small ordinary daily activities like watching sunset or playing with your kids.

After reading that book your mind will never be the same anymore

The flow is the state at which mind can be at its best state. It's the state at which the one is so engaged so that he is so involved that he only think of the thing he is doing and not in his problems and all his daily stresses.

After you read that book, you can truly find flow in stuff like reading, writing, walking, running, swimming or whatever you are doing.

Even you can find flow in your job.

The book also deals with people who may be suffering from their problems and those who could use the state of flow to overcome those problems and painful experiences.

How you can turn a boring event or meeting into an interesting time that you feel like you are enjoying every moment of it?

The book is published at 1990 but deals with problems that still touches our daily lives with only small differences. Especially those have to do with technological effects on our lives and attention.

The reader has published new books that deal with that subject with modern approach.

The writer experience in Muslim world

In the book, the writer mentions some words he has heard them from many workers and professionals in Muslim countries.

He mentions that when he asked those people about how they could handle stresses at their daily lives he had always heard the same answer:

"We feel that our lives is guided and controlled by Allah so we never feel stress or fear."

I admit that I could find my mind's state of flow through writing books and blogs. But after reading that book, I could really find that state of mind in every aspect of daily life.

Read that book and I promise you that your life will never be the same anymore. You will have the ability to enjoy yourself at every single step of your life.