Dr.Csíkszentmihályi’s talk centered around his concept of “flow”.
He described flow as the human state of mind where people are happiest when they are immersed in a specific activity of choice. Heed explain his concept of flow as being in an elevated state of consciousness where people are so aborbed in their work at hand that they feel removed from the physical world around them. He suggested that to be in this state of flow, a person must have a challenging scenario, and be skilled at the work being performed. According to his explanation, flow gets hindered if the the challenge or skills are unmatched. Both need to be at optimum levels to achieve the state of flow.
We see evidence of people in flow in life. When a painter reaches astate of flow, he is oblivious of the world around him other than focusing wholeheartedly in his work of art. Or, a reader who is engrossed in a reading activity and being lost to everything other than the content he is reading. Children too can be in the state of flow and removed from reality, by being involved in creative play and engaging their skills.
Though one cannot predict or force oneself to enter flow, it can be achieved through deep motivation and performance of an activity that interests a person. Dr.Csíkszentmihályi’s theory maintains that the state of flow is the path to joy and happiness in one’s work. There is a lot of similarity in his theory and the spiritual goals in Hindu meditation which aim to lead an individual into a higher states of consciousness through complete mental focus, thus fostering concentration and creativity through in a relaxed state of mind.
I find that I can achieve flow when writing after a warm-up period if I have a good idea of where I’m going ina story. It is not an uncommon experience if I have been dilligent in writing regularly. If I take time off from writing between writing projects, then it may take several weeks of warming up before I can reach the flow state with any regularity.
I believe this shows that, at first, I can not detach from my mental processes when being creative. With regular practice, i am able to release the reigns of creativity and allow the story to come from my mind in an organic and spontaneous manner rather than a calculated and deterministic manner.