“It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness”
Thomas Jefferson
______________________________________________________________________________________
Thomas Jefferson was describing the “Flow” before it was clearly defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields.
According to Csikszentmihalyi, flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. To be caught in the ennui of depression or the agitation of anxiety is to be barred from flow. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task.
Colloquial terms for this or similar mental states include: to be on the ball, in the zone, in the groove, or keeping your head in the game.
(source: Wikipedia, english, May 18, 2010)
How often are you experiencing the Flow?
36525 days to live 
May 19, 2010 at 12:39 pm
My benchmark for experiencing the flow is the state I was in during a painting working many years ago. Our teacher’s method was to give us 10 to 15 minutes to create a whole piece. One evening, I created a picture I am still very proud of today, for the result, but also for that perfect feeling of togetherness or maybe absence of ego I experienced while creating it. The other very special thing about that experience is that all of the 10 or so participants had shared that same feeling. So to me flow is being one with the action but it also has a quality of “overflow” or “inclusiveness”. It also is very linked to the state of “creating”.