Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021)

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was studying and writing articles and books about flow in the 1970’s, so the notes in this 1990 publication (I read the 2008 version—I assume they share the same notes section.) have many references to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s earlier works on this and related topics. Known as a Positive Psychology topic, flow is about deriving joy from losing oneself in an activity—losing the sense of individual self while being carried along in the process of that activity, which some questionnaire respondents likened to floating down a river. (Per Wikipedia, this is the origin of the term, as noted in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1975) “Beyond boredom and anxiety”) This interesting book reports on studies, and responses to the questionnaire comprised of descriptions of the joy of being submerged in an activity, and draws conclusions on how this state of mind can be more commonly attained.
This is the current West Los Angeles College (WLAC) "one book", that librarians and professors incorporate into studies.… (more)

This is an empowering read for someone who is not considered excellent in their field, and may not even seek notoriety, but wants to engage more creatively in their work and life.

The huge problem I have with this book is Csikszentmihalyi's focus on the domain and background of the individual. While he sent his survey out to many people, the respondents come from a fairly narrow background-university educated and from the United States. He ignores that there is a great deal of creativity coming out of other communities around the world and in North America and, instead, concludes that one must come from wealth and privilege if they are to develop natural talent. This conclusion colours all his other conclusions.

Still, his advice at the end on developing a more creative lifestyle is sound, if not a bit repetitive of other works and, again, assumes quite a lot of privilege.… (more)

I didn't think much of this book. It read more like fan mail rather than the results of scientific research. Although the last few pages had some reasonable advice, I'm not sure what the grounding was for giving the advice. Maybe it's in an earlier book. Once again, as is so often the case these days, the title of the book was only vaguely connected to the content of the book. It wasn't about "flow" -- whatever that is. It was more about lifestyles of geniuses. I kind of had Robin Leach floating through my head as I was reading this book.… (more)