About the book
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi drew on his investigations of optimal experience to identify what makes an experience truly satisfying: a state of consciousness he calls flow. Its usual hallmarks, he finds, are deep enjoyment, creativity and a full involvement with life. He argues that the mind is happiest when absorbed in the meaningful pursuit of a goal, whether sport, learning a language, enjoyable work or practising music, and that concentrating and losing oneself in the moment brings peace and order amid chaotic lives. The state, he holds, can be controlled rather than left to chance, and ordering the information that enters consciousness can greatly improve the quality of life.
Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist, called it a wonderful book and, while re-reading it, linked its passage on crossword puzzles to his own blackout poems.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Austin Kleon (Author/Steal Like an Artist)
While re-reading Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s wonderful book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, I came across this passage on working crossword puzzles. I think he could just as well be talking about making blackout poems:
"There is much to be said in favor of this popular pastime, which in its best form resembles the ancient riddle contests. It is inexpensive and portable, its challenges can be finely graduated so that both novices and experts can enjoy it, and its solution produces a sense of pleasing order that gives one a satisfying feeling of accomplishment. It provides opportunities to experience a mild state of flow to many people who are stranded in airport lounges, who travel on commuter trains, or who are simply whiling away Sunday mornings."
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