Following a flow experience, the organization of the self is more complex than it had been before. It is by becoming increasingly complex that the self might be said to grow. Complexity is the result of two broad psychological processes: differentiation and integration. Differentiation implies a movement toward uniqueness, toward separating oneself from others. Integration refers to its opposite: a union with other people, with ideas and entities beyond the self. A complex self is one that succeeds in combining these opposite tendencies. The self becomes more differentiate as a result of flow because overcoming a challenge inevitably leaves a person feeling more capable, more skilled.... After each episode of flow a person becomes more of a unique individual, less predictable, possessed of rarer skills.
Complexity is often thought to have a negative meaning, synonymous with difficulty and confusion. That may be true, but only if we equate it with differentiation alone. Yet complexity also involves a second dimension - the integration of the autonomous parts. A complex engine, for instances, not only has many separate components, each performing a different function, but also demonstrates a high sensitivity because each of the components is in touch with all the others. Without integration, a differentiated system would be a confusing mess.
Flow helps to integrate the self because in that state of deep concentration consciousness is usually well ordered. Thoughts, intentions, feelings, and all the senses are focused on the same goal. Experienced is in harmony. And when the flow episode is over, one feels more "together' then before, not only internally but also with respect to other people and to the world in general. In other words of the climber whom we quoted earlier: "[There's] no place that more draws the best from human beings.... [than] a mountaineering situation. Nobody hassles you to put your mind and body under tremendous stress to get to the top... Your comrades are there, but you all feel the same way at anyway, you're all in it together. Who can you trust more in the twentieth century then these people? People after the same self-discipline as yourself, following the deeper commitment... A bond like that with other people is in itself an ecstasy."
A self that is only differentiated - not integrated - may attain great individual accomplishments, but risks being mired in self-centered egotism. By the same token, a person whose self is based exclusively on integration will be connected and secure, but lack autonomous individuality. Only when a person invests equal amounts of psychic energy in these two processes and avoids both selfishness and conformity is the self likely to reflect complexity.
The self becomes complex as a result of experiencing flow. Paradoxically, it is when we act freely, for the sake of action itself rather then for ulterior motives, that we learn to become more than what we were. When we choose a goal and invest ourselves in it to the limits of our concentration, whatever we do will be enjoyable. And once we have tasted this joy, we will redouble our efforts to taste it again. This is the way the self grows.... Flow is important both because it makes the present instant more enjoyable, and because it builds the self-confidence that allows us to develop skills and make significant contributions to humankind.
Source :
"'Flow' The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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