Finding the Flow

We complete our education and then dive into the workforce, but what do we do in-between that makes us happy? If your job/career fulfills your every imaginative thought and brings you joy, then you have turned your passion into your career. But if you have a job that doesn’t necessarily give you a sense of elation, then having outside hobbies becomes an important aspect to ones happiness. It’s easy to get caught up in a rut of perpetual monotony when you have work hours that don’t change and responsibilities that you must adhere to on a daily basis. That’s why freeing yourself from life’s various stressors and indulging in pastimes that bring you a sense of joy can be more beneficial than you think. A relatively new branch of psychology called, “positive psychology” studies what makes life worthwhile. In this branch of psychology, pleasures are said to be the activities that bring fun to life and can help with relaxation and allow enjoyment for a time period. If you’ve ever engaged in an activity where you are completely in tune with the task and have lost track of time, then you’ve probably been in a state of flow. The activity that positive psychologist refer to as “gratifications”, cause the person who’s engaged to feel removed from stress and reach a near meditative state. This might occur with a person painting a beautiful scene on canvas, an amateur chef cooking a gourmet meal, or a fishing enthusiast merely fishing in a sparkling lake. The activity that brings about these feelings is subjective, so find the one that brings joy into your life and find the flow!