Field note
Flow, and the part after the glow
Csikszentmihalyi on the fit between challenge and skill. Tharp on the boring ritual.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s flow research describes a state where challenge and skill are close enough that you forget the clock. It is a real report from people doing hard things. It is a poor hiring criterion and a poor test of whether a field is “yours.” Many necessary hours are not flow. They are setup, cleanup, email, and the third repetition.
Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit is the companion text we prefer on the poster’s bookshelf. She is interested in the ritual that gets you to the work before the feeling arrives. A station on your map that you only love when it feels like flow will shrink the first time it gets dull.
When you look at a cluster, ask which station you will practice on a flat day. That one can carry a job. The others can stay precious.