The Process of Happiness
Art by Lenna Salbashian
Play is no longer an activity for children alone. Science once taught us that our aging brains cease to develop, but this has since been strongly disproven. Adult brains continue to learn, grow, and heal. We need to engage in activities and behaviors that provide such opportunities for our mental and emotional agility. Just as regular physical exercise is needed to condition the body so too do we need to train ourselves from within.
Improvisation and creativity are not the property of a few professional artists or scientists but the essence of all our natural, spontaneous interactions. They are the greatest sources of satisfaction and happiness, learning, brain development, and mental acuity. According to Stephen Nachmanovitch, the concept of Free Play goes beyond basic improvisation. It runs deeper than our activities involving music and art. It is the essence of our being, something we were born with then strive to recapture throughout our lifetime. Free Play allows our overactive judgmental mind to take a back seat to the limitless knowledge of our intuitive wisdom.
The importance of engagement in non-linear, process-oriented activities is best highlighted through the extensively researched concept of Flow. According to positive psychology co-founder and the founder of Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi happiness is an internal state of being, not an external one. Happiness is not rigid or unchangeable but can be increased through the introduction of more Flow. The more Flow we experience, the happier we are.
Csikszentmihalyi began his research on Flow by studying artists and creative types. He noted that the act of creating seemed more important than the finished work itself. This led to his research on what he named the “flow” state, in which the person is completely immersed in an activity with intense focus and creative engagement in the unfolding process. The person who experiences flow is immersed in an activity for its own sake, placing value on the act of being engaged over the resulting product. When we stretch body and mind to their limit in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile, we access a state of optimal happiness.
When we face our emptiness and look at it from the outside, it appears frightening; but when we move in and become empty, we find our most empowered and effective self. From this state of embodied emptiness, without entertainment or distracting interact dialogue, we can be instantaneously responsive to the sight, sound, and feel of the work in front of us. Through our mindful attunement to the present moment throughout the process of creativity, we can all become spiritual artists.
Ready to start your journey to better health and wellbeing? Creative Health offers a range of personalized services and support to help you achieve your goals, from therapy and coaching to nutrition and wellness programs.
