aeroplane sky-just big enough to see me through my journey
Flying Time — yaskhan
Monthly Archives: September 2022
♫ Hello Dolly! ♫ — Filosofa’s Word

There are nights, and then … there are n-i-g-h-t-s. Tonight is a n-i-g-h-t. They say that “Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak”, and there is, quite frankly, nobody that can soothe, soften and bend better than Louis Armstrong. This one goes out tonight for Roger […]
♫ Hello Dolly! ♫ — Filosofa’s Word
Flow
The Conditions for and Definition of Flow
Flow is the result of many years of study conducted by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced Chick sim ee hi.) Csikszentmihalyi and his associates have interviewed, now, more than 1,000,000 people from all over the world. They found that, whether it concerned teenagers in Tokyo, steelworkers in Gary, Indiana, farmers in Northern Italy or fishermen in Korea, people report that they most often achieve a form of happiness (a state of flow), when they pursue attainable but challenging goals at work. When people approach challenging physical and/or mental tasks matched with high personal skill they not only enjoy the experience, they stretch their capabilities and increase the likelihood that they will learn or achieve new and higher skill levels and increase their self esteem. Managing your own work for flow sounds pretty good, right? If the conditions and structure of your work support flow, then you and others will achieve it more often.
| Explanation of Flow: * When the challenge is too high and the skill level too low, people get anxious and tend to freeze up or flee the challenge. * When the challenge is low and the skill level is high, people tend to get bored with what they are doing and perhaps sleepwalk through their work. * When the skill level is high enough and the challenge appears with in reach, people enjoy the activity. * When the challenge pulls the skill higher, most people tend to want to raise both, if for no other reason that they feel good about themselves and what they are now able to accomplish. Crawlers, become walkers, who become runners – Flow is both a learning and a motivational experience that offers a reward as great or greater, some would say, than a pay check, public recognition or promotion. Here are two short examples that should help to nail this idea of flow down for you: Recall when you were learning how to ride a bike and just learning how to keep your balance. * The thought or fear that the training wheels or a parent’s guiding hands might be too quickly removed and result in a fall could , until your skill level and confidence improves, bring your learning to a screeching halt. *When you thought the training wheels, or the guiding hands were kept on too long, it became intolerable. Most people can remember a bike ride or race when everything was just right and… you, the bike, the road and time seemed to flow. You may or may not have been river rafting, on a rowing crew or a four-person bobsled but you have probably seen others doing it. The same lessons, experiences and feelings apply. * Ask a crew of inexperienced rafters to go out on a high difficulty river and people will protest or even refuse to go. * Take five experienced rafters and suggest that they float down a stream suitable for children in inner tubes may well bring about the same result. Flow in essence is the natural learning and discovery process. When you are boxed in or challenged too much in other learning and work activities, you can see now why you resist out of boredom or fear. Setting up your work or activity to better enable you and others to get into the flow zone can improve the experience and outcomes for everyone. |
| The essential components, or conditions for flow occur more often in the structured, task and goal oriented activities. The elements are: * Clear goals (What am I going to achieve?) * Immediate feedback (Am I getting there/How am I doing?) * Challenges which don’t overtax skill levels * Opportunities where you have the ability and authority to apply (test), or exercise your knowledge, judgment, and skill level. Copyright Ned Hamson, 2005 |
Leotard, or: Pants

An American sentence: Unversed in girls’ clothes, I pulled the leotard over my daughter’s pants. What’s an ‘American Sentence’? Allen Ginsberg, …
Leotard, or: Pants
Rinchen Dhondup along with seven Tibetans detained

Rinchen Dhondup along with seven other Tibetans were detained for sharing Covid-related photos and videos and are presently under the so-called Law …
Rinchen Dhondup along with seven Tibetans detained
MUJER

MUJER Dime a donde se va el silencio,a dónde va la musicasi no es a ti–bendita realidad–que hasta la poesía se rinde. LMML WOMAN Tell me where the …
MUJER
Weekend Open Thread
Good Morning. I hope that you are enjoying this weekend, fully vaccinated and boosted, with family and friends. I spent most of last weekend bawling …
Weekend Open Thread
Let’s go home together, if that’s okay

(source: Phạm Hiền Mây social media page) A poem in Vietnamese by Phạm Hiền Mây Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm LET’S GO HOME TOGETHER, IF …
Let’s go home together, if that’s okay
Saturday Surprise — Carousel of Happiness!

Last night I was wracking my poor brain trying to come up with something fun & unique for Saturday Surprise. My mood wasn’t really well-suited for …
Saturday Surprise — Carousel of Happiness!
Reflections On Citizenship Day

More than 20 years ago, my late step-mom, Tippy raised her hand and took the solemn oath of United States citizenship. All of us were very proud of …
Reflections On Citizenship Day
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