[Paddlewise] Regarding "flow."

If this notion is of interest paddlers might find the discussion
of flow among mountain climbers worth the reading while.  I'd
recommend consideration, too, of reading more than just
descriptions of the psychological condition labeled flow.  A sea
of masters' theses and doctoral dissertations have been floated
on the flow notion without adding much.  It is worth examining
also what sociological conditions inhibit or enhance the
possibilities of flow.  We don't always merely will flow into
being.  Some social-sturctural conditions are more conducive to
the full, focused commitment of one's skills, concentration, and
vigor than others.  

For those interested in these issues consider:

Mountain Experience, The Psychology and Sociology of Adventure,
University of Chicago Press, 1983, 1985

See especially Chapter 12, 13 and 14, 15.
 
Mountain Experience concludes with these remarks, applicable too,
I think, to paddlers

"Mountain climbers [paddlers] are not looking for greater
security,
stability, and certainty in their lives. Typically, these
qualities are seen as being overabundant. Rather they are seeking
in leisure a test of their limits in a gratifying no-compromise
situation where their behavior is meaningful and outcomes depend
upon their own self-directed action. For them stress is an
essential ingredient in leisure experience. Mountaineers and
certainly others who engage in risk avocations demand a challenge
to the entire spectrum of their perceived capacities. Complete
expression of personal creativity and freedom is only possible
when the activity tests the individual to his or her fullest. For
these people leisure without stress is unsatisfying and
incomplete. In what they perceive as a homogenized, sterilized,
rationalized, and rule-governed social world, climbers and their
iLk seek a raw encounter with an environment that can only be met
with a full measure of personal commitment, innovation, and
investment.
        To be without stress is to be eddied in the stream of
life-experiences, cut off from stimuli, noxious or otherwise.
Less is required of the person and less is possible. The opposite
of stress is not celebration, satisfaction, or tranquility. It is
a state of reduced awareness and diminished capacity, of torpid
disinterest as found in drug-induced stupor and, when logically
extended, in coma and quintessentially in death. Only by the
distortions of Orwellian doublethink can such stresslessness be
judged a desirable leisure goal.
        Civilization protects us not just from real dangers but
sometimes from the full possibilities of our humanity....The
perceived scope of available meaningful tasks in the modern
industrial world is for some persons as restricted as [prison]
camp-life opportunities.
        Science and technology provide facts and leverage but
offer no
global understanding or inclusive moral order. They strip life of
mystery and spirituality. Rationalized [in the sociological sense
of of the term -- rm.] play loses its iconic meaning and
autotelic reward. But there are solutions. We are not shut up
forever within the iron cage; it is of human design and we can
escape from it. 
        The transition is not complete. Play and other enjoyable
actions
are not all rationalized away. The immense possibilities of human
spirit are not yet flattened to the dehumanized outline of
two-dimensional man. While the vital reaffirmation of self in
flow comes only from comprehensive, committed engagement, we are
capable of that effort.  Flow is to be found in the climbing of
mountains [and paddling].  This book attests to that.  But for
some the
mountains [or the sea] may be far away or otherwise unreachable.
Perhaps the
most important thing learned from a study of climbers [and
paddlers] is the
potential of flow in daily life.
        Invisible mountains surround us all. They are hidden in
stamp
collection albums, in paints and brushes, in the well-written
lines of a letter to a dear friend or an irritating politician,
in making a fine souffle, in delivering a convincing speech, or
in performing delicate surgery.  Flow is not reserved for games
or play in the limited sense of sport or recreation (it is
unlikely there for all but professionals) but is possible
whenever unswerving commitment, energy, and will find meaningful
and effective application in the world of social experience."



Richard G. Mitchell, Jr.
Oregon State University
Department of Sociology
Corvallis, OR 97331 U.S.A.
(541)752-0755; 737-5377
mitchelr_at_ucs.orst.edu
-- 
Richard G. Mitchell, Jr.
Oregon State University
Department of Sociology
Corvallis, OR 97331 U.S.A.
(541)752-0755; 737-5377
mitchelr_at_ucs.orst.edu
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************