Page 38 - BB_Textbook

Identifying Main Points
Pair. Square. Share.
With a partner, then together with another pair of students, and then before the whole class, explain the three main points of this reading and recording.
1. ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 2. ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 3. ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
Self-Portrait
Now as a square, examine this self- portrait painted one night by a co-author of this text. She cupped a small mirror in one hand, and held a paint brush in the other. Eyeing her mirror, she began to paint. She was unmindful of her painting a self-portrait. She was “in the flow.”
Have you ever been so focused on a project that you were not fully conscious of doing it?
When these characteristics—
concentration, clear goals, and
commitment—are present, a person wants to feel like this again. Being “in the flow” explains why people are willing to do things “for no good reason” ... that is, with no interest in money or fame. Their only motivation is “experiencing flow,” which is reward enough.
Csikszentmihalyi says that people are motivated by two very different reasons. First, we often do things for external reasons. For example, you study English to pass
a test. You may not like studying English, but you want a good score to enter university. And so you do it. Or your parents each work 40 hours per week for a paycheck. Even if they hate their jobs, they want that paycheck to provide for you and your family.
Second, we also do things for internal reasons. In this case, you do what you do because you like what you do. It is “good” in itself. This is an inherent or intrinsic value.
When you learn only for external reasons, you will most likely forget as soon as you are no longer forced to remember something. But learning for internal (intrinsic or inherent) reasons means that you are possibly gaining something that will last a lifetime.
What’s Flow?
Listen. Reflect.
Listen to “Happiness and Flow” again, and explain in your own words what it means to be “in the flow.”
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38 CHAPTER 1 | IDENTITY
BENDING BAMBOO
VOCABULARY
brush characteristics conscious cupped external fame inherent internal intrinsic mirror motivation reward self-portrait unmindful