Flow Experience...and a reworked version.

This is why it's worth it to buy high-quality watercolor paper. This surface was scrubbed and scraped and dried it with a steam iron, and it held up. And now it's time to move on...

As I said to Andrea and Jean in the comments on the previous post, I seem to need to do a realistic version of a subject before I can start exploring more abstractly. But I also just like the act of painting; it's absorbing, challenging, and fun; the hours go by and I hardly notice them.

What do you like to do that's absorbing in that way? I read an article recently called "12 Things Happy People Do Differently" -- a rather annoying title, since we all do some of these things some of the time -- but most of what it said rang true. Engaging often in "Flow Experiences"-- those activities that really absorb us and take us out of ourselves and our small, worried minds --  was one of the twelve points. For me, art, music, cooking, and gardening can all be like that; skiing used to be too; writing is sometimes, but tends to feel more like work. What are yours?

Here's the list from the article. I'd add another one: "Don't try to change other people."

1. Express gratitude.
2. Cultivate optimism.
3. Avoid over-thinking and social comparison.
4. Practice acts of kindness.
5. Nurture social relationships.
6. Develop strategies for coping.
7. Learn to forgive.
8. Increase flow experiences.
9. Savor life's joys.
10. Commit to your goals.
11. Practice spirituality.
12. Take care of your body.

 

 

Comments

[Tom]

That must be some testimonial for your paper. You've probably told us, but what it, Arches, Bockingford or Saunders Waterford?

[Beth]

This one is Arches, cold-press, bought in sheets​. I think the surface is a bit different from the Arches paper in blocks. For hot-press, though, I like Fabriano​ a bit better. Thanks for asking!

[Roderick Robinson]

In recognition of your commenting problems elsewhere, please accept this as the electronic equivalent of a yeti track in the Himalayas.

I view the list with a somewhat jaundiced eye. "Practice" has many meanings but it would have been worth the compiler's while to have avoided the ambiguity in No. 4. Otherwise one imagines a whole slew of people who have been practised on (And there's another meaning; Shakespearean no less) while the compiler sought to perfect his/her acts of kindness.

And, if this list is directed towards happy people (wouldn't like to meet them en masse) what need have they for issuing forgiveness?

A mere yeti track, you understand.

[mike]

Practice is all we have Yets, until we achieve perfection. It makes me giddy to envision hordes of people who have been the victims of attempted kindness, and it's good to know that somewhere, hiding in the impenetrable wilderness, is a creature as argumentative as myself. :)

[Rachel Barenblat]

That's gorgeous, Beth.

[Beth]

My dear Yeti, I assure you that this is the first and only time you will see the phrase "practice random acts of kindness" on my blog. Having said that, if #4 were simply "Be kind," I too would not wince.

Mike, you're making me laugh. Thanks. (If you don't know Roderick's blog, hope you'll take a look.)

[Duchesse]

I found some of the imperatives in the list vague, so added "by..." after each sentence to see if I could describe with actual behaviour that would evoke that state. Often, if I perform the behaviour, the state is evoked.

[wklvfbplyl]

yukvpdbttboesbqbhft, yetvxrzkzs , [url=http://www.udbesfveuc.com/]mtauffaczw[/url], http://www.ogjynrjrju.com/ yetvxrzkzs