I recently listened to a TED talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Me-high Cheek-sent-me-high) about his concept of Flow. He defines Flow as the state where one is so engaged that everything else, including bodily sensation, ceases to exist. In his theory, this state occurs when a person is both highly talented and highly challenged.
From this TED talk, I got an insight about myself, about why I had taken on a new challenge. The talk was recommended to me by a book coach who was explaining why first-time authors can get frustrated. First-time book writers are highly challenged. There is a lot involved in writing a book. But they are not yet highly skilled; they don’t have experience. They end up in the Anxiety zone. See a chart of the zones below.
In finding the perfect Flow zone, there are other zones that fall short. The two zones that come closest, and from which Flow is more easily attainable, are the Arousal zone and the Control zone. In the Arousal zone, talent is at a medium level and the challenge is high. Flow is attainable by increasing talent with practice and experience. In the Control zone, talent and experience are high, but the challenge is at a medium level.
In my prose-writing life, I am moving from Anxiety to Arousal (with the help of my coach). I know from my experience in writing poetry that Flow will come in time if I keep working at it. In my physician life, I intuited even before I saw this video, that I was in Control, but not in Flow, so I raised my challenge level.
I have a good index-card system that allows me to see twenty or more HIV patients in a day while not letting go of multiple details needed to provide good care. The feeling of being in Control is a good one, a satisfying one, but it’s not Flow. In C.M.’s TED Talk, he equates Flow with happiness, with meaning, with ecstasy.
Difficulty at the Beginning
Last week, I upped my challenge by beginning in the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Clinic. I had done some extra training by attending lectures both in-person and online. I already have experience in treating patients with substance use issues. What doctor doesn’t?
But my patients, the HIV and Hepatitis C patients, have those illnesses specifically because of substance use, so I have some insight into the damage that substance use can do. Yet, the challenge of being in a new clinic with new procedures, a new environment, and a new culture was overwhelming. I left feeling frazzled.
Had I been overconfident to think I could do this? No. I have started new things before. Just because it feels bad at first doesn’t mean it’s a mismatch between challenge and talent. Mostly it just takes time. My previous lives in both medicine and in writing have taught me the value of hanging in there.