Lan Caiyou, Senior 1, Class 17, Bao’an Middle School

WeChat, TikTok, QQ …, every teenager, including myself, is surrounded by large amounts of new information every day. We are lucky to enjoy the convenience of having the world at our fingertips, in the form of a smart phone; but sometimes, we feel anxious and frustrated, for there is too much distraction from the things we really want.

Here enters “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience,” an enlightening book for me written by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Flow, as he defines it, is the state of total immersion while doing an activity. By focusing on what you are doing at the moment, you can forget about all your surroundings, which will in turn bring a feeling of peace, security and joy.

How can we experience flow?

One suggestion he gave is to find one thing that can truly interest us so that we can concentrate on it and are willing to take challenges from it. It can be a hobby, such as painting or playing a musical instrument.

Well, I can’t agree more. For me, l love painting. During the past semester, I would rush to the art room every afternoon when a whole day’s lessons ended and start painting. All the problems in my life would disappear the moment I entered that room. All I could feel was happiness.

Taking sport is another way for me to achieve the “flow” of mind. By playing badminton, I have better coordination of my muscles, which gives me the good feeling of having my body in control. I also like yoga, during which breathing helps me relax and concentrate on my body movements.

Then, Mihaly advised us to make full use of our senses to experience what we are doing.

Our senses can become very acute when we concentrate on them, as one experiment during a psychology class session proved to me. We were told to relax while some soothing music played, and then given a raisin to chew. It never occurred to me that one raisin could have such a rich taste!

While giving that point, the author stressed the importance of making full use of our senses but not getting indulged in seeking sensual stimulation.

Many of us take it for granted that happiness is the goal of life. On the contrary, happiness is a byproduct in our life’s journey. We feel happy at some unexpected moment, perhaps when doing something with a single idea in mind.

Some of you may secretly think: “I’ve been given enough portions of Chicken Soup for the Soul. I don’t want any more.”

But trust me, this is a serious book with good reasoning and approaches you can actually use. For me, it’s inspirational besides serving as a guide toward more happiness in life.