Being Alone With Your Possibilities

“The ultimate test for the ability to control the quality of experience is what a person does in solitude, with no external demands to give structure to attention,” wrote Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.

“It is relatively easy to become involved with a job, to enjoy the company of friends, to be entertained in a theater or at a concert. But what happens when we are left to our own devices? Alone, when the dark night of the soul descends, are we forced into frantic attempts to distract the mind from its coming? Or are we able to take on activities that are not only enjoyable, but make the self grow?

“To fill free time with activities that require concentration, that increase skills, that lead to the development of the self, is not the same as killing time by watching television or taking recreational drugs. Although both strategies might be seen as different ways to coping with the same threat of chaos, as defenses against ontological anxiety, the former leads to growth, while the latter merely serves to keep the mind from unraveling. 

“A person who rarely gets bored, who does not constantly need a favorable external environment to enjoy the moment, has passed the test for having achieved a creative life.”