.st0{fill:#FFFFFF;}

Video: Flow, The Secret To Happiness 

 May 15, 2019

By  Deborah Lee Smith

Flow, The Secret to Happiness | Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

This video was originally recorded at a TED talk conference in 2004. In this video Mihaly discusses his pioneering research on achieving a state of flow.

From the TED website, Mihaly “has contributed pioneering work to our understanding of happiness, creativity, human fulfillment and the notion of “flow” — a state of heightened focus and immersion in activities such as art, play and work.”

“Now, “ecstasy” in Greek meant simply to stand to the side of something. And then it became essentially an analogy for a mental state where you feel that you are not doing your ordinary everyday routines. So ecstasy is essentially a stepping into an alternative reality. And it’s interesting, if you think about it, how, when we think about the civilizations that we look up to as having been pinnacles of human achievement — whether it’s China, Greece, the Hindu civilization, or the Mayas, or Egyptians — what we know about them is really about their ecstasies, not about their everyday life. We know the temples they built, where people could come to experience a different reality. We know about the circuses, the arenas, the theaters. These are the remains of civilizations and they are the places that people went to experience life in a more concentrated, more ordered form. “

-Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Deborah Lee Smith

Hi there! I'm an actor, producer, and writer who is devoted to storytelling and mental health awareness. After struggling through my own mental health, I found that non-traditional resources, like the ones we explore on More Than You See, helped me immensely get through my dark times. Thus, this website and podcast were born! I look forward to helping you gain agency over your mental health journey as you build your own toolkit of resources, tips, and ideas. Because you never know what might help pull you out of the darkness, and we are all More Than You See.   


Deborah Lee Smith

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}