About activities that promote happiness: flow

In his seminal work, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Csíkszentmihályi outlines his theory that people are most happy when they are in a state of flow— a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. It is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter (Csikszentmihalyi,1990). The idea of flow is identical to the feeling of being in the zone or in the groove. The flow state is an optimal state of intrinsic motivation, where the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing. This is a feeling everyone has at times, characterized by a feeling of great absorption, engagement, fulfillment, and skill—and during which temporal concerns (time, food, ego-self, etc.) are typically ignored.
In an interview with Wired magazine, Csíkszentmihályi described flow as "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost."

To achieve a flow state, a balance must be struck between the challenge of the task and the skill of the performer. If the task is too easy or too difficult, flow cannot occur. Both skill level and challenge level must be matched and high; if skill and challenge are low and matched, then apathy results.

The flow state also implies a kind of focused attention, and indeed, it been noted that mindfulness, meditation, yoga, the Alexander Technique, and martial arts seem to improve a person's capacity for flow. Among other benefits, all of these activities train and improve attention.

In short, flow could be described as a state where attention, motivation, and the situation meet, resulting in a kind of productive harmony or feedback.

Martin Seligman: positive psychology

Dimanche a Bamako

Bamako es la capital de Mali y en lengua bambara significa "caimán de los pantanos". Se fundó a las orillas del río Níger en el siglo XVI y está comunicada por ferrocarril con Dakar (Senegal).

Esta foto de Bamako es cortesía de TripAdvisor

The help - criadas y señoras

Criadas y señoras es la traducción que se ha hecho en España del libro "The help" que narra las historias de las mujeres negras que trabajaban en las casas de los blancos en el sur de Estados Unidos en los años 60.
Eran los años de Kennedy, el principio del movimiento por los derechos civiles pero en el pequeño pueblo de Jackson las criadas no pueden usar el mismo cuarto de baño que sus señoras.
Una joven que acaba de volver de la universidad intenta escribir sobre la vida de las criadas negras pero tiene problemas para conseguir que confien en ella y superen el miedo a las consecuencias.
La historia parece ser que tuvo cierta base autobiografica ya que la escritora se enfrenta a la denuncia de una mujer que afirma ser la inspiradora de esta historia y que trabajó como criada en casa su hermano.
Las tres protagonistas del libro van narrando su historia en primera persona y enseguida te llevan a esos años tan convulsos y al ambiente de una ciudad pequeña llena de prejuicios y de intolerancia.

The book is about black maids living in Jackson, Miss., in the 1960s as the civil rights movement was taking shape.

Stockett said her "heart would be broken" if it was filmed anywhere but Mississippi.


The movie will star "Zombieland" actress Emma Stone and Viola Davis, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 2009 for "Doubt."

Bob Dylan. My back pages: antes era más viejo, soy más joven ahora. Bob Dylan

My Back Pages
Bob Dylan

Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin’ high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
“We’ll meet on edges, soon,” said I
Proud ’neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
“Rip down all hate,” I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull. I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

Girls’ faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, though, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

A self-ordained professor’s tongue
Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
“Equality,” I spoke the word
As if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

In a soldier’s stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I’d become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
My pathway led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

Copyright © 1964 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1992 by Special Rider Music
Esta canción se interpretó por primera vez en París, en 1978.
La he vuelto a escuchar en el teatro. En Agosto (Condado de Osage) de Tracy Letts, montado en Madrid por el Centro Dramático Nacional y dirigido por Gerardo Vera.

. Y trae de vuelta el espíritu de una generación y la opinión de los hijos y los nietos que viven un desencanto radical o una huída hacia adelante.

Promises by Eric Clapton - Agosto (Condado de Osage)

I don't care if you never come home
I don't mind if you just keep on rowin' away on a distant sea
Cus I don't love you and you don't love me

You cause a commotion when you come to town
You give 'em a smile and they melt
And your lovers and friends is all good and fine
But I don't like yours and you don't like mine

La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la

I don't care what you do at night
Oh, I don't care how you get you delites
We'll leave it alone and just let it be
I don't love you and you don't love me

I got a problem can you relate
I got a woman callin' love hate
We made a vow we'd always be friends
How could we know that promises end

I tried to love for years upon years
You refuse to take me for real
It's time you saw what I want you to see
I'd still love you if you'd just love me

No me importa si vuelves a casa
No me importa si remas en un mar lejano
porque no te quiero
y no me quieres

... te querría si me quisieras



Esta canción de Eric Clapton suena en varias ocasiones durante la obra de Tracy Letts, Agosto (Condado de Osage), y crea el tono emocional de toda la obra.

Una mujer (la genial Amparo Baró) se enfrenta a la enfermedad y a la muerte con rabia y amargura, intentando que su familia oiga la verdad que ha pasado toda su vida ocultando.

Toda la violencia verbal, el desgarramiento, la desesperación calllada de unos personajes que viven como pueden en un lugar remoto de Oklahoma recuerda mucho a otros autores del sur de Estados Unidos como Faulkner, Tenessee Williams o a los personajes de Eugene O´Neill, en los que se inspira.

Lo más personal de esta obra para mí ha sido su "banda sonora", Dylan, Eric Clapton... dan un toque emocional diferente a lo que se suele ver en el teatro. El montaje y los actores eran excelentes, claro...

Entrevista con Claudio Naranjo. El eneagrama y las pasiones

"Ocúpate del reino del corazón, y lo demás te llegará"




The Enneagram system

The Enneagram is a personality typing system that consists of nine different types. Everyone is considered to be one single type, although one can have traits belonging to other ones. While it's uncertain whether this type is genetically determined, many believe it is already in place at birth.

The nine types (or "enneatypes", "ennea" means "nine") are universally identified by the numbers 1 to 9. These numbers have a standard way of being placed around the Enneagram symbol. Enneagram authors have attached their own individual names to these numbers. On this site the type names by authors Riso and Hudson are used. They are:
Enneagram
1. The Reformer
2. The Helper
3. The Achiever
4. The Individualist
5. The Investigator
6. The Loyalist
7. The Enthusiast
8. The Challenger
9. The Peacemaker

People of a particular type have several characteristics in common, but they can be quite different nevertheless. It depends among other things on their level of mental health. Unhealthy (neurotic) people from a particular type can look quite different from healthy ones. Riso and Hudson distinguish 9 levels of mental health (see their book Personality Types) and have type descriptions for each level of each enneagram type.
Wings

Usually one has characteristics of one of the types that lie adjacent to one's own that are more prominent. This is called the wing. So someone who is a type 5, might have a 4 wing or a 6 wing. This may be abbreviated to "5w4" and "5w6". If one doesn't have a dominant wing, it is said that the wings are balanced.
De "www.eclectic energies.com"

Me gustaba más lo que decía Spinoza sobre las pasiones tristes y las alegres.

Kindness boomerang El boomerang de la amabilidad

Este vídeo ha sido creado por una organización llamada Life vest inside. En las últimas semanas ha sido reenviado por miles de personas. Lo he visto en varios blogs y es un mensaje optimista que no viene mal en estos momentos.
La música que se oye de fondo en este video se llama "One day" de Matysayu

sometimes I lay
under the moon
and thank God I'm breathing
then I pray
don't take me soon
cause I am here for a reason
sometimes in my tears I drown
but I never let it get me down
so when negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around
because
all my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we don't wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars
and our children will play
one day x6
it's not about
win or lose cause
we all lose
when they feed on the souls of the innocent
blood drenched pavement
keep on moving though the waters stay raging
in this maze you can lose your way (your way)
it might drive you crazy but don't let it faze you no way (no way)
sometimes in my tears I drown
but I never let it get me down
so when negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around
because
all my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we don't wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars
and our children will play
one day x6
one day this all will change
treat people the same
stop with the violence
down with the hate
one day we'll all be free
and proud to be
under the same sun
singing songs of freedom like
one day x4
all my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we don't wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars
and our children will play
one day x6