Dogwood Lane is such a pleasant walk. The flowering trees are beautiful. When I see the opening to a Cave, just down the hill from where the path turns, visions of cool subterranean beauty come to mind as the perfect complement to this trek in the sunshine that is starting to get a little bit warm. Someone has carved "Csikzentmihalyi" into the stone by the cave entrance.What does that mean? You go explore for a few minutes...
Ah, Stalactites, beautiful! As you gaze up, though, you feel a breeze, as though someone brushed by you. Your imagination? Then why did the candle flicker and what are the papers in your hand. Arghh... you are startled and drop the papers - should you pick them up? Is this a time when you should Flow with the activities around you?
Cave:
Stalactites
Flow activities are designed to make the optimal experience easier to achieve. These include activities such as chess, dancing, sailing, making music, and rock climbing. These activities include all four main traits outlined by McGonigal in one of my previous posts: goals, rules, feedback, and voluntary participation. The structure of flow activities enable participants to reach a highly enjoyable and ordered state of mind.
Games off the opportunity to go beyond the boundaries of ordinary experience in the areas of competition, chance, alternate conscience, and mimicry. Each of these areas of gaming provides the common factor of equipping the participants with a sense of discovery; they push the participants to new levels-sometimes to levels they didn't know they could reach (epic win). Some activities even help people balance boredom and anxiety.
In order for flow activities to combat boredom we must understand the four stages that people would go through as the play a flow game. The first stage would be in flow because the participant is learning how to do the rudiments of a new game. The second stage is boredom as the participant loses interest in the basics. The third stage is anxiety, when the participant meets someone that challenges the basic skills they have mastered. The fourth stage returns to flow as the participant challenges himself to be better at the game. This cycle continues and participants move up in the category of flow as they master more challenging skills.
Flow Channel's to Combat Boredom and Anxiety
Games off the opportunity to go beyond the boundaries of ordinary experience in the areas of competition, chance, alternate conscience, and mimicry. Each of these areas of gaming provides the common factor of equipping the participants with a sense of discovery; they push the participants to new levels-sometimes to levels they didn't know they could reach (epic win). Some activities even help people balance boredom and anxiety.
In order for flow activities to combat boredom we must understand the four stages that people would go through as the play a flow game. The first stage would be in flow because the participant is learning how to do the rudiments of a new game. The second stage is boredom as the participant loses interest in the basics. The third stage is anxiety, when the participant meets someone that challenges the basic skills they have mastered. The fourth stage returns to flow as the participant challenges himself to be better at the game. This cycle continues and participants move up in the category of flow as they master more challenging skills.
Flow Channel's to Combat Boredom and Anxiety
- Tennis
- Stage 1: Flow: Getting the ball over the net. Participants are in flow as they learn how to master the basic skill. It is thrilling to see how the ball reacts to how you hit it, based on force and speed.
- Stage 2: Boredom: Hitting the ball over the net becomes boring; there are only so many ways you can hit a ball.
- Stage 3: Anxiety: Participants meet someone that has mastered skills beyond their level. This motivates them to learn and master more skills.
- Bingo
- Stage 1: Flow: The excitement of hearing the numbers called and finding them on your sheet is thrilling. You enjoy seeking and marking in the effort to fill your sheet.
- Stage 2: Boredom: Beginning participants only have one bingo card, so they get bored as the caller shouts combinations they do not have on one sheet.
- Stage 3: Anxiety: Participants get anxious when they are only a few spaces away from BINGO when someone else shouts BINGO.
- Stage 4: Flow: They learn to master dobbing multiple bingo cards and the thrill waiting for the number to be called.
- Skydiving
- Stage 1: Flow: Participants are excited to learn about the adventure they are about to embark on.
- Stage 2: Boredom: Participants begin to snooze as they continue book work and safety instructions for the upcoming adventure.
- Stage 3: Anxiety: The thought of jumping out of a plane and plummeting to the Earth begins to sink in. Participants begin to realize the risk they are taking and my even second guess themselves.
- Stage 4: Flow: The day comes and they step up to the plate and jump out of the plane. They thrill of falling to the Earth gives them a huge adrenaline rush.
- Dance
- Stage 1: Flow: Learning a new skill brings a lot of excitement to the participants. They are overjoyed at the idea of learning a new step.
- Stage 2: Boredom: Practice makes perfect but it also gets boring. Doing the same steps over and over are tiring.
- Stage 3: Anxiety: A much more advanced dancer comes along and out dances participants. This makes them want to learn more advanced moves.
- Stage 4: Flow: Learning more advanced steps and choreographing them to a song brings a new sense of flow.
Nicely done!
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