Fun, Flow, Juggling, Community, and CoLiberation

I'm about to wax theoretical. Consider this a warning.

You can blame the following theoretical waxiness on juggler, thinker, friend and New Gamester Todd Strong

Almost every presentation I give about fun involves Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of Flow. And I've been making these presentations for maybe thirty years. Cskiszentmihalyi defines 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." Sounds like fun, no?

Todd has apparently found a similarly powerful connection in the relationship between Juggling and Flow. He writes: "Many jugglers talk about the therapeutic, almost meditative state they experience while juggling. It is not uncommon for people keep three bean bags in their desk at work and take juggling breaks. After juggling, they notice they are refreshed and alert, better able to get the work done."

But what made me so especially interested in Todd's insights into juggling and flow was when I read the following. He writes: "While it is possible to enter into flow as a solitary experience, many people report that they attain flow more easily and frequently when they are in social settings...The camaraderie of being around other jugglers who are enjoying themselves may be enough stimulus to move someone from the boredom zone into the flow channel. At the same time, the enthusiasm and support of friends, family or co-workers may prevent someone else's anxiety from becoming too great to keep them out of the flow channel. Perhaps this is why juggling festivals have become so popular. It is easier to get into a flow state when juggling around other enthusiasts."

Todd is the only other person I know of to write about the social dimensions of flow. I first wrote about it (before I knew I was writing about flow) in my article about the Fun Community, where I describe a particularly pivotal experience - the one that led me to writing The Well-Played Game.

Excuse me while I quote myself:

"My good friend Bill was and is so much better of a player than I that there was actually no reason for us to try to play a 'real' game. Playing for points was clearly pointless. So, we decided to just see how long we could keep a volley going. It was a perfect challenge for each of us. For Bill, just getting the ball to hit my paddle was an exercise worthy of his years of longish mastery. After half the night of this, we managed to sustain an almost infinite volley. We actually lost count."

A few years ago, I started calling this experience "CoLiberation". I think this fun-flow, community-CoLiberation connection might prove to be a very powerful one. For Todd, it is one more reason that juggling is such a powerful, joy-producing experience. For me, it is the reason I invent, teach and play games.