通往幸福的“左道”

The Side Road to appiness —Boosting Mood with a Little Creativity

很喜歡這么一句話：“Happiness is not a destination， but the process itself.”很多人一直在尋找幸福，殊不知自己早已處在幸福之中。好幾個月來，Rico的心情隨著地震災(zāi)區(qū)和連月的暴雨而起起伏伏，感覺特別壓抑。你是否也想找到某些捷徑，讓心情明亮起來？雖然下文看似為上班族而作，但快樂的道理是相通的哦！現(xiàn)在就讓腦子動起來吧，發(fā)揮創(chuàng)意會是很好的找樂方式！

You may wonder why it’s so important to loosenyour creative¹⁾juices， but diving into innovative pursuitscan be your ticket to a healthier， more joyful life.When a painter paints， for example， he becomes utterly²⁾immersed in what he is doing. This focused ³⁾engagementtakes deep involvement where time seems to moveeffortlessly. The fulfillment that provides is at theheart of happiness. Forget money and⁴⁾worldly possessions.They’re not even close. Instead， ⁵⁾plungingyourself in work， a hobby， or craft will get you to thebliss you’re looking for.

Go With the Flow

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ⁶⁾conferred thelabel “flow，” on the mental state in which you are fullyengaged in creativity. In his research on happiness andwell-being， he learned that people can become so absorbedthat they feel they are outside of time. Other researchershave found that the passion of such pursuitscan keep you physically healthy and out of the doctor’soffice.

Up to the Challenge?

Psychiatrist Gregory Berns of Emory Universitytakes the idea of engagement even further. He hasfound that experiencing discomfort is necessary toget you to contentment， arguing that satisfaction isto some extent generated by the ⁷⁾stress hormonecortisol’s effects on the ⁸⁾dopamine system. That’swhy some people ⁹⁾derive joy from extremechallenges. Think about the marathon runner who¹⁰⁾slogs through 26 miles of pain and suffering or thecrossword puzzler who gets that same feeling wheneverything falls in place in “Aha!” clarity.

I’m Not That Creative

Yet， you wonder， isn’t creativity reserved for thelikes of artists， writers， and inventors? Not so fast. Weall know that kindergarteners are bundles of creativeenergy. But all of us were once in kindergarten， weren’t we? So where does this early innovation go? The truthis: we are all creative， but somewhere along the wayit was beaten out of us. Finding your passion is the key;think about what moves your motor and start small.But whatever you do， start somewhere.

Creative Thinking in Suits

Granted， you may not play the ¹¹⁾cello likeYo-Yo Ma or paint like Picasso， but creative thinkingcan be deployed in any profession. Take sales andmarketing: each new sale requires a differentapproach. “If that doesn’t work， I’ll try this....”Many companies know a good thing when it sees it.Companies like Microsoft and Toyota are using theidea of flow to get the best out of their workers–with employee satisfaction and productivity in mind.

Got What It Takes?

To be creative you have to be passionate aboutwhat you are doing. This passion will lead you to amore joyful life. What helps? Creative people donot live by rules， they know how to do their ownthing. These people are also more open to experienceand fantasy; that’s why they are happy to takemore risks. And remember， genius does not require atortured spirit–Van Gogh is not the ¹²⁾epitome of thecreative soul.

Showing Up

Some times just showing up is all ittakes. Make a time and place for your pursuit，and your body will slip into the momentas soon as you allow it. If you follow a pattern，it will become somewhat automatic.You might even find yourself ¹³⁾pining for your¹⁴⁾easel when that time of day comes. Beyond that，stick with the program; nothing will happen if you quitin the thick of it.

Work Is Play

And play is work. Don’t worry about the endproduct， just ¹⁵⁾concentrate on the process. ¹⁶⁾Fussingover finished results will get you nowhere. And don’t¹⁷⁾fret over what other people might think. You’re doingthis for you， not for them. Think about the knitter whopulls apart a sweater just because she wants do it allover ahain. Sounds crazy，but it can be worth it.

你也許搞不懂為什么揮灑創(chuàng)意是如此重要。事實上，全心投入創(chuàng)造性的活動，你可以獲得一張?zhí)ど细咏】怠⒖鞓返娜松猛镜能嚻薄＿@就好比畫家在作畫時會全身心地沉浸其中。這種一心一意的狀態(tài)要求深度投入，此刻時間仿如過隙白駒，由此帶來的滿足感便是幸福的極至。忘掉金錢和物質(zhì)財產(chǎn)吧，這些與幸福根本沾不上邊。與此相反，把自己沉浸在工作、愛好或是一門手藝當(dāng)中，你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，那種非同一般的愉悅就在燈火闌珊處。

尋找心流

心理學(xué)家哈里·奇克森特米海伊把個人完全投入在創(chuàng)造活動上時的精神狀態(tài)稱為“心流”。在其關(guān)于幸福和健康的研究中，他發(fā)現(xiàn)人們會變得如此全神貫注，以致于感覺不到時間的流逝。其它研究則發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種活動所產(chǎn)生的熱情會讓你身體健康，遠(yuǎn)離疾病。

準(zhǔn)備好接受挑戰(zhàn)？

埃默里大學(xué)的精神病專家喬治·柏恩斯進一步研究了這種專心致志的狀態(tài)。他發(fā)現(xiàn)體驗不適是得到滿足的必經(jīng)之路。他認(rèn)為，在某種程度上，滿足感是在應(yīng)激激素皮質(zhì)醇作用于多巴胺系統(tǒng)的時候產(chǎn)生的。……