completed - flow: the psychology of optimal experience

the main word that pop in my head after reading the book is autotelic. from chapter 3 of the flow bool

the term autotelic derives from two Greek words, auto meaning self, and telos meaning goal. It refers to a self contained activity, one that is done not with the expectation of some future benefit, but simply because the doing itself is the reward

then it dawns on me about educational budgets. if money's tight, what's the first thing that gets chopped?  the arts. then the sciences, then the sports, then lunch

the arts have been trampled upon for so long that it's having an effect on the country. but it's these arts that are rich in providing the source for autotelic personalities.

music in general is made to be a flow activity, a ripe ground for people to discover or create intrinsic ordered systems to intrinsically fight psychic entropy. this is different from feeling bad (psychic entropy) then going out to buy new stuff to help reorder the mind. having intrinsically ordered minds help one keep sane during solitude, thus providing strength and autonomy.

so why is music and the arts being cut from the schools? oh right. too expensive and no direct ROI. feels like a sensate culture.

which brings me back to my thoughts on my purpose in life. I being an edifier wish to help people. I have skills in music performance and computer engineering. and a diletante/amateur in philosophy and psychology.

music + computers + psychology... this is starting to point to minnesota.

finished the book, and lots of information. in one way, it provided a beacon to draw flow activites from my past. I'll use the discoveries later to make choices. it's now time to determine what my life goal would be, because the meaning of life is meaning. we are to give our life any meaning we make it. 

also, think and grow rich and the flow book are basically the same thing.