Fandom and Flow
Dec. 6th, 2018 05:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inanhourofdreamingSo I have been thinking about fandom and why we do fandom and what we get out of it. I also just finished reading Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book about human happiness, and the specific states of mind that bring people the most lasting and most satisfying kind of happiness. And so why not write a little about it and how it plays into fandom on my first legit Dreamwidth post? (Hello, longform, my old friend…)
So, here’s the basic principle: people, according to MC, are most happy with themselves, who they are, and their general state of mind, at or after the point at which they have succeeded at something they have focused on intently, often to the point where they hyper-focus or reach a state of disconnect with the world outside of the activity they are completing. And, for a variety of reasons, people actually end up in this state most often in a work setting – mostly because the average person does not spend much of their free time challenging themselves like they do at work. They zone out watching tv, or do some other mindless activity. Which, I mean…fine, yeah? We all want to loaf sometimes.
BUT. People who are super into their hobbies (say you play an instrument, or you love to rock climb, or you know…whatever) reach this flow state during that time, as well. Basically, they find the place between challenge and their own abilities, and then they rise to meet it. The joy comes, functionally, from figuring out what you can do, pushing yourself, and becoming better. Then you just keep doing that, again and again. And it’s important that the challenge is actually in reach – you won’t hit a flow point by, say, having Serena Williams kick the crap out of you at tennis the first time you ever pick up a racket, or by expecting your first time writing a story to come out like your favorite author. The challenge must match your ability to meet it.
Flow also comes from having these moments of challenge with other people. For instance, have you ever had one of those conversations where everyone is pushing through a discussion or experience together, with a similar level of aptitude and interest? Or a really great back and forth debate where you were both on your game? That would be flow, as it takes place in person-to-person interaction.
Then there’s a sort of final component, which is that the approach to flow activities is one of growth – you push, you learn, you get better, and you end up with a piece of work, or an ability, that makes you feel like a badass. There has to be a measurable goal. You approach challenge as opportunity (even in adverse situations, because the meeting the challenge is still compelling). So then you just keep going, and find the next mountain to climb.
Which brings me back to fandom, and being a part of fandom, and what that brings to our lives. Maybe this is sort of a formal answer to the “why do this if you don’t get paid?” (That’s a stupid question, fuck that question, but here is the answer). Being a part of fandom, and especially a creator in fandom, is a PRIME flow experience. I’m going to use fic here, bc that’s what I know, but I can imagine there are other ways this works.
One: writing is HARD. Like, it’s really fucking hard. It’s also fun, and meaningful, and something you improve at constantly when you write. Writing fic is also a measurable activity, with measurable successes. You work on it, you edit it, you put it up on A03, and boom: you have a finished product. You enjoy both the process AND the result. And other people do, too. Even at the beginning, you get a fair amount of positive feedback. And so you keep doing it. And you keep getting better. And it may sometimes not be enjoyable in that exact moment where you cannot fucking figure out that one sentence or plot point, but once you’re finished, you are THERE.
There’s no end to the challenges you set, or the ways you meet them, because stories keep happening. And you get better at writing them the more you do it. But it also doesn’t get easier to write them. Some things may, sure, but ultimately, it’s always a challenge. But fandom ALSO pings into the prime flow experience you get with people. It’s an activity, shared, and from which you can find people at the same level as you are, who are passionate about the same things, and then you get to make things together and ideally, in the process, improve together. Your friends who beta your work? That person who Britpicked your fic? They made you better. You learned from them.
Fandom is an awesome, dynamic community. People bring things in, create things together. You don’t just watch tv, you take the characters and the stories and the settings and you move them around and reorganize them and create new, entirely different things from the pieces. You take a passive pastime and you make it a flow activity. It brings you genuine joy, and challenge, and friendship.
So I guess my point is: creating things in fandom is the best, but it can also genuinely make you happy in a longterm and fulfilling way. Don’t feel guilty, or whatever that you’re wasting your time, or whatever other nonsense people share. If the point of everything is to work hard, to get better, to consistently push yourself into analyzing and creating and enjoying a thing? Well, I’d say we’ve got it.
So, here’s the basic principle: people, according to MC, are most happy with themselves, who they are, and their general state of mind, at or after the point at which they have succeeded at something they have focused on intently, often to the point where they hyper-focus or reach a state of disconnect with the world outside of the activity they are completing. And, for a variety of reasons, people actually end up in this state most often in a work setting – mostly because the average person does not spend much of their free time challenging themselves like they do at work. They zone out watching tv, or do some other mindless activity. Which, I mean…fine, yeah? We all want to loaf sometimes.
BUT. People who are super into their hobbies (say you play an instrument, or you love to rock climb, or you know…whatever) reach this flow state during that time, as well. Basically, they find the place between challenge and their own abilities, and then they rise to meet it. The joy comes, functionally, from figuring out what you can do, pushing yourself, and becoming better. Then you just keep doing that, again and again. And it’s important that the challenge is actually in reach – you won’t hit a flow point by, say, having Serena Williams kick the crap out of you at tennis the first time you ever pick up a racket, or by expecting your first time writing a story to come out like your favorite author. The challenge must match your ability to meet it.
Flow also comes from having these moments of challenge with other people. For instance, have you ever had one of those conversations where everyone is pushing through a discussion or experience together, with a similar level of aptitude and interest? Or a really great back and forth debate where you were both on your game? That would be flow, as it takes place in person-to-person interaction.
Then there’s a sort of final component, which is that the approach to flow activities is one of growth – you push, you learn, you get better, and you end up with a piece of work, or an ability, that makes you feel like a badass. There has to be a measurable goal. You approach challenge as opportunity (even in adverse situations, because the meeting the challenge is still compelling). So then you just keep going, and find the next mountain to climb.
Which brings me back to fandom, and being a part of fandom, and what that brings to our lives. Maybe this is sort of a formal answer to the “why do this if you don’t get paid?” (That’s a stupid question, fuck that question, but here is the answer). Being a part of fandom, and especially a creator in fandom, is a PRIME flow experience. I’m going to use fic here, bc that’s what I know, but I can imagine there are other ways this works.
One: writing is HARD. Like, it’s really fucking hard. It’s also fun, and meaningful, and something you improve at constantly when you write. Writing fic is also a measurable activity, with measurable successes. You work on it, you edit it, you put it up on A03, and boom: you have a finished product. You enjoy both the process AND the result. And other people do, too. Even at the beginning, you get a fair amount of positive feedback. And so you keep doing it. And you keep getting better. And it may sometimes not be enjoyable in that exact moment where you cannot fucking figure out that one sentence or plot point, but once you’re finished, you are THERE.
There’s no end to the challenges you set, or the ways you meet them, because stories keep happening. And you get better at writing them the more you do it. But it also doesn’t get easier to write them. Some things may, sure, but ultimately, it’s always a challenge. But fandom ALSO pings into the prime flow experience you get with people. It’s an activity, shared, and from which you can find people at the same level as you are, who are passionate about the same things, and then you get to make things together and ideally, in the process, improve together. Your friends who beta your work? That person who Britpicked your fic? They made you better. You learned from them.
Fandom is an awesome, dynamic community. People bring things in, create things together. You don’t just watch tv, you take the characters and the stories and the settings and you move them around and reorganize them and create new, entirely different things from the pieces. You take a passive pastime and you make it a flow activity. It brings you genuine joy, and challenge, and friendship.
So I guess my point is: creating things in fandom is the best, but it can also genuinely make you happy in a longterm and fulfilling way. Don’t feel guilty, or whatever that you’re wasting your time, or whatever other nonsense people share. If the point of everything is to work hard, to get better, to consistently push yourself into analyzing and creating and enjoying a thing? Well, I’d say we’ve got it.
