| | | | | Good morning Optimists, and happy weekend! Sydney Page is off getting married this week, so I'll be filling in for her while she soaks up a little bit of newlywed bliss. Send us marriage advice if you have any to share, and we may use it for a story. Here at The Optimist, we spend a lot of time thinking about how to live a good life, and lately I've been thinking about flow, a concept in psychology that many researchers think is key to happiness. If you've ever lost track of time while swimming or playing the guitar, you've experienced flow — a state of complete absorption in an activity. This past week, I wrote about a group of self-proclaimed "old ladies" in Massachusetts who spend their summers diving in muddy ponds and lakes looking for trash. They call themselves OLAUG — Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage — and their mission is to clean up the fresh waters of Cape Cod. What surprised me — and OLAUG's founder, Susan Baur — is the joy they've found in it. One woman told me that it reminds her of being on a treasure hunt as a kid. Baur is a retired psychologist, and her theory for why the divers keep coming back for more is that they reach a state of flow in the water. "There's nothing like cold water, icky garbage and a little bit of danger to get you out of your head," Baur said. The cool thing about flow is that there are many ways to reach it. If you haven't found an activity that helps you experience flow just yet, associate professor Richard Huskey at the University of California at Davis had some advice: - First, choose something you already like to do. If you find cooking dinner stressful, you might not find flow in the kitchen. If you love kayaking or knitting or playing the guitar, start there.
- Make sure it's challenging. One key to finding flow is the "complete absorption" part. Researchers say there should be balance between the challenge and your skill to find flow. If it's too easy, you won't be immersed enough.
- Practice, practice. Huskey loves snowboarding and found flow easily on the mountain — but when he got injured, he had to figure out another way. He started doing yoga to rehab his knee, and, for a long time, it felt effortful and awkward. But with consistent practice, he felt something click.
I hope this story inspires you to find your flow. | | | |  | Feel-good recs | 🐱 My toddler has brought a whole new vocabulary to our household: "Wawa" means "water," a "meow-meow" is a cat. I recently learned that experts call this "familect." My colleague Caitlin Gibson wrote about this phenomenon, and the weird and wonderful words that spring from the minds of children. ✈️ Labor Day may have come and gone, but if you're already dreaming of your next vacation, my colleague Natalie B. Compton has some advice. She writes, "The best time to travel is when most people aren't." Read her recs for offseason travel here — and if you're planning to go abroad, maybe book that trip for the secret best week for international travel. 🎸 Oasis is back, and reading this Chris Richards review about their reunion tour is almost as delightful as seeing them live. He writes, "Turns out, singing 'Wonderwall' at the top of your lungs inside a football stadium crammed with hype and serotonin is to personally participate in the tying of cosmic loose ends." 🥑 And! Tesco is trialing avocado ripeness scanners! Avocado lovers out there: Do we love this or hate it?? | | | |  | In Your Own Words | Each week, we highlight a comment from our readers. This week, I loved this comment on my story about super agers. Kalia K said: "There are many articles by researchers with the factors that lead to a healthy, happy senior life: healthy diet, exercise, social contacts, mental challenges, good sleep, lower stress. They are right; it works. I was getting sick and spending my days in a chair, unable to walk. I re-formed my life style, and now I feel great. Yesterday, I worked out at the gym and then came home to shovel dirt all afternoon to top-dress the front yard. Boy, did I feel magnificent! Start with a healthy diet with fewer low-quality carbs and go from there." | | | | Go Kalia! | You've got to see this… Sydney has started a new video series for you guys. Here's the first one. We hope you like them!  | | | | | | |  | Best thing I saw this week | These videos of a toddler sitting down. I can't explain it, but I'm obsessed — and so are millions of others. My colleague Kyle Melnick wrote a story about why we can't get enough of this little kid. One last thing: If you daydream about winning the Powerball, don't! Michelle Singletary writes that a big infusion of money usually doesn't make people happier — and can come with its own problems. Have a story that you think would be a fit for The Optimist? We want to hear from you. Send us an email here. | | |
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