Excerpt from Thrive: The Highly Sensitive Person and Career:

“Flow is a concept developed by psychologist Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi to encapsulate the experience we have when we are engaged in a task or project that causes us to stretch our abilities, to be fully engaged and aware in the moment as we pursue a challenging goal. The experience of flow can take place while performing any task whether it is work, performing, parenting, sports, or any other activity that fits the criteria of causing us to become fully absorbed in the moment in pursuit of that worthwhile goal. When we are in such states we lose all sense of self-consciousness, lose track of time, and push ourselves to grow. This capacity was likely evolved as a survival mechanism long ago when those individuals who learned to push themselves toward challenging goals achieved a survival advantage over those who did not. In short flow and the desire to be in a state of full engagement of our capacities is inherent in our species. For HSPs, the need to be in a state of flow seems to be even more imperative due to a temperament that is innately creative, curious, exploratory, deeply conscientious, and complex.”