Dear Future WISE Student

Besides what I learned as a direct result of research in my WISE project, I’ve learned a number of other things. The first thing is that procrastination never pays off. It’s something that I’ve actually learned time and time again, but after all, a WISE project is huge, and procrastinating on something like this means that the consequences are greatly magnified.

Another thing I’ve learned is that while I don’t always have the ability to produce what I want, but it doesn’t matter. This is something I learned recently. Hold high standards for yourself, but remember that whatever you’re doing is a learning process and that you’re still in your intermediate stages.

The biggest thing is something I’ve learned about myself. Actually, I was just thinking about this earlier today, but I’ve developed a huge desire to create. I find that I’m beginning to always feel guilty if I don’t work on something that I can show. On the other hand, I feel like any time spent drawing is never time wasted for me. It’s not just because I have an obligation to my class to work, but because I have an obligation to myself in order to grow. I hope others will feel the same way about their own separate passions.

In-class journal for April 5, 2011

I'm looking at a book excerpt called "Happiness Revisited".

Happiness, the author claims, doesn't come from pure self-indulgence or hedonism. Instead, it comes from "flow". Flow is an experience that results when one is so involved in what he/she is doing that he/she has no reason to stop or give up. I completely agree with this idea - nothing makes someone like me happier than accomplishing something difficult, or meeting a goal. Sure, I'd be glad to play video games and eat junk food all day, but after a short while I think the guilt of not doing anything overcomes any bit of happiness I might have felt before.

Flow is illustrated on a graph comparing skills and challenges. In a situation where one has "high" skills but is faced with "low" challenges, he/she experiences "boredom". In a situation where one has "low" skills but is expected to confront "high" challenges, he/she experiences "anxiety". But flow is different - it's when the skill level is roughly equal to the challenge level, forming a line with positive slope on the graph passing through the origin. (The graph is below.)

It seems logical, but my classmate Tomer has a slightly different model in mind. He believes that "flow" is achieved when the challenge level is above one's skill level, forming still a line with positive slope, but situated higher up on the graph. Not too much of a difference, but I agree with Tomer's interpretation.

Where am I on the flow chart? Skills I'd say a quarter of the way from the left, and challenges probably three-quarters the way up. Not really set in stone of course, because it's not like drawing a graphic novel with ease takes exactly three times more skill than what I have right now - but that would drop me on the "anxiety" side of the graph.

From this point, there are two ways to achieve flow. I can either decrease the challenge level or I can increase my skill level. I could try a little of both. But really, the best to do by far is to increase my skill level. Lowering the challenge is almost like giving up, which I'm all for not doing at the moment...

In-class journal for March 29, 2011

The highlight of the class period: a voice recording of Bryan Grazer talking about stepping out of one's comfort zone. It's interesting; nothing I haven't heard before, but he makes one very good point: being a film producer he could retire immediately and have enough money to fund a comfortable life, for the rest of his life. But is that really considered living? Sure, it'd be great to spend your life in your lavishly decorated, air-conditioned living room watching TV on a flat HD screen with surround sound but it'd be much more interesting, say, to travel across the country by foot, or to perform music on the street, or in Grazer's case - experimenting with surfing, a pastime usually left for a younger generation. I really admire the author for taking purposely taking a more difficult path in order to expose himself to life's full potential.