The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery

“A typical day is full of anxiety and boredom,” writes Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, who is “the brains behind positive psychology,” according to Seligman. He credits Csíkszentmihályi with adding the concept of “flow” to the movement’s ideas.6 “Flow experiences provide the flashes of intense living against this dull background.” “Flow” is described by C

I realized, was that while it also fought against the passage of time—always clinging to its past—time itself has become the art form’s greatest asset. For secrets, too, can evolve, and the way we come to understand how deception is a part of us—and who we are, as a collective whole—can also become more clear and complete.

To write a story that works, that moves the reader, is difficult, and most of us can’t do it. Even among those who have done it, it mostly can’t be done. And it can’t be done from a position of total control, of flawless mastery, of simply having an intention and then knowingly executing it. There’s intuition involved, and stretching—trying things

“Wow,” Penn started. “I think we might be more impressed because we know what you did. A good friend of mine, Jerry Camaro, did the move that you did when you were dealing out the cards. And his move was so perfect, he would teach it to magicians, but they could never learn it, and the reason they could never learn it was because he spent fourteen