THE CONDITIONS OF FLOW ■ 93mainly concerned with protecting their self, fall apart when the external
conditions turn threatening. The ensuing panic prevents them from
doing what they must do; their attention turns inward in an effort to
restore order in consciousness, and not enough remains to negotiate
outside reality.
Without interest in the world, a desire to be actively related to it,
a person becomes isolated into himself. Bertrand Russell, one of the
greatest philosophers of our century, described how he achieved per
sonal happiness: “Gradually I learned to be indifferent to myself and my
deficiencies; I came to center my attention increasingly upon external
objects: the state of the world, various branches of knowledge, individu
als for whom I felt affection.” There could be no better short description
of how to build for oneself an autotelic personality.
In part such a personality is a gift of biological inheritance and
early upbringing. Some people are born with a more focused and flexible
neurological endowment, or are fortunate to have had parents who
promoted unselfconscious individuality. But it is an ability open to
cultivation, a skill one can perfect through training and discipline. It is
now time to explore further the ways this can be done.