“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
When your river has run in the backwaters for any length of time it is always going to be a new and daunting experience to flow into the mainstream. When you are shaped by the backwaters that footprint will always stay with you; your river will always carry the memory of the hill streams and places of calm. At times you will crave the sanctity of the rocky beds and shallow banks.
English: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Resized, renamed, and cropped version of File:Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Needs.svg. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I was interested to listen to a programme on Radio 4 today about Abraham Maslow, and his humanist approach to psychology. At the time he was a pioneer because he looked for those things which made people “better” human beings. Rather than attempting to deconstruct the human mind he strove to build a vision of how we can achieve all that we are capable of. Maslow was not a strict clinician, much of his work lacked empirical data, and he did not always see eye to eye with his researchers. However, he did take an approach which promoted the notion of meaning, activity and “paved the way for the well-being agenda,” which should make him required reading for all occupational therapists, especially when considered as a forerunner to Mihalyi Czikszenmihalyi (see below)
There has been a few pieces of traffic coming my way recently on the importance of empirical data, evidence based practice and the pitfalls of “doing it your way” simply because it seems right. However, perhaps there is room for both. Perhaps we need both empiricism and intuition to provide a well rounded approach to social health and well-being. I see no reason why the thinkers, poets, visionaries, boat rockers and apple cart upsetters should not have a role to play in the development of a profession. Of course, this cannot become the norm otherwise we would never get anywhere amid the chaos of a million egos all vying for an editorial of their own. But we should recognise that we need these spirits in any profession to question the status quo, to extend our thinking and (most importantly of all) to remind us that we are human.
As we flow from the backwaters to the mainstream we should celebrate the likes of Maslow and all those self actualisers who have kept their river flowing through deep waters and into the open sea. We should remember that, although we must strive to deliver excellence through evidence, we must also strive to deliver empathy, open mindedness and compassion.
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