“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, 1990
Hungarian/American Psychologist
The great winter snow-pack of 2022-23 had long passed its “peak melt” by the second week of August 2023. Yet, it still had enough in reserve to keep the South Fork of the Merced River flowing forcefully toward the two big rocks that pinched the river into a narrower stream here near the outskirts of North Wawona.
The space between these oversized boulders marks the spot of two attractions on this part of the Merced. First, it provides one of the few opportunities to cross over the river by means of a bridge. Known as the Wawona Swinging Bridge, this rickety platform, made of cables, steel supports, and a wooden walkway, spans the river for about 40 feet. Calling it a “swinging” bridge may be somewhat of a misnomer, but it does share enough gentle bounce and sway to make it worthy of traversing.
I enjoyed this gentle sway and bounce as I stood in the middle of the bridge as other swimmers walked past me. Downstream I could see a view of one of Yosemite’s most popular summer swimming holes. Although potentially dangerous during the spring snowmelt, summertime visits produce an ideal setting to spend the day swimming in the refreshingly cold water and relaxing on the convenient flat rocks.
Looking upstream from the bridge, I viewed the second attraction of this portion of the Merced: one last whitewater whoosh of the river. The frothy rapids serve to dazzle any person willing to use some type of inflatable device sturdy enough to withstand the powerful flow of the river.
Being that I spent much time swimming here at the Swinging Bridge as a nine-year-old during my first summer in Yosemite, I took special note of the reactions of the two nine-year-old boys joining me and their parents on their first trip to Yosemite. I peered down at the two newcomers from the elevated bridge. Their loud laughter and animated actions from being tossed and turned by the unpredictable force of the rapids that whisked them down the smooth rocks convinced me that they would stay engaged in this activity for a while.
Making it back to the starting point, they positioned their inner tubes near the churning edge of the whitewater while repeatedly shouting, “Let’s do it again!” The river quickly swooshed them and their inner tubes downstream, bumping and spinning them over the short descent on the smooth rocks rapidly flowing with snow melt. Their inflated “vehicles” slowed just before reaching the Swinging Bridge where they exited the river while again shouting their anthem for the day, “Let’s do it again!”
Their words and actions reminded me of a toddler endlessly saying “again” in between giggles when encountering funny or playful behavior. Clearly, a toddler’s request for repeat performances serves a useful purpose for him/her. Not only does it begin to shape his/her sense of control and influence over the external world, but it also serves to assist in the development of social skills, language acquisition, and physical coordination.
Pamela Green, a Montessori consultant quoted on Verywellfamily.com, stated that a child feels “an urge to repeat certain activities or tasks over and over again [and] the child repeats until they are complete, and then moves on to what is next in their discovery."
Facets of repetition continue throughout a person’s lifetime not only for comfort and familiarity but also to promote learning. It becomes especially important when the pattern reemerges in school-age children, such as for the two preteens accompanying me to the Wawona Swinging Bridge. Their endless trips down the rapids “tutored” them in more ways than one.
Erik Erikson, the German-American psychoanalyst, proposed that this phase of life provides children a basis for ongoing learning and for developing a sense of competency about themselves. He calls this “stage” of development “Industry versus Inferiority.” It consists of the period between seven and eleven years of age and is one of eight stages of development he believes a child must move through successfully to develop an adequate sense of self.
During each of Erikson’s eight stages, children encounter a number of “psychosocial crises” which they must successfully resolve. Adequately coping with the challenges results in a healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues. These virtues act as a resource the child can then draw on to resolve subsequent crises.
Failure to find a measure of success can produce a sense of “inferiority,” minimizing the resources the child can rely on to resolve the subsequent psychosocial crises that come during the adolescent stage (Identity versus Confusion; ages 12 through 18). Although an adult can resolve these crises later in life, the earlier the resolution comes, the healthier the child develops.
Not surprisingly, this portion of the Merced River acted as a sufficient challenge for the nine-year-olds to engage in and to use and adapt their current skills. It also allowed them to learn new skills and find satisfaction in vying against the force and power of the river. The Merced served as the perfect tutor to bring successful internal rewards that provided them with a sense of competency. The predictable outcome included seeking out repeat performances and shouting, “Let’s do it again!”
So, repetition, even in play, acts to solidify positive social, emotional, and physical achievements for a child’s sense of competency. Children who find satisfaction in such accomplishments, build the foundation for later success.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced “Me high? Cheeks send me high!”), a Hungarian psychologist known for his contributions to positive psychology, calls the repetition of intensely focused work that provides sufficient challenge while meeting a person’s abilities the essence of a “happy” life. He refers to this state as being in the “flow.”
He says that “flow” is “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” Csikszentmihalyi adds, “since the [activity] is intrinsically rewarding, the more you practice it, the more you seek to replicate these experiences, which help lead to a fully engaged and happy life.”
As I watched the two nine-year-olds repeatedly going with the flow of the river, nothing else seemed to matter to them. The enjoyment they received floating repeatedly down the Merced’s rapids on their inner tubes surely put their minds in a state of “flow.”
Standing on the Wawona Swinging Bridge, I had no doubt why I came to be here. I too wished to “do it again,” to experience not only a repeat performance of going with the flow of the Merced River and gaining that sense of competency, but to once again benefit from the tutelage of being in Yosemite. I recognized that I still needed more practice in replicating an important part of my life when I felt fully engaged and happy; a part of my life when I enjoyed being in the “flow.”
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