A word that is something along the lines of...

December 8, 2014 2:47 PM

Looking for a word that means something like "a feeling of contentment while continuously striving for improvement." Any ideas?
posted by Cybria to Writing & Language (6 answers total)

I've seen the idea of "flow" described this way -- the sweet spot where the thing you are doing is challenging you just enough that you are improving your craft, but comfortable enough that you feel the pleasure of being in the moment with your work.
posted by Pwoink at 3:38 PM on December 8, 2014 [2 favorites]

This is the concept embodied by Hexagram 11, T'ai / Peace in the I Ching. I can't think of an English word for it, though.
posted by alms at 4:27 PM on December 8, 2014

The word that came to mind is 'Satisfice' but it's not an exact match since it is more closely associated with decision making ie 'That's good enough, let's move on'.
posted by TwoWordReview at 5:22 PM on December 8, 2014

The word that immediately comes to mind for me is conatus. Not sure that it fits the feeling of contentment element you mention but if contentment is a matter of "becoming oneself, only better" then...maybe.
posted by CincyBlues at 6:46 PM on December 8, 2014

Plateau might do it as there may imply a leveling off and then growth again. Plateau isn't really a feeling though.
posted by countrymod at 8:03 PM on December 8, 2014

Not a feeling, but kaizen is strongly associated with continuous improvement.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:01 AM on December 9, 2014 [1 favorite]