The PSYCHOLOGY Of AQUASCAPING

Let's get philosophical! We rarely post videos about the psychological drive, that motivates us to create magical things in life - such as planted aquariums. Here's a video for you, if you fancy taking a trip inside your mind! Share your thoughts on the meaning of life with us!

Similar style video - CREATIVITY: THE SOURCE OF AQUASCAPING IDEAS

BOOKS MENTIONED
Gábor Máté - In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi - Flow

0:00 INTRODUCTION
4:09 QUOTE FROM PETER POPPER
5:07 WHY DO WE ENJOY AQUASCAPING
6:31 LACK OF TIME
7:42 BOREDOM
8:37 3 PSYCHOLOGISTS
9:37 CONCEPT OF FLOW
12:41 THE 8 PRINCIPLES OF FLOW
13:52 1 - CLEAR GOAL
16:42 2 - INSTANT FEEDBACK
18:07 3 - COMPETENCE
20:14 4 - FOCUS
21:04 5 - IMMERSION
23:32 6 - CONTROL
24:39 7 - SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS
26:53 8 - TIME
30:19 THE PROBLEM WITH PLEASURE
32:44 SUMMARY

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CREW
Camera Operators: Csaba Viczian, Aron Tamasko
Post-Production: Peter Hajdu, Aron Tamasko
Social media: Viktor Lantos
Subtitles: Tamas Demeter
Graphics, editing, and color grading made in DaVinci Resolve Studio 17

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OUR FAVORITE TOOLS:

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MUSIC LICENSED THROUGH EPIDEMIC SOUND

TRACKS: "Duster" - [ocean jams], "Follow the Flow" - Oakwood Station, "Open Doors" - Colors of Illusion, "The Strays" - Line Neesgaard, "Early Hours" - Colors of Illusion, "Almost Sunday" - Colors of Illusion, "Getaway Spa" - Colors of Illusion, "Another Day Gone" - Damma Beatz, "Green Space" - Halcyon Lounge, "Testimony" - Jo Wandrini, "Progression" - Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen

#greenaqua #psychology #aquascaping

[GeorgeFarmerStudios]

Gabor Mate is a legend. Anyone with any trauma needs to read his work. All of it.

Start with why.

[DickyGreenleaf]

This is the best therapy session I ever had.

[Huipie]

Wow, amazing video. Thank you for this. I have never had tears in my eyes during a green aqua video before. As someone who has been living with an anxiety disorder for over 15 years (and thankfully recovering now) the aquarium hobby has played a large part in coping and recovering. This puts things into perspective. Thank you balasz! 🙏🏻

[DebBan]

This is by far the best video I've seen on an AQUASCAPING channel aside the facts that it doesn't contain any tank build, maintenance or fish stories.

Thank you *GREEN AQUA* for the mental uplifting.

[derspinne]

Again you nailed it !! This is one of the best videos ever about why we get lost in what we love, why we forgot the sense of time, and its because of "The Flow". And this was a humongous homage to the psychologists you made reference. Great Job !! 👍 Thank you so much.

[marypaigeflynn]

Thank you for this!! I was in the aquarium hobby 20 years ago. I didn't know anything about aquascaping back then, I was only interested in just Fish.. I didn't have this platform, or the friends that I've met here that share the love that I have found here for the actual hobby.
I ended up losing everything 20 years ago because of a terrible addiction to pain medications I was prescribed.. I had to fight for my life, I lost my freedom, everything I loved, and my home!! I absolutely let it destroy me. I'm going on 6 years in recovery myself 🙌♥️🙏 I remember the first time I watched your channel. It might sound cliche but it really did change my life. It opened my eyes to A whole New World of beauty... I never thought I could keep a planted tank.. I'm not a great aquascaper, but consider myself a student. One of the greatest joys I found over the past two years is being able to have a planted tank. Financially I've been building back my life little by little. I've been collecting things in hopes that one day I can create a beautiful aquascape!! One thing I've learned is to slow down and study!! And you have been one of the most wonderful teachers along with everything Green Aqua has brought to me 🙏🌿🐟💚
I got so caught up in YouTube though that I was having information overload 😅 as with everything, I became addicted trying to watch every single thing that everybody put out and I had to slow down.
If this video was meant to help one person, I'm the one person!!
The world's we create and the nature we bring into our homes... Seeing the fish and the inhabitants of our aquariums along with the beautiful plants.. it is Living art... But it's more than that.. it's a safe place... It's calm and beautiful ❤️ you see something new when you visit and just sit down and watch what's going on within or under water worlds ❤️
One thing for me is I had never shared my hobby with others.. I was always very isolated, I was a veterinary technician and a groomer by day and I raised horses and had aquariums.I have always loved animals and I felt like they were my only friends in the world ♥️ I was also an only child not spoiled by any means but I spent most of my days alone in my room growing up. Now I live way out in the country I don't even have neighbors except for the family I have around me. When I was young I had a grandfather that taught me about nature and taking care of of animals. I lost him when I was 16 and my life changed.
A little part of me died and I let it get to me. Now I'm 54 years old, three daughters, husband of 30 years, and 7 grandkids. The joy we share in keeping aquariums now is beyond words!!
The concept of Thank you for the eight points !! I just don't want to feel like time is running away, I found joy and happiness that before felt like a hole that I've always wanted to fill🙏
I know I always write long comments when I can. It was a way to bring myself out of that isolation that I've been stuck in for so many years.
Setting goals for myself, being mindful and not taking things for granted like I used to. Enjoy the process!!
Trial and error doesn't have to defeat me anymore, I learn and grow!!
Thank you for sharing this!! I truly enjoyed the video!! I hope you all have a blessed and beautiful day 🌿🐟🌿💚🙏

[JohnAbrahamsen]

You touch many reasons why I got into the hobby here Balasz. One of the best things I find about aquariums/aquascaping is that there is always something to do, when Im stressed, frustrated or something else I always find peace in the "work" in the aquatic world and come out refreshed and calm. I'm not talking about re-scaping, just simple maintenance. Trimming, scraping specs of algae. Never read these books, but I will read both of them. Thank you for making the video even if it doesn't give you a million views.

[BradJohnson]

I just got back into the aquarium hobby, having had a planted take back in the late 90's to early 2000's. I was instantly attracted to aquascaping and have two tanks now. This is one of my favorite videos. I can spend so much time just casually picking out duckweed, snipping the occasional bad leaf. Everything vanishes during these little moments of mindfulness. While I love creating beauty in my tanks and I love looking at them, it's these moments of total is immersion doing maintenance and building a new scape are what truly keep me anchored, both to this hobby and in life. Cheers!

[rosco]

What an outstanding video. I was sitting infront of the TV spellbinded, totally in flow listening the whole time. You are an amazing personality Balasz, thank you!

[midwestaquascaping]

I am a lifelong artist and I fully agree with you. I know what you are talking about. The best years of my life are spent in flow.

[SevereDesigns]

Honestly, clicked on this video because I knew it'd be interesting. Little did I know it be so relevant to my life at the moment, truly motivating. like a long lost uncle shearing life experience, or talking to an old friend. I saved this video to re-motivate me when I'm "not feeling it". Thank you Balasz.

[ChristosChristos]

Quote that helped my OCD/Anxiety: "Why think of the Past? It will cause sadness. Why think of the Future? It will cause worry and anxiety. Embrace the present moment!"

[AQUAddicted]

One of your best videos by far - period!
We both are in this hobby since our childhood days and we know the frustration that sometimes comes with it.
It seems like a hate-love whereas deeply within our motivation is not to complete something, but to grow constantly during the process and picture this hobby as a never-ending circle of rise and fall.
Nature teaches us that there's never a point of standing still. Beauty fades and everything has its time.
We both had deep crises and disappointments. In our job as well as in our personal lifes and as a person of integrity and vision you manage to grow on such experiences and defeats.
Aquaristics is a great hobby and a much better way to "waste ones time" than watching TV or play video games for instance.
Especially last years insanity has brought a lot of new people into fish keeping and aquascaping and now many more people experience the relaxation, the excitement and, as you said, that feeling of being able to control and influence that small and fragile little world inside a box of a glass.

Greetings from Germany - Kevin

[antonije]

Hands down, THE BEST video on this channel! Thank you so much for it!

[matthampton]

This video will be on my motivational videos for the morning. i'm always amazed how many of us got into this hobby after suffering addiction. thank you for the reading recommendations. Please don't worry about views when doing these videos instead focus on the fact you helped a few people. not with aquascaping but with life Thank you

[sydneysangels]

This is one of my favorite Green Aqua videos yet! As someone who struggled with alcoholism for 10 years, I can honestly say the last 19 months of my life have been sober ones and it is due largely to this beautiful hobby. I have finally started to find the inner peace I was always looking for in alcohol. You answered a lot of my questions on why I love this hobby as much as I do. Thank you for taking the time to create such an important video.

[nnp]

As predicted, from what I understand this is not the most popular video. But to me, the most important. The essence of what make things... important.

[Ankescapes]

Thank you, Balasz! Following your channel for a long time without commenting anything (because I don't like Internet comments), this video is more than worth my first comment. Thank you for not only giving me the possibility of evolving in my hobby from "yes, I very much like keeping fish in a nice looking aquarium" to "wow, I build not only my first, but also my second and third aquascape, and it's getting better every time. I'm so happy!", but also for waking my mind up today with things I knew, but negleted for a long time.

[Nezarus]

I find it odd that a video I skipped over a dozen times was actually so important. I've been unfocused and unhappy lately; slipping into negative thoughts you called entropy. A lot of the concepts here aren't new to me, but I must have forgotten them. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.

[adrianvelasco]

Currently working on my first iaplc work while studying for grad school. I do both because I love both and crave the flow state on a daily basis. Cannot wait for my tests to be over with so I can continue working on my hard scape. I am happy that I have joined the beautiful world of aquascaping thanks to the inspiration of you and the rest green aqua squad