MetaChat - To those of you who find yourselves absorbed in things

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10 July 2011

To those of you who find yourselves absorbed in things enough to lose track of time, would you say you were happy, contented or excited at the time, or beyond emotion? I am wonder about time, flow and absorption among other things.→[More:] Doing POINTS made me think of a million questions I want to ask you, some learned from POINTS answers. How regular an experience is being totally absorbed in a thing?

post by: ethylene at: 14:16 | 11 comments

Typically when I get wrapped up in something, it's beyond emotion. I don't really feel much of anything (unless it happens when I'm reading, and then I get into the characters/setting). It's fairly regular for me, but I can usually only get it when I'm NOT on a computer. (I've had it happen to me only twice on a computer.)

posted by sperose 10 July | 14:56

When I get into something, I'm in really tight. I have to force myself to take breaks and live a little life.

posted by Ardiril 10 July | 15:01

I guess I would say that I faintly feel contented at the time.

posted by halonine 10 July | 16:35

Beyond emotion. I'm just so into whatever it is that nothing registers except what I'm doing. Even things like going to the bathroom or eating and drinking don't register until all of a sudden I'm painfully aware I have to do something about one or all of them.

posted by deborah 10 July | 17:00

It's like when you're involved in a movie. The emotions correspond to the story.

posted by Obscure Reference 10 July | 18:03

It's a form of synaesthesia for me. My mind gets completely submerged into the thing in question. It has a tangible intensity, like being completely submerged in water. My reality is altered.

This is why I'm a workaholic. It's like a really awesome drug.

posted by mykescipark 10 July | 23:09

(Hey, "completely submerged" twice. Way to color the story.)

posted by mykescipark 10 July | 23:10

I would vote for "beyond emotion." It's like time has stopped and I'm doing my thing. For me, there's a sense of connection, but not any overwhelming emotional response.

One of my counseling psychology professors recommended Flow as one of the seminal works on this sort of thing. Might be worth checking out, if you haven't already.

posted by occhiblu 10 July | 23:30

Happens to me all the time at work (I'm a software engineer). Some call it being in the zone. I call it 'code blur'. The rest of the world and the passage of time disappears. For me, it lasts from 2-4 hours. It's mentally satisfying when it's all done, but there is little emotion attached to it in the moment.

posted by plinth 11 July | 09:27

Whenever I'm completely involved in something there is likely a smile on my face. Stopping the activity happens only when hunger or tired-mistakes or physical discomfort become undeniable.
Being in the zone is such a wonderful way to tune out all the problems in the world.

posted by mightshould 11 July | 17:14

It is pleasurable, but no particular emotion attaches except a kind of very engaged interest.

posted by bearwife 12 July | 01:23

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