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That's why we should not be affected by them.pboy said:if you care what other people think of you, they partially own you
DarrylC24 said:That's why we should not be affected by them.pboy said:if you care what other people think of you, they partially own you
sm1693 said:Not sure about the mechanism, but there is something about poor health that causes you to turn to others for help (perhaps one of the functions of serotonin). I have seen it many times that when most persons are put in a very stressful situation, they have 2 choices: either physically remove themselves from the situation and people involved, or otherwise, accept change and take on a responsive attitude and "bend like water" to the will of those inflicting the stress.
It seems, in my experience, that most older people with health problems have taken the choice of removing themselves from everything and live in near total isolation.
I use this as a signal for my own health: if I feel very independent and that other people are fun but unnecessary, then I believe I am in peak health at that moment.
Aspekt said:I've been thinking about how this could evolve from just creative expression. It seems to me that there's a special potential in activities which are done for their own sake, which require single minded focus and often involve a flow state, and allow for a continuous feedback of micro adjustments such is that the energy state of the person is completely in sync with the activity. This seems to also give the mind a break from the heaviness of the self, I often lose myself completely while drawing which feels restorative in itself.
I'm curious what you guys think.
sm1693 said:Aspekt said:I've been thinking about how this could evolve from just creative expression. It seems to me that there's a special potential in activities which are done for their own sake, which require single minded focus and often involve a flow state, and allow for a continuous feedback of micro adjustments such is that the energy state of the person is completely in sync with the activity. This seems to also give the mind a break from the heaviness of the self, I often lose myself completely while drawing which feels restorative in itself.
I'm curious what you guys think.
This is what I used to believe, but no longer. 2 things made me change my view:
1. I used to be a pretty serious rock climber and therefore I knew a lot of rock climbers. The stereotype of climbers is that they are easy-going and carefree, but in my experience, I have found that this is not true with the climbers that climb often and stick with it over long periods of time. These long-term climbers (just a guess) are, like me, probably high in serotonin. Serotonin, of course, deadens the effects of the other positive hormones (T3, preg, dopa) and therefore, these climbers are almost forced by their physiology to keep engaging in this extreme activity that almost always guarantees a serious hormonal rush. The hormones will increase as the amount of danger the climber is in increases.
So, I would argue that these guys only have to engage in this "flow" activity because they are physiologically "broken." (of course, I don't mean to discount other benefits of the activity, like camaraderie, and exploration of beautiful places...)
2. My personal experience over the last 6 months says otherwise. I have been deeply immersed in the so-called "flow" while doing something as mundane as taking out the garbage. I have been unable to recreate this 24-7, but I now have no doubt that it's a realistic goal to shoot for.
Aspekt said:Where I'm at with the art making is almost like a workout, in the sense that I just need to do it for a while, say an hour or two, and then I can touch flow more easily regardless of what I'm doing. It seems to at this stage, have a higher potential to unblock me, provided I feed the beast for a while every day.
So I guess right now I see meditative flow and creative expression as complementary, and hopefully I can one day improve my thyroid enough that I can just flow without the need for an activity to facilitate it.