Out among the walking wounded...
Jan. 21st, 2003 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
j4I feel detached from my body.
I walked along the corridor at work and felt as if somebody else was walking with my legs. My brain knows that they're my legs, and that I'm walking, but the walkingness -- the consciousness-of-walking-as-associated-with-act-of-walking -- seems very far away from the consciousness that I perceive as myself. The only way I can describe it is to reiterate that it feels as though somebody else is acting my actions.
As I was making coffee earlier, I accidentally splashed hot water on the back of my hand. Instead of the instinctive avoid-pain reaction, all I got was a vague consciousness that I could feel something very hot, immediately followed by a thought along the lines of "That's interesting, I wonder what happens if I let that water stay on that hand?" (Nothing much. Hand stayed a bit red for a while.)
I sleep badly. I start waking up and for several seconds I'm conscious that I'm lying there asleep-but-waking-up; I can't see myself sleeping, but I can watch my dreams from the point of view of a waking person until finally awakeness overcomes me. My recurring anxiety dream about being late for work is, more and more, filled with references to itself. Last night I dreamt that I was supposed to be going back to work (having been off sick yesterday and Friday) and it got to 10:20am and I still hadn't got there, and in the dream I said to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sion_a "this is just like those anxiety dreams that I keep having about being late for work". I wake up so many times in the middle of the night that I start to wonder if I really am waking up all those times, or just dreaming it; because surely if I was waking up every time I'd be even more shattered than I already am.
When I'm awake I wonder if I'm actually dreaming. This kind of worry is very much like the kind of worry that I have in dreams. I want a t-shirt that says "This is just like a dream I had." Tonight I will probably dream about wearing such a thing.
This bodily dissociation seems to have been accompanied by confirmed sightings of my libido (thought missing), and even actual contact with it. The first time I typed that last sentence I started it with "Bizarrely," but then realised that it wasn't really all that bizarre at all. A lot of my most intense sexual experiences have made me feel as though I'm somehow outside my bodily self, and a lot of my fantasies involve at least some degree of objectification, the separation of my whole-person self from my actions (either those that I do or those that are done to me) -- if you see what I mean. So perhaps some low-level bit of my brain associates that feeling of dissociation with arousal.
To go off on a bit of a tangent, I found myself accidentally (ahem) reading the stories at http://www.femgeeks.net/infamy/stories.htm at work this morning. Must not read slash at work, even if it is computer-related ("Pirates of Silicon Valley" slash, so we're talking Bill Gates & Steve Jobs... hmmm.) Surprisingly, ah, interesting. I don't know why, but gay (male) pr0n -- provided it's well-written, which these ones definitely are -- seems to more consistently work for me than other orientations. Given that most slash seems to be written by women, though, I doubt if I'm all that unusual in this.
Anyway, enough wibbling. I want to leave the office before 6pm today, I really do. <sigh> Hopefully will be able to relax a bit at the pub tonight, at least.
I walked along the corridor at work and felt as if somebody else was walking with my legs. My brain knows that they're my legs, and that I'm walking, but the walkingness -- the consciousness-of-walking-as-associated-with-act-of-walking -- seems very far away from the consciousness that I perceive as myself. The only way I can describe it is to reiterate that it feels as though somebody else is acting my actions.
As I was making coffee earlier, I accidentally splashed hot water on the back of my hand. Instead of the instinctive avoid-pain reaction, all I got was a vague consciousness that I could feel something very hot, immediately followed by a thought along the lines of "That's interesting, I wonder what happens if I let that water stay on that hand?" (Nothing much. Hand stayed a bit red for a while.)
I sleep badly. I start waking up and for several seconds I'm conscious that I'm lying there asleep-but-waking-up; I can't see myself sleeping, but I can watch my dreams from the point of view of a waking person until finally awakeness overcomes me. My recurring anxiety dream about being late for work is, more and more, filled with references to itself. Last night I dreamt that I was supposed to be going back to work (having been off sick yesterday and Friday) and it got to 10:20am and I still hadn't got there, and in the dream I said to
sion_a "this is just like those anxiety dreams that I keep having about being late for work". I wake up so many times in the middle of the night that I start to wonder if I really am waking up all those times, or just dreaming it; because surely if I was waking up every time I'd be even more shattered than I already am. When I'm awake I wonder if I'm actually dreaming. This kind of worry is very much like the kind of worry that I have in dreams. I want a t-shirt that says "This is just like a dream I had." Tonight I will probably dream about wearing such a thing.
This bodily dissociation seems to have been accompanied by confirmed sightings of my libido (thought missing), and even actual contact with it. The first time I typed that last sentence I started it with "Bizarrely," but then realised that it wasn't really all that bizarre at all. A lot of my most intense sexual experiences have made me feel as though I'm somehow outside my bodily self, and a lot of my fantasies involve at least some degree of objectification, the separation of my whole-person self from my actions (either those that I do or those that are done to me) -- if you see what I mean. So perhaps some low-level bit of my brain associates that feeling of dissociation with arousal.
To go off on a bit of a tangent, I found myself accidentally (ahem) reading the stories at http://www.femgeeks.net/infamy/stories.htm at work this morning. Must not read slash at work, even if it is computer-related ("Pirates of Silicon Valley" slash, so we're talking Bill Gates & Steve Jobs... hmmm.) Surprisingly, ah, interesting. I don't know why, but gay (male) pr0n -- provided it's well-written, which these ones definitely are -- seems to more consistently work for me than other orientations. Given that most slash seems to be written by women, though, I doubt if I'm all that unusual in this.
Anyway, enough wibbling. I want to leave the office before 6pm today, I really do. <sigh> Hopefully will be able to relax a bit at the pub tonight, at least.
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no subject
Date: 2003-01-22 05:19 am (UTC)How bizarre! Sounds very unpleasant too.
Apparently one of my mother's elder relatives used to be able to get out-of-body eperiences in dreams; from time to time, Mum used to counsel me very strongly against trying to investigate such matters further.
Did you take her advice, JOOI? I've always been fascinated by out-of-body experiences, lucid dreams, stuff like that, but never really actively tried to achieve them. (Mostly because I'm always so tired and spaced-out anyway that screwing around with my sleep and/or consciousness seems like a bit of a bad idea...)
no subject
Date: 2003-01-22 07:26 pm (UTC)Scary the first time, triggered by an unpleasant argument with Mum at the age of 11-ish. It has only tended to come during illnesses since.
Did you take her advice, JOOI? I've always been fascinated by out-of-body experiences, lucid dreams, stuff like that, but never really actively tried to achieve them.
Too skeptical to believe there might be truth therein, I fear, or to make the serious efforts involved. I'm not even sure about hypnotism or neuro-linguistic programming and I think there's some fairly convincing scientific evidence behind their principles.
Certainly a very interesting topic, though.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-23 03:16 am (UTC)Ah, I kind of default to passive belief in everything.
Passive belief -- I think I need to explain this a bit better. I'm happy to believe that the weirdest things might be true. From the almost-credible stuff like hypnotism and reflexology to stuff like ghosts, and the healing power of crystals, and ley-lines, and all that jazz. But I don't act on that belief. On a day-to-day basis it makes no difference to me whether I believe it or not. To be honest, it makes very little practical difference to me whether it's true or not, let alone whether I believe it. Hence "passive belief", as opposed to "active belief", beliefs which change the way you live. (E.g. every day I act on the belief that there's some kind of point to life, even if it's a self-made point, because otherwise I'd just stay in bed, or curl up and wait to die.)
So I'm happy to passively believe (or, if you prefer, not actively disbelieve) in pretty much anything for which I have no conclusive proof either way. Whether I can be bothered to investigate it further or not is another matter. In general I don't have time to chase all the will-o'-the-wisps that might look like they're leading somewhere interesting. Sometimes I wish I had the time; mostly it's probably just as well that I don't, or I'd never get anything sensible/useful done! :)
no subject
Date: 2003-01-23 07:53 pm (UTC)I also have a vague feeling that there isn't very much difference between many/most/all of the fundamental beliefs of the monotheistic religions in the world, or at least in the general message of being excellent to one another. It's the honouring-the-deity traditions that vary.
Off for the weekend. Bye!
no subject
Date: 2003-01-24 02:33 am (UTC)Don't mind you asking at all. Basically, I'm prepared to believe that some, all, none or fewer of the religions in the world are "true". Religious traditions are a different matter -- I think they're essentially man-made, though it's possible that the men who made them were privy to inside knowledge of the divine.
That's a bit waffly and vague, isn't it. Hm. I'll think about it some more.
I have a vague recollection (fx: checks interests list for confirmation) that you were a practicing Christian while you were at Oxford and for all I know you may still be.
I was. I'm not now.
I'm honestly not sure what I believe any more. It's difficult to separate out my religious beliefs (such as they are) from my feelings about the Christian church, which are still strong enough (and bitter enough) to cloud my judgement a lot more than I'd like. Maybe when the mental scars have healed over a bit more I'll be in a position to think about it more clearly.
Basically the problem is that it's very hard to separate out a religion from its followers. I believe that there may be more there than just cultural, traditional, human phenomena; on the other hand, I suspect that these phenomena may be as strong in themselves as (we'd like to believe that) a deity should be. Maybe we're all merely worshipping ourselves, or aspects of ourselves. Maybe that isn't a bad thing.
I'm sorry this is such a handwavey response. It's a serious issue, and one that I do think about, and one that I need to think about more. (Whatever I do or don't believe at any one time, I always believe that it's important -- "Does God exist?" is a question that I can't answer, but "Does it matter?" is easy.)
Since I can't explain the logic, I'll let someone else describe the feelings better than I could:
"Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessed face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice
And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us"
(T. S. Eliot, Ash Wednesday (http://www.pmms.cam.ac.uk/~gjm11/poems/ashwed.html))