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| Thread: On the topic of having fun! | |
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ohforfsake
Promising
Legendary Hero
Initiate
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posted May 09, 2011 11:30 PM |
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On the topic of having fun!
I have pondered this some time today. But how do you have fun? I don't mean what acitvities you do, but how do you chose?
You see for me, it's really my brain that makes the choice. I seriously don't know what I'm gonna do, before I'm doing it and it makes me laugh and I think it's great fun, and then I don't even look back upon it. At least most of the time. So, who, or what, am I? I mean, I don't even know how to have fun. If you asked me, I'd say something about spending time with people close to you, spending time with people whose company you enjoy, games, challenges, whatever you're the mood for. But really, I can't just say "do this" and then you'll have fun. Can you?
But it goes beyond this. Even as I type now I have no idea of what I am going to type, yet somehow my fingers seems to produce a meaningful sentence that's being building up in my head at the exact same pace as I type. I do pause for moments, but I don't really think and suddenly I can just get going again. Sure I have a template, i.e. some general idea of what I want to say. Which means I can at least check if the main point comes through, but each and every word I am writing to you right now, have never existed in my head before I began writing and they don't exist after I've finished writing them. Is it the same for you?
It does not only apply to here though. I like to write computer programs and guess what, it's exactly the same. I know what kind of functionality I want out. But I have no idea how to achieve this. If I just sit, but really not thinking about the problem, suddenly I can with my fingers start typing and something that is close to working will come out. It gets closer and closer the more I try and sometimes I hit a wall where I can't write anything. I try to sit back and think about the functionality of what I've written, but I've no clue what each part really does. Somehow, it all made sense while I wrote, but like each single word before this one, I have already forgotten it in my head. Heck I can't even remember the last sentence and I have only a general idea if the point I'm trying to make, that it applies to outside of HC as well, have been made or not.
Not that I don't re-read what I write occasionally, it can get very clustered the more layers I place and as such I do find myself rereading, but it does not mean I remember the corrected sentence. I have so far not reread anything in this post, yet I do feel like there's some sentence I've forgotten to close, I for once will try to not look it through. So is it the same for you? Are you really just a slave to the tool that is your brain, in stead of being able to make a consciouss thinking process that solves your problem? I can solve mathematical problems in my head, there I'm very consciouss about it, but for some reason, whenever I type, I think I do so more subconsciously. As such, it's really a nightmare when I have to build on old computer coding, since I have no idea what each part actually do! (No I don't comment )
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ohforfsake
Promising
Legendary Hero
Initiate
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posted May 09, 2011 11:48 PM |
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Elvin is actually reading this thread!
I'm honored!
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Adrius
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Stand and fight!
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posted May 09, 2011 11:54 PM |
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You asking if I think I'm a slave for my brain's functions or if I control them?
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted May 10, 2011 12:02 AM |
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Edited by Elvin at 00:03, 10 May 2011.
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That is pretty much the impression you are giving too, spot on. How come you made this in the vw? I could move it in the tavern if you like, would be more fitting there.
I have experienced what you say, sometimes things just don't sound that good as when you first conceived them. I never was much of a planner, even when they had us write an 700 word essay I never planned. I had a vague outline of what I wanted to cover and made things up as I went ahead, somehow always falling within the limits. Same goes with my posts, the idea is there, waiting to be sculptured into something tangible, cohesive, eloquent. But if you get caught up with creative writing you run the risk of straying from your initial intention. Sometimes it sounds like you are trying to find something elusive just outside your reach and anything you write feels hollow in comparison.
Now how is that about fun? You slipped from one thought into the other, a vague transition  What seems to connect both is that you have trouble.. accessing them. It's funny though, you can't just plan having fun just like planning a long post can end up a chore, it's supposed to be spontaneous. If you have your mind and heart open things just.. happen. Often enough I know I will have fun one way or another but have no plans whatsoever for the day, some of my most enjoyable days were simply put random
PS when writing I find it is a good idea to let your mind wander, wherever you are and as soon as you get something to keep notes. I like keeping notes on my cellphone even during a bus ride. Just let your mind be inspired by what is around you.
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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ohforfsake
Promising
Legendary Hero
Initiate
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posted May 10, 2011 09:39 AM |
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@Adrius
Basicly, it's a question of, do you have a clear way of how to cope with situations. How to solve tasks. Or do you just, simply rely on your brain to tell you what to do?
Like Elvin writes about essays:
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I never was much of a planner, even when they had us write an 700 word essay I never planned. I had a vague outline of what I wanted to cover and made things up as I went ahead, somehow always falling within the limits.
This is the same way it has been for me, throughout my life and I just realised how much I hate it! I feel so dependent! When I wrote essays, like Elvin I had a faint idea of some stuff that was gonna be in. Yet, the final product was through stuff happening in my brain, communicating with my fingers, stuff I at the time couldn't think up before I even began typing and still can't. It just happens. That was why I mentioned the computer program thing. It's so frustrating to sit for hours without getting anything done, all I feel I can do is tell my brain to get going, give me something. I never know if I leave to go to the toilet I'll get the most brilliant idea, which I'll have forgotten important parts of when I return.
I remember back in high school, with math assignments. I had no idea what they contained, I just knew I could solve them. When the tas presented itself, I knew right away, but only because my brain told me to. Had anyone asked me before, I wouldn't even know what method to apply.
Like Elvin I take notes. I don't use the cell though, because it's slow and there isn't too much room. Most of all, because I can't make drawings, a picture can say more than 9 words. I have this little notebook (not a computer ) in stead.
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How come you made this in the vw? I could move it in the tavern if you like, would be more fitting there.
Cause I was scared of the initial reaction! I've not been good at "feeling the mood of the crowd" lately. You're welcome to move it!
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Now how is that about fun? You slipped from one thought into the other, a vague transition What seems to connect both is that you have trouble.. accessing them.
Yes, the initial idea was about fun, but this came over me. It had been over me the entire day. I imagine having fun is only a small part of it, but it's one of those parts people accept they can't control. If I had reread it, I'd maybe see there was something odd in the text, but like I wrote, for once I wouldn't.
Yes, it's exactly the problem of, if not accessing, then controlling. If I just had some clear methods, a path I could always go and from which I could build more paths, so I was not dependent of my creativity. Somehow, I think I lack structure.
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PS when writing I find it is a good idea to let your mind wander, wherever you are and as soon as you get something to keep notes.
It's basicly the method I've been applying! I can tell about when I did my bachelor thesis. I had only two weeks left and I hadn't written anything. Then I began, and I just wrote. I reread many times, corrected many things of course, but I could always produce a lot of text. Which got better and better. But it was not a steady accelerating process one would expect from someone with structure.
No one day, I'd write little, the next a lot. I could sit for hours not being able to formulate a sentence. I could sit for half an hour and finish up most of the entire text.
Somehow, that scares me, it scares me a lot. There is a good side to it too though, it means somewhere deep within me, I have the ability for an amazing efficiency, but how do I get it out as I want? I imagine having methods you apply and reapply, you get better at and you improve. Paths you can take like this, depending on the subject. I wonder if anyone else have mastered this? Or are we all just slaves to what our brain can tell us?
When I have tried to make what I have thought to be a logical approach to the problem, I have always imagined that there exist some basic memory all understanding is build out from and understanding is increased through thought, until you derive methods which works like short cuts. Stuff you can activate at will. But in stead, it's really just my brain telling me what to do, I have no idea before the very moment I do it, most of the times. Heck I feel like a person trapped in another persons body at times!
In that sense it's maybe also a question of free will?
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ohforfsake
Promising
Legendary Hero
Initiate
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posted May 10, 2011 01:54 PM |
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Further thought. Do you begin solving a problem despite not needing if you need to solve it, taking advantage of your momentum, or do you first get an overview before solving, risking loosing said momentum, but on the other hand you know what parts are relevant and which parts aren't?
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted May 10, 2011 02:14 PM |
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I can have fun just laying in the grass, sleeping on a rock when it shines or sitting under a tree when it rains.
It's all personal.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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ohforfsake
Promising
Legendary Hero
Initiate
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posted May 10, 2011 02:20 PM |
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I actually really miss laying in a grassy field, just looking up at the sky. I could do that when I was young. If I do it now, I can feel it easily if I'm not perfectly comfortable. It's either too hot, too cold, not enough shadow, too much shadow, ground is too hard, there are too many insects, too much sound, too little sound, and I can't help it!
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MacMasterMC
Known Hero
Resurrected Loreweaver
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posted May 10, 2011 06:42 PM |
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Hey Ohfor, I have some things I have learned in my life that might help, and it might not.
You said "...I have the ability for an amazing efficiency, but how do I get it out as I want?"
The possibly scary reason (to some) is that you cannot do it logically, as bizarre as that sounds. Let me show you why.
In most cases in life, when you want to improve upon something, there is a specific and proscribed path to it, for example, to develop math skills like in what you were saying, a very large number of people have to train their minds to think like that by drilling and practicing using those techniques to solve equations and other functions. There is also a good deal smaller group that just has a knack, they learn the function, and off they go, using it like they were born to. Learning to deal with talents and and areas where you are not as skilled as you would like may seem like a silly thing, but I have learned there is a key there.
This is not to say, that for example if I couldn't play a violin worth anything, even if I spent half of everday for the rest of my life, that I couldn't develop even just a modicum of skill. This has to do with how we choose to deal with life, and it becomes a lot more than simply wanting to be able to harness our mind's abilities more effectively. I could write a novel about this and still not be able to truly begin to encompass this thought.
I can simply tell you how it began for me, and perhaps that insight will help you learn how to do so for yourself, at least that is my hope.
Our emotions have a great deal more to do with our mental ability than simply to not get out of the way. True logic will always fail us in the end if we do not take guidance from our feelings, though these too must be tempered, as only following feelings can take you places you would rather not be. It is a combination of working things out in your head logically, and figuring out how you feel. If in any degree you find you are not considering an emotion that is in itself not harmful, like you like to eat tapioca, or enjoy watching sunsets on bridges, sure, it may not seem important. But how can you tap into your brain's magnificent power, if you effectively shut part of it off?
Too likewise, if you follow your gut and don't think about how the outcomes may be positive or negative in your own circumstances and in those for whom you care, it's quite easy to see how your logical parts of your brain cease to function almost as rapidly as you follow your feelings without considering the consequences.
I know it may seem like I am talking about something quite impossible, but rather, it is simply taking a fair, not slanted either for or against, but as generally objective a view as you can on your thoughts and feelings, and as you gain a better perspective on those, you will see that attempting to understand HOW the brain performs is much less critical to being able to harness it effectively.
We have all been blessed with our brains, which even the most challenged and disabled of can do things that otherwise we think of as the most normal and boring things, and yet consider this.
We can eat cereal. I don't mean that we are able to, but that we can, and successfully, generally speaking, allow our brain to tell our bodies to get milk out of a fridge, get a bowl, pour cereal, add milk, get a spoon, and eat, all without accidentally throwing the milk across the room, knocking the bowl to the floor, or stabbing ourselves in the eye with the spoon. (This is not addressing those with difficulty in their muscle/motor skills controls, I don't even begin to attempt to cover that.)
Consider that feat. It is quite standard, many people do it everyday with not a single thought. But it is quite amazing. Part of tapping into the power of your brain and your feelings together must be a sincere recognition of the marvel that is life.
I do not claim in any way to have mastered this. These are only my thoughts on how to begin to recognize this path.
WARNING-If you follow these steps, your life may begin to appear differently, as you see the wonder in everday things, and begin to see life differently. I can only hope you would want to, but there is a price. No knowledge comes without responsibility. I would hope none would shy away from that, because freedom is worth so much more.
Gaining the ability to see something that you hadn't seen before can be a scary thing, but one of my favorite quotes of all time is this:
"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
You cannot spend your life worrying about failure. If you do not simply keep going, you will never see how successful you can be.
And now I end this post, and hope it has helped, even just a little.
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...a shimmer in the woods, with
an expectant feel to the air...
...a figure takes shape...
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