Feeling "Blank"

[Orange]

Hey, just would like to read peoples comments about the feeling of blankness. I am always in this. I don't get as much as i know i could out of anything. Like i always remember how great christmas used to be when i was really young i used to pick up on the emotion of the time. I wouldnt say its becuase i now know more, i understand things like chrismas are devalued when your older because you see things wrong with it. But im talking about a genral feeling that anything I do nomatter how much im enjoying doing somthing theres still an overall feeling of blankness to it. I can still feel forfilled by things and happy but.. just not like im there with what is going on, its more like im watching myself in my body but im not me, its like im looking at everything through frosted glass.Billy Corgan The singing of the Smashing pumpkins discribed this in an interview that he always felt the same way and one day while playing for some reason it was like a cloth wipeing his eyes and everything was much clearer, and everybody in his croud was more real.
yeah, I have learned to live with this and it doesnt bother me as much. But i would love to have what happend to billy corgan.
I would like to hear about other peoples experiances like this.... If you felt this way and then it suddenly all came back to you?
Thanks.
Gary.

[Jarrod]

Start watching your thoughts and feelings as well as the outside world and you will discover something beyond blankness.

Stop for a moment and look at the table next to you, or a nearby ornament. Then quickly look away and look back at it. Can you see all the finer details now? The texture, the way light reflects of it, the curvatures, the variation of colour.

Generally when we look at the world we mostly just gloss over, not really seeing anything. When we start really seeing things in their glorious detail we find the world is not as dull as we once thought. When we didn't pay attention.

The first point I made is more important.

[lasti]

That's it. Don't become your thoughts, they separate you from your real self and let you feel this "blankness".
Get behind the thoughts: Watch them without commenting them and let go of resistance to the present moment. Be completely present.

[Angela]

Well, there are a couple of ways you can be "blank." (more than a couple, of course!)

One way, I think the Billy Corrigan way, is to recognize the newness in each moment, to be fully present, free of prejudices about how the moment *should* be and open to and accepting of what is in front of you. Anything can happen in that moment -- you are free.

Another way is to be so busy making meaning about everything, like what christmas *should* be like, how people *should* be, how you *should* be or do or have or experience something or other. When Reality and Should collide, you just go "blank" -- but it's not the blankness of infinite possibility, it's the blankness of overwhelm, resignation, and apathy. "I have learned to live with this and it doesn't bother me as much." Another word for it is "shut down." The only thing there is more of the same -- no freedom.

The good news is: you get to choose in each new moment. Now, and now, and now. Even if you choose not to make a conscious choice, you are still making a choice.

[Orange]

Originally Posted by Angela

Well, there are a couple of ways you can be "blank." (more than a couple, of course!)

One way, I think the Billy Corrigan way, is to recognize the newness in each moment, to be fully present, free of prejudices about how the moment *should* be and open to and accepting of what is in front of you. Anything can happen in that moment -- you are free.

Another way is to be so busy making meaning about everything, like what christmas *should* be like, how people *should* be, how you *should* be or do or have or experience something or other. When Reality and Should collide, you just go "blank" -- but it's not the blankness of infinite possibility, it's the blankness of overwhelm, resignation, and apathy. "I have learned to live with this and it doesn't bother me as much." Another word for it is "shut down." The only there is more of the same -- no freedom.

The good news is: you get to choose in each new moment. Now, and now, and now. Even if you choose not to make a conscious choice, you are still making a choice.

thanks very helpfull

[Nicketas]

Originally Posted by Orange

Hey, just would like to read peoples comments about the feeling of blankness. I am always in this. I don't get as much as i know i could out of anything. Like i always remember how great christmas used to be when i was really young i used to pick up on the emotion of the time. I wouldnt say its becuase i now know more, i understand things like chrismas are devalued when your older because you see things wrong with it. But im talking about a genral feeling that anything I do nomatter how much im enjoying doing somthing theres still an overall feeling of blankness to it. I can still feel forfilled by things and happy but.. just not like im there with what is going on, its more like im watching myself in my body but im not me, its like im looking at everything through frosted glass.Billy Corgan The singing of the Smashing pumpkins discribed this in an interview that he always felt the same way and one day while playing for some reason it was like a cloth wipeing his eyes and everything was much clearer, and everybody in his croud was more real.
yeah, I have learned to live with this and it doesnt bother me as much. But i would love to have what happend to billy corgan.
I would like to hear about other peoples experiances like this.... If you felt this way and then it suddenly all came back to you?
Thanks.
Gary.

Make a decision.

Get out of your chair and go do something exciting, fun, and random.

Don't complain about light switches, do not ponder how or why they work; just enjoy the light.

[jude]

I know exactly what you are talking about. It happens to me regulary. I agree with what the others have said. Think about what your feeling and what you would like to do at that moment, then go and do something,that you enjoy.My problems of blankness arrive often ,when i am asked a specific question, it is'nt that inside my head i dont know the answer,I seem to panic about the best way to relay the answer. Perhaps it is a fear of not being intelligent.

[audioartist]

hi orange

i know exactly how you feel...

you stop seeing or hearing the world anymore the way it really is, as an earlier poster said, you just gloss over it, put a mental label on it and ignore it

everything becomes a constant stream of words and mental chatter in your head, you need to try and stop this

im working on it myself

read eckhart tolle's "the power of now" i hope it can help you!

[Andrew Brunelle]

Ever since I had a brain tumor when I was 16, I feel the same way. Everything feels so far away. Nothing seems real, so therefore, I never get what I want out of what I expect to. It's not easy to live like this because it makes it hard to choose what to do on an emotional level. It's been really hard for me to overcome this, and it is a work in progress. From time to time, I have that empty feeling, like nothing. As you describe it, blankness. Almost like being in a fog. I've been to doctors and they all say there is nothing they can do.

The good news is that for me it is not always there. Some days it is worse than others. I understand to some extent how you feel (or don't feel). Good luck in feeling better. Think positive and even if you don't feel you're getting all you can out of life, you can work towards it.