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Being in the zone, whatever form it might take. To me, the zone is any situation that makes the baseline pain of being alive go away (there's too much to unpac
by dusted 4y ago
Being in the zone, whatever form it might take.
To me, the zone is any situation that makes the baseline pain of being alive go away (there's too much to unpack here, so I won't).
Things that can bring me in the zone:
* Riding my Honda CB750F, especially without a destination, just moving through the world in this raw, old-fashioned way liberates my mind and puts me at such ease.
* Coding something I like.. Again it's not entirely the destination that matters, it's the journey, the work itself that changes my focus from the mundane to the creative.
* Listening to great music while doing almost anything, including not doing anything.
* Watching a movie or tv show with my wife or a friend.
* Creating something, art or invention or utilitarian object, changing my environment to suit me.
* Unstructured time to myself with no immediate tasks that has to be done, so that I can entirely let go of any thought and just drift, having no plans whatsoever.. This is probably my favourite thing in the world, but also most difficult for me to achieve..
- spansoa 4y ago> Being in the zone > This is probably my favourite thing in the world, but also most difficult for me to achieve Came here to say this. For me I have to coax creativity and serendipity, it doesn't happen naturally. Action precedes motivation.
- anoy8888 4y agoI am surprised sex is not in the list . You can certainly be in the zone while having sex
- pastacacioepepe 4y agoToo obvious, maybe overrated after all.
- dusted 4y agoSure, I find sex enjoyable, and surely I can get in the zone, but it's a relatively short time an hour at the very best and most of the time shorter, combined with being physically (and mentally somewhat) exhausting and takes some preparation both before and after, it's not a top contender for enjoyable activities for me. Sure, it's an intense burst of pleasure, but I'd not want to spend 4-5 hours per day doing it, and time is definitely an important component for me, if I can do something for a long time and enjoy that time, that's like an enjoyment multiplier for me, I want something nice and to be in that nice place as long as I can.
- agent008t 4y agoSex is very different to the activities he listed. His activities are all about feelings of calm focus, flow, almost meditative joy. You feel pleasantly recharged at the end of it. Sex is usually very different and all about dopamine-like immediate intense pleasure, excitement, adrenaline. You can build dopamine tolerance and start needing more for the same 'kick'. Afterwards you can end up feeling more low than before due to a dopamine 'valley'. Then there is also the 'Coolidge effect'. I suspect very different neurotransmitters are involved. In other words, to exaggerate: the feeling of being in the zone you get from 'repairing stuff' is as similar to the feeling from sex, as the enjoyment of practicing calligraphy or meditation or tai chi is similar to taking heroin.
- jmrm 4y agoIt's funny to me how I have about the same things than you. Changing your Honda to a mountain bike, and also adding "repairing things to prevent trashing it", and I would have my list.
- dusted 4y agoWow, actually, I should add MTB, but I've not had the energy/time the past two years, but I used to do a lot, we have a technical track nearby and that really puts me in the zone too, the gratification of achieving combined with the focus of not getting yourself killed.. Also, repairing stuff is something I absolutely love too! I forgot about that one. Even if I can't restore it to 100%, but often I can, and put my own spin on it, and it's very satisfying.