What do you feel like when enjoying your special interests?

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(1) How many 'big' asperger/autism-related interests do you have?

(2) What do you do as part of your interest?

(3) When doing as described in number (2), how does it make you feel?



For instance, my answer would be:

(1)
3

(2)
- Mathematics. Solving math-problems, visualizing graphs mentally, reading math.
- Programming. Programming to solve a given problem, programming the solution to a problem with no errors.
- Music. Singing, listening to music, hearing good singers.

(3)
Intense happiness, pleasure, joyfulness, getting very absorbed, very focused, life feels great and meaningful.

Last edited by qawer on 02 Mar 2013, 5:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I feel enveloped. Comfy.

Oh, and excited when I find something new.

I feel grrrrrrreat!

(1) How many 'big' asperger/autism-related interests do you have?

(2) What do you in practice do when enjoying your special interests?

(3) When doing as described in number (2), how does it make you feel?
ANSWERS:
#1. I don't have interests that involve Asperger's or Autism
#2. I don't know what this means, so I will restate it as "what do you do as part of your interest?"
Programming and operating various machines. I also like to watch what each machine does.
#3. The greatest high in the known Universe.

I am not sure what you mean. Because my special interests do not revolve around asperger's and autism? What do you mean by practice? Get better at, engage in? Can't really tell you how I feel about something I don't know how to answer.

Exploring my special interests allows me to feel psychologically and emotionally "safe," if only for a little while.

Whenever I discover something new related to my special interests, it just makes my whole day that much better. For instance, I was really excited when I found out someone had made a Sterling Holloway appreciation blog on Tumblr a couple weeks ago.

I feel very zoned out in my special interests. In some I'm very calm and fuzzy, and some I'm very intense. If I'm practicing for a performance I'm VERY stressed out because I'm also a perfectionist. However, if I'm simply practicing music for enjoyment then I'm calm and zoned out. Large stretches of time pass by in seemingly an instant.

(1) Lifetime interest: violin
I used to practice so much as a kid, my mother used to complain at me to stop. I really wanted to become a professional soloist, but that was nearly impossible to do without private lessons. I went through a period where I stopped, but always returned to it. Currently do not engage in practicing as I have too many kids and not enough time. When I practice, my 1.5 year old starts to cry. I'm not playing wrong notes, so I don't know why it bothers him so much.

(2) Lifetime interest: drawing
I just started again, albeit a little bit. I used to do realistic, hyperdetailed drawings but then moved into more abstract art. It is an on-off-on interest.

(3) Lifetime interest: writing
I authored and published a book of poetry (not by vanity press) which featured my visual artwork as well, and got published in several literary journals. I have also written short stories and monologues that were performed on stage.

(4) Current obsessions: AS/PDD/ASD, various health issues, my children

(5) Previous obsessions: Reading (fiction, philosophy, metaphysics, psychology, politics), collecting comics, SCUBA diving (until I started getting panic attacks in the water), eating disorder, tweezing, working out, becoming expert on health and fitness (ironically while engaged in a full-blown eating disorder), gourmet cooking (epicurious.com recipes from scratch), BDSM, EMP survivalism

(5a) A note on obsessions: My husband also has several obsessions (photography, piloting, skydiving, investing, building furniture). We have tried to overlap some of our intense interests but when he encroaches on my interest I wind up getting put off because he starts to try to "run the ship" and I wind up getting less interested for some odd reason. When I try to join his special interest, I don't ever manage the same intensity that he does and I don't enjoy it so much. He doesn't understand this and neither do I. Whenever I find friends who have the same interests it is always so pleasurable for me, but when it comes to my husband, it becomes an entirely different animal. I don't get it!

Exactly.

It's easier for me to describe what it's like when I'm not pursing my interests. I feel life is totally meaningless and empty. I become sad, depressed, irritable, become more impulsive, and my moods become unstable.

Doing what I love brings me perfect peace and harmony.

1) How many 'big' asperger/autism-related interests do you have?

There are many, but they fall into three basic areas
Science, Visual Art, Technology,

(2) What do you do as part of your interest?

Reading/study/research
looking at pictures
doing experiments/observations
drawing/sketching/using the computer

(3) When doing as described in number (2), how does it make you feel? - See more at: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5259492.html#5259492

Pursuing these interests gives me a general feeling of elation, deep satisfaction and connection to the universe.
It can be mere joy or a transcendental bliss. It often takes me outside of an ordinary sense of time.
When I am most distressed by what people do, either in personal nastiness or cultural craziness, I am comforted by this feeling of connection to the deepest patterns of the cosmos.

The pure, intense joy of discovering new things in my interests was the ultimate antidote to suicidal thinking when I was younger.

I believe that this is the state that is described as "flow" or being "in the zone."
http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-E ... 0061339202

Peaceful, mellow and happy.

1) I think I only really have 1.

2) I like programming, making everything as abstract and structured as I possibly can.

3) I feel like it's just me and my code, rest of the world doesn't seem to exist anymore. When I'm relaxed in general it'll feel really good, but if I'm stressed I can't get into it as much as I want and thoughts of whatever is causing that stress keep lingering in the back of my mind.

I feel a bit less uncomfortable. Which is fortunate enough seeing as I'm literally always uncomfortable.

My main interests are: video games, programming, computer graphics, 3D animation, game design.
What I do for my interests is, well, play games, for one thing. But I use the free 3D animation program Blender to make character and environment models, and I make textures in Gimp. I also use Blender's game engine to "make games", though in reality I haven't made anything decent yet. The Blender game engine uses Python for scripting, so naturally I am proficient at programming in Python. I also know Java, but I only use that for my programming class. I also take a 2 hour (every day) graphics course at school.

Pursuing my interests usually makes me feel happy. However, this year, I have often felt on edge and had a hard time getting absorbed in my special interests. Often I prefer to post on forums than pursue my special interests.

Okay so it doesn't have to like be about aspergers only?

My special interests are Sketching/ Fantasy and European History (especially celtic mythos) so they all sort of interconnect. For example I will read fantasy, draw fairies and dryads and elves and read historical documents about celtic mythology like the Sidhe, regularly.

How do I feel? Super Happy and like nothing bad matters because I get to do what I love.

Another obsession of mine is the actual acquisition of art supplies. =)

My special interests are:
Cosmetics: I read about 50-100 articles a day on beauty products, I study beauty chemistry, and I have probably 7-8 steps in my skincare regimen. I feel 100x better when I can control my looks as opposed to days when I can't put on makeup or use skincare products.

People: I want people to like me, I don't want to be taken advantage of, I don't want to be lonely. It is so much work to do, and it's really hard. Most people don't understand me and I am abandoned a lot, so I'm not sure if I'm successful or not (probably not)

Science: I love to learn new things evolving in the world of science. I especially enjoy longevity research.

(I'm also pretty into languages but those vary)

What I do:
Cosmetics:
I write a beauty blog, I read 50-100 articles a day, I'm involved in discussion groups, I study cosmetic chemistry, I practice putting on makeup and using skincare. I'm very knowledgeable and maybe one day I can work for a cosmetic company or pr firm that deals with cosmetics.

People:
I try to make friends, find people to date, and people who understand me, and I work hard to be understood. I read a lot of books, watch videos, talk to people, ask advice. I try to test out tactics I learn to see what works.

Science:
I watch shows, read articles, discuss and share information, read forums on science. I get excited about science.

How I feel:
Cosmetics:
The makeup hobby is really fun, and it's so diverse, I feel proud of knowing the skill, I feel smart, I feel absorbed.

Friends:
When things are good I feel so glad to have people understand me, and I like hugs a lot. I feel like life is okay, and I'll be okay. I try to learn about them too so I can keep having them in my life. I also really feel the best around people who like me and I feel more safe than when I do anything else if I'm around people who like me.

Science:
I feel hopeful, excited, inspired.

I think the only one of these that is a "true" aspie-type obsession the way it is usually understood though is my cosmetic interest. I get really absorbed and spend all day involved without realizing it. I try hard not to bore people talking about it unless they love it too.

It's really hard to like a lot of things that people don't understand so I think my special interests have a lot to do with why I am alone a lot. I'm hard to understand.