Stimming is to create patterns?

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To me, it would seem that most stims (though maybe not all) seem to have some sort of pattern-creating involved?
Rocking, swinging, looking at patterns, finger drumming, listening to music, pacing, tracing patterns (I trace a figure of eight on my thumbnail, is strange lol), spinning, etc..
Is it some way of calming down a feeling of being out of control or something like that? Seeking some kind of pattern to latch on to?

Maybe, there's a lot of pattern and rhythm in stimming. Try stimming and then not stimming and notice the difference in how you feel.

I think you have something there with latching onto a pattern. I think our brains (or at least some of ours?) are wired to seek patterns. But the pattern seeking bit can get overwhelmed in places full of information to sort through, or anxious/frustrated in places with no patterns at all, or patterns that don't make sense to them for some reason.
We can make easy obvious repetitious patterns of our own to calm that part of our brain down, and maybe reset the pace with a rhythm we impose, rather than whatever rate information was coming in at on it's own. That way we regain some control.

http://insideperspectives.wordpress.com ... /stimming/

Read fully, very comprehensive and insightful!

You're quite welcome.