Daze

Have you ever suddenly started to stare off at something for a period of time? Where you felt you couldn't take your eyes off of that certain spot untill your eyes started watering? Feeling almost as if you were in a trance like state? Well, I have, alot actually. And Iv'e discussed this with two of my friends and it happends to them too. And this makes me think that everyone has felt like this at one time or another. And many people call this state a "daze". What I want to know is why we have dazes and what they truely are?
So if any could be so kind as to tell me, I'd be very pleased.
Any thoughts?

happens to me too, i dont know what it is... i guess daydreaming?

yeah..

that is a form of mind-alteration, I think. There is a lot of 'brain' we don't use on a daily basis.

It's called "spacing out". I can't believe this is new to you.

No this is not new to me and no I don't think it's exactly day-dreaming either. I've thought about this a lot. And it does'nt feel like daydreaming all the time. It's like stareing at nothing but something at the same time...
you know what I mean?:?
I agree it's like spacing out, but what is it exactly? And why does it occur? Sometimes I think about something that is random in a daze but more than not I don't really have thoughts in a daze. But sometimes I notice I'm in a daze befor I have to blink, but other times I dont notice untill my eyes start to burn and water. And thats when I realize what Im starring at. Grrrrr! This is very difficult to describe the right way in words. I hope theres someone out there that can relate and shed some light on my thoughts.
Sorry if this sounds stupid and juvenile(sp). I've practically confused myself...sort of...
Nevermind.
Thanks everyone.

maybe you dazed off :D

Haha very funny....lol ;)

Not too often can I find myself drifting off into sapce. I wish I could.

I'm thinking there are a lot of scenarios and variables to account for in each subjective experience of a "daze"
I know our mind like's steady ambient beets and rhythms. The mind likes order even in what sometimes looks abstract. It finds pleasing patterns in almost anything.
This may be why we find ourselves staring of into a bed of sand or the hum of the city streets or whatever…… :meditate:

It's just the mind resting. You can't think all the time.

Some idiots call it meditation.

Pfft

But sometimes it happens when I should be paying attention and how can you call it meditation?

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Originally Posted by Onahappynote

But sometimes it happens when I should be paying attention and how can you call it meditation?

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I believe he was being sarcastic.

Never happened to me. It sounds really strange. You told it as if you are aware of the "stare" and yet you can't look away. I mean, unless there is something "wrong" mentally or you're paralyzed, I don't know what you mean.

Apart from that, I do zone out a lot, which includes daydreaming, remembering something... but I'm not "there" when I'm doing it. I'm somewhere in my head, so I can't really say I'm aware of the outside world at that time. After it's done, then yes, I do find myself regaining awareness, but it happens instantly, so there is no "I can't move my eyes until they water" or something like that. If I ever get into such a state, it's intentional.

oh...
I feel stupid.
...
...lol.

Thats really interesting.
But I think the signature of a daze is the eyes not blinking. A state where you just cant help but stare at anything. Sometimes your aware and sometimes you arn't, and sometimes your thinking about something totally off topic. But eventually you have to blink because your eyes start to sting and water but even when you do blink you don't always snap out of it (...the urge to stare). Theres also a feeling that goes with this. But it is very difficult to describe clearly and precisly.
Im not crazy...I dont think...
Anyway, I have noticed other people dazing and my friends have had the same sort of experience. We talk alot about this subject and how difficult it is to put into words. Its something you have to feel for your self.
But I really like hearing other's opinions.
So thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Sorry if it seemed like I am argueing with you. I just want people to understand.
Thanks.

I never meant to say anyone was crazy. I just understood it like that - aware, but out of control. That's not normal, but I'm guessing that isn't how you wanted "me" to understand it.

Wow, I guess my friends and I are freaks or somethin' because not many people have responded or related to this...
Or people think I'm crazy, which I can understand-
But arn't we all just a little bit crazy?
Thanks to the people who did reply.
:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Onahappynote

oh...
I feel stupid.
...
...lol.

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Did you mean it compels you to continue staring, not like an impossibility to break concentration.

I've deft stared off into nothing and been compelled to continue staring at nothing..

Oooh! That sounds very likely to be exactly what I mean. I think you have experienced what I have! Yay! This is so exciting! Thanks

I do that all the time. At least five times a day no doubt.
In fact, I usually start out a conversation, like "Oh, I forgot to tell you" (or whatever) and then just look away at nothing but completely forget I was about to tell someone something, and I look back at them and everyones staring at me like I'm insane. :?

Lol I know how that is.

it always happens to me. i reckon its c001

I can get distracted by things around me or by my own thoughts and lose track with what's going on in the real world, but usually not in mid-sentence. If I'm just sitting by myself, I can stare forward while thinking of what to do next and my mind will go off on a tangent. If that's the case, I'm no longer actively looking at anything, but rather I have noticed a sort of haze over my vision. It's vivid daydreaming and I can even initiate it if I so desire.

There are other times where I'll be talking to someone and even if I want to hear what I'm saying, my thoughts will go off on their own and when I come back I realize I haven't heard a word they say. I'll nod and say "Mhm" at all the right points in the conversation, but I'm not actually listening. It's embarassing sometimes when I have to ask them to repeat themselves and sometimes I just pretend I heard and try to piece things back together. That's also happened while I'm talking for any length of time and my mind goes faster than my mouth and then I'll realize I've been talking but don't know what I said.

Not sure if this is what you're talking about, but this has been my experience. Sometimes I enjoy it (interesting tangents), but sometimes it can be a nuisance.

I daze off a few times during the day, especially when I'm thinking about random thoughts and letting my mindstream flow by. But often I'll catch myself in a few seconds and realize what I'm doing, then backtrack my chain of thought and be fascinated by how I came to such thoughts. The mind is a very amazing thing to me, because it provides me entertainment even when the rest of the world fails at it! >8D

EDIT: Ame, I think you and me have the same thing going on here. :D Conversations while dazing off are horrible, because sometimes I've actually yawned because I stopped paying attention to what someone was saying and letting my thoughts go by. A very embarrassing moment! :oops:

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Originally Posted by ClouD

Some idiots call it meditation.

Pfft

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²... I would be one of those, it can indeed be used as meditation like ClouD said.

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You told it as if you are aware of the "stare" and yet you can't look away.

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It's not that you cannot look away, it's just that it's so much more... comforting to just stare. It's the mind's way of resting in my opinion. If you do something mentally intensive, trying dazing after that, and see how easy it is.

I agree, sort of. A daze such as the one you experience is just another type of trance. You blank out. Perhaps things are happening around you that you are aware of and can acknowledge, but you're not paying them any mind at all, and unintentionally so. This is just a trance. A similar thing happens when you drive to a place you have been to many times before. You are obviously conscious, aware on some level of precisely where you are, but you can arrive to your destination, and not fully realize what all just happened.

That's called a trance or a pattern. It happens probably several times a day for most people, even if it lasts only a fraction of a second. Another example is a handshake. When someone presents their hand to you to shake your hand, for the average person, there is no conscious thought involved in raising your hand to meet theirs. That's another example of a trance.

Cashiers- beginning to scan items and place them in the bag sets them into a trance. Granted, these are all different types of trances than what you are describing, but they have the same basic characteristics- the fully conscious mind with which you think goes into the background, and the subconscious takes its place, thus you keep your ability to consciously think, and know what's going on, but your subconscious is more present than the conscious mind with which you think.

I hope that made sense. I don't think I explained it particularly well.

I want to understand the psychological reasons for this phenomenon, although I feel that many in this thread are talking about slightly different feelings.

I was washing my hands just ten minutes ago, and after I dried them off I stopped in front of the mirror to make faces at myself (I do this often). Just as I get an itchy feeling on my nose and I raise my hand to scratch it, my mind goes completely blank and my eyes lose focus. Although I'm not staring at any one thing in particular, I'm staring in a certain direction, and it feels as if my attention is HELD there. I also feel like this action becomes a priority over everything else I would have otherwise been doing (in this case scratching an itch on my nose, and we know how demanding those can be). There appears to be a lack of any significant thought during this time, just a light awareness of your surroundings. But this isn't something I feel is controllable. It comes unexpectedly and can last anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds, at least for myself.

The experience, in the end, is altogether very pleasant. I'd like to say that it's comparable to yawning to some extent, even though there are characteristics that are unique to each.