Existential Crisis

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I am having an existential crisis and would like to know how those with aspergers cope. There has been nothing found in my online research on the differences in experiences, so it is best to ask on here. For most it is strictly social and for us, I imagine, it is strictly personal.

Recently I have felt lndlocked in music, without the ability to expand my ideas into other fields.

Because of this I have been looking into various new sketches styles and playing different genres of music on bass, along with more creative lyrics structures.

Another few ideas to explore thought up have been photography, cooking and more outdoor recreation. It seems important for aspergians to focus on passions left unexplored during existential crises. How many new activities should be tried exactly? Should it be following emotions, or is there a golden number?

Outdoor recreation can also breathe life into a now stale routine. I am considering hiking and working out more, but it'd be nice to be able to go ATVing, horseback riding, archery, and a myriad of other activities. It seems nearly everyone spends too much time indoors these days.

According to a Wikipedia article, these can cause an existential crisis:

The sense of being alone and isolated in the world (I feel different from those here, less self centered, and like those with aspergers are extremely judgmental of me. There is still a basic social setup in my life though that brings pleasure.)

A new-found grasp or appreciation of one's mortality (I cannot comment on this; perhaps this is what happens when we find hobbies to fully embrace for years.)

Believing that one's life has no purpose or external meaning (This seemed to be the main impetus for me; Everyone needs to feel like they are living for something, be it an idea or a physical hobby. For some others I iamgine this would have more social implications though, such as caring for a lover.)

Awareness of one's freedom and the consequences of accepting or rejecting that freedom (My main mentor is leaving me, so that is also a likely catalyst for the self revolution. Others may experience this in careers or major life choices.)

An extremely pleasurable or hurtful experience that leaves one seeking meaning (I imagine for us it'd just be hurtful; most non-aspergians would search for the "new big thrill" but we feel comfortable with one love.)

Enough about me; share your experiences. I'd love to compare and hopefully will gain insight from them.

That need is like playing with fire and it is its own problem I think. Just try to keep in mind at all times that the need for meaning needs to serve you, if you serve it instead it can destroy you - especially when (realistically) you're propelled into searching an infinite void for something that's quite literally not there. In that sense it works in a relative sense to a point (relative to your life) but you'll have to cut compromise where that need gets too 'needy' and starts asking the impossible of you.

Interesting point. Sometimes emotions should be given credence over logic, though.

Seems that lately I've been subconsciously wanting to expand interests a bit. The meaning of my life is found. It's self-created, after all. It just seems that we should have a sense of purpose to propel us to the next level of skill in a hobby. It's positive stress.

In this case it's an evolution of an artist and a want for more outdoor joy.

This is a forum "bump." I want to get other people's thoughts on their existential crises.

So far drawing dragons and mythological creatures has done wonders for me. Others seem to like the work put into them as well.

The trouble is you're not giving people the opportunity for a good flame-wank. You could always throw on a tag-line like 'Oh, and btw - black people are lazy!' which would probably net you 50 pages worth of responses in 3 weeks, but I could guarantee that next to none of that would be about existential crisis.

Pretty much around here though, things that aren't shiny will fall off the front page within a week, and you *really* know you put good thought into a post when it falls off with 0 replies.

I don't know about that...the people on this forum-site seem pretty intelligent. Ah well, already figured out what I have to do to get past it and be a better person so guess it doesn't really matter.

Maybe they just find it hard expressing their thoughts and emotions on here? Nervousness?

I used to write down my goals (even the far-fetched ones), but I haven't done that in a while. I think it helped to keep me on track.


Edit to add: I have dreams of finishing some creative projects. It would/will be possible when I detach myself from the internet for a few days.


*sigh* had to edit

Writing down goals helps quite a bit; I just fixate on them for a while to convert them to long term memory. It takes more time but seems to work better.

A life without goals is not worth living, much like the unexamined one.

In response to slave, I think we cease to exist when we are 1: not thought about by companion creatures (human or "pets") and 2: when biological processes no longer ravage our bodies.

They say ideas never die, and others' words can create ideas. Because of that I think we continue to influence life after we die, we just don't truly exist.

you think you will in some sense live on through ideas and their influence because you arbitrarily identify with them, but these thoughts are not you or even yours. they are like parasites that take hold of the mind and body while it is alive and use it to infect others. over time they evolve into better, stickier ideas, and the strongest, reinforced by feelings, reach their maturity as full-fledged beliefs. these beliefs comprise an identity that is not other than a set of beliefs. it is intuitive, but ultimately misguided, to think that by propagating these beliefs something of you would live on. you are not any specific subset of the experience of what is happening right now, nor the totality, nor even that which contains it. beyond the immediate present experience of being alive there are only concepts, memories, projections, and nothing of existence can be contained in a thought. there is this, but there is no 'i' that am this beyond the thought that 'i' is. would you admit that experience is more real, more direct than thoughts about it? where in your present experience is there anything that corresponds to the thought 'i'? there is something that can be seen and felt that corresponds to the thought 'tree' but looking inward, is there a 'you', a doer, a one who knows? or is there just doing, and knowing? it seems that 'i' being allegedly the most immediate thing, should be able to sense its own presence, but all there is to experience is sensation, and sensations do not observe other sensations. if i am not anywhere in my own experience, and all the things i value (and all valuating sensations) are things of experience, then how do i value myself? by attaching it to experience, as a thought.

I'm at one of those turning points in life where I feel completely lost because I don't know what I should do. ^^ I have the feeling that there is nothing I can "really" do, that I can only do a few things from a couple of fields, but nothing "proper".

I can draw ok, but I don't feel good about it. I seem to be good at languages, but I don't know what to do with that. I feel that I'd also need a social competence that I'll never have. So I have the feeling that everything I am able to do (more or less) serves no real purpose. I believe that I'll have to do something dissatisfactory and something I'm not good at because everything else is just not needed.

I have no real goal at the moment. Just to... I don't know... keep going? ^^ It's the only thing I seem to be good at. Just exist, even if I don't want to because life does not satisfy me.

I used to think I am just lazy and I guess having no goal has made me lazy, but this is not my main problem. I just don't feel confident about myself at all and I don't know what I want.

I feel that my A-levels have been a waste because I'll never find something that would benefit from that. I don't know why I bothered staying at school for three more years if it won't get me a job. I have heard that it will greatly increase your job chances, but I guess that only applies to jobs in the industry. Maybe I am ungrateful because other people could not even finish their A-levels. Mh...

As for now, I am struggling with university papers. I hate myself for even starting university because, after all, it's just about writing papers. And I don't seem to be very good at it.

Read an Albert Camus book.

Google Cryonics, look up alcor and other options... then fill your immortal life with all the meaning you want it to have... you don't have to have things any way you don't want them.