Are you afraid to use your imagination?

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It's nice to see someone else out there using their imagination for productive work. Sound like to me that you're a chemical engineer. Am I right? I am an electrical engineer and I use my imagination to run simulations on electronic circuits. I can visualize the electrons flowing through the wires, much like glitter mix with water and flowing through glass pipes.

Essentially yes, that is what I do for my research areas. I just do not have the engineering part on my PhD though, but was trained in nuclear engineering as an undergrad (dual majored in them for a few years at a good school). It was costing me too much to do both there, so I went to the dark side (chemistry) to finish out my Bachelors. I came very close to going into radiochem for my PhD area, but the research projects did not interest me enough.

I have an extremely vivid and (I like to think) quite creative imagination.

Experience has taught me not to expose it around people unless I am sure that they are of a similar mindset though. Most people do NOT like conversations around topics like "I had an idea for a story where ..." or "What would the world be like if ..." Their reactions vary from freaked out to boredom.

I've had enough people roll their eyes and smirk at me to keep my trap shut unless I'm sure I can trust someone. I don't think this has anything to do with AS people versus NTs - I think it's creative people versus prosaic people. Maybe creative NTs have more confidence and can cope better when then get smacked down though.

I absolutely love using my imagination though. It's absolutely fantastic to chat with someone similar and just play with ideas and make up characters, making our own world. I can do this with my girlfriend fortunately. I can't imagine being in a relationship with someone where we couldn't share this.

It's a shame that I have no opportunity to use my imagination in my job or work environment- conversation about anything other than sport is quickly stamped out.

(Late reply due to my anxiety.)

I used to share my imagination enthusiastically with others...until seeing more than enough eyes glaze over with boredom taught me the hard way not to. Now even on the very few occasions when people insist they want to hear what I'm thinking up, I can't bring myself to share. Just too afraid of seeing those eyes glaze over (even if it's through typed words) yet again. Or even worse, getting nothing more than a bland, "That's nice" in response to all my heartfelt words...so humiliating and crushing. (Even therapists gave me that reaction.) The quickest way to shut me up and shut me down is to just not seem interested.

And since I have virtually nothing of interest to chatter about besides that, that means the end of the conversation and usually the end of the (potential) friendship.

I know exactly what you mean about that great feeling of sharing such things with somebody who understands them completely. I had somebody like that once...when I was about twelve. She moved away. And lost all interest in me. (She contacted me on Facebook after over a decade of being out of touch, let me know how great she's doing, ignored my hints about how poorly I was doing, then said she didn't have time to keep in touch with me and that was it; though I often saw her playing games on the site afterward. Her friendship takes up pages and pages in the book of my life; I'm nothing more than a footnote, if even that, in hers. )

I've never made another such friend since. I don't think such people even exist for me anymore.

It's very good that you have your girlfriend to share such things with, at least. I wish I had at least one person. I'm so tired of keeping it all to myself.

I'm not afraid to use it cuz I don't have much of one.