[Personal]
[personal] Wetware compass and clock
Yesterday I posted about dreaming I was lost, and how I have an excellent sense of direction in real life. I’m also a very good navigator, as has been proven on night land nav exercises, as well as road trips through places like central Mexico. Last night it came up in conversation that I also have an excellent time sense. Even in the absence of a clock I almost always know what time it is, to within 5-10 minutes, and my sense of elapsed time is also finely honed. This latter is a useful skill during business presentations and so forth.
These two senses combine to make me very sure of my place in the world, in a literal sense. I also suspect they help me very sure of my place in the world in a figurative sense. One of the many side effects of chemo was for a time wiping out both my sense of place and my sense of time. That’s an extremely disorienting experience, given that I’ve spent my entire life relying on those aspects of awareness.
As mentioned above, I wonder if being so anchored is part of why I am usually so good at remaining centered and self-confident. As has been observed on a number of occasions, I am a nigh pathological extrovert. Extroversion is privileged in our culture in some important ways. Do I project so well into the world because I am always so certain of where I stand within it?
Do you have a good sense of time and place? Does that affect your mood, your ability to project to other people?
Posted: 6:38 am Wed February 01 2012 |
Where am I?
You are reading the blog of Jay Lake, speculative fiction writer and author of hundreds of short stories, many novels, and winner of the John W. Campbell Award.
Learn more here.
Comments
Leave a Reply
« [conventions|personal] The SFWA Portland Reading Series, other miscellany | [links] Link salad joins the Center for the Easily Amused »
Stephen A. Watkins
February 1st, 2012 at 10:24 amHmm. I’m not so sure there’s a direct correlation, in a general sense, between this sort of spatial/temporal awareness and extroversion/introversion.
I’ve got a pretty good direction sense – not in the sense of being able to identify “true north” on a moment’s notice, but in relation to where I’ve been and where I’m going I’m pretty good with my personal spatial awareness. I also rarely get lost (not never, but rarely). My time sense is less refined than yours.
However, on the E/I scale I’m weakly introverted (weakly because I exhibit some extrovert tendancies under certain circumstances, but most of the time I tend toward introvert tendancies).
Then again, that’s only two data-points… hardly sufficient to draw any conclusions, I suppose.
A. A. Attanasio
February 1st, 2012 at 1:21 pmAs someone with his head permanently stuck in the clouds and little situational awareness, I envy your strong sense of place and time. And I’m cheered by the levity with which you accept the dream’s dark, disorienting contradiction of your waking self, with a self-abnegating smile: “naturally last night my subconscious decided to serve me up some humble pie.” Your willingness to accept the sleeping brain’s fantasy on its own terms and not enter into the world’s long quarrel between reason and dream tells me you have an excellent sense of direction in many worlds! Thanks for offering us a glimpse into the horizon your soul walks.
Jay
February 1st, 2012 at 1:35 pmThank you. You brought me an extra smile with this comment.
Cora
February 1st, 2012 at 5:00 pmI’ve got a very good sense of direction and an absolutely rotten sense of time. I always have to have clocks around me to know what time it is and I still sometimes wake up with no clue what day it is and whether I have to get up now or not. I’m also an introvert, though I’m not sure if there is a connection.
pelican
February 1st, 2012 at 6:54 pmI’m the opposite of Cora- very solid sense of time, limited sense of direction. It’s an interesting thought- I’m quite comfortable with public speaking and stepping to the front of a group … I never considered whether that’s because I know how much time I’ll be taking up once I get there. I’ll have to think on that.
I totally agree that extroversion is privileged in North America, although I had never considered that privilege before. Thanks for that!