Spacing Out
There are many different ways of “leaving” a place so that we are not really present here and now. Being present is like being plugged in, feeling that it’s really YOU there, with all senses working -hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting and even smelling — to experience what is actually right there.
In this unit we use the words “spacing out” to cover many ways of not being present. Maybe you fade out, so you can’t quite hear, or see, very sharply. Maybe your mind flits about like a grasshopper, thinking of a million things at once and you can’t bear to sit still. Maybe you replay one or two memories in your head, or imagine yourself in a fantasy world, instead of focusing on the present…
The word “dissociation” is a clinical word that some people use to talk about spacing out. There is a whole continuum of dissociation. Some of us dissociate occasionally, some do it most of the time, some become so skilled at dissociating that we don’t know when we are doing it. Some of us distance ourselves so completely from unbearable realities that we create separate personalities, which can seem like several people of different ages in one body. This is usually called “Dissociative Identity Disorder” but often used to be called “Multiple Personalities.” Healing work can help us become more grounded in the present, and can integrate different selves into one strong person.
