Emotions towards objects

[Suzanne]

It was reading a post, somewhere about how this person can imagine living in the era of the object he or she sees.

I feel terribly sorry for empty buildings or empty chairs.

We have a swing chair and when it is beautiful weather, I find the greatest pleasure in putting our red canapy on and the cream seating and green cushions. I get an overwhelming sense of peace and joy when I see it all.

Right now, it is completely void of furnishings, due to dreadful weather and I could cry with sadness over its bareness.

Recently passed a beautiful building and was told that it closed down several year's ago. It has been there, since the 1800's ( apparent authentic dating on the door) and suddenly I could have cried with pity and imagined how busy it must be and what a tragidy humans inflict.

 

[wight]

I get this. I often have the same thoughts/feelings toward "objects."

I recently watched a discussion/debate about "does consciousness survive death"...essentially is there an afterlife. One particular line stuck with me, "if we grant that human consciousness survives death, we must consider the possibility that everything has consciousness, even if we don't understand it."

This idea, that all things have consciousness summoned a series of memories and phrases from books I have read (science fiction/fantasy) where the authors describe or depict trees/rocks/mountains/objects as having awareness or active consciousness.

Often, buildings (usually old houses or industrial buildings) are described as having character. People say things like, "oh, think of all the things this house has seen" or "what a wonderful old building, it has such good energy".

Clearly, then, we are not the first or only to consider and grapple with these thoughts and/or feelings about 'inanimate objects'.

 

[WereBear]

One particular line stuck with me, "if we grant that human consciousness survives death, we must consider the possibility that everything has consciousness, even if we don't understand it."

I believe this

 

[Momo]

I also get emotional over inanimate objects. Like all those videos I see online where people set teddy bears on fire, or blend them and things like that and all I can think is "poor bear". Yet I will then go and play violent video games where people are being blown up willy nilly and not even blink. When you have more sympathy for teddy bears than the human race...

 

[Bolletje]

When I was depressed I felt sorry for broken objects nobody used anymore, because I could relate to them in my melodramatic state of mind.

 

[xudo]

This is a really weird one, but I watch a lot of a show called Food Factory (it's like 'How It's made', but all about how foods are made). They'll show the process of making say, chips (fries) and all these potatoes whizzing around machines being cleaned, peeled and chopped. Then they go through more machines to be packed, and there's always some that get caught on something and are stuck on a part of a machine and never make it through to packaging. I always think "oh that poor chip, he'll never get to be a proper chip now. He'll just be stuck there on that machine until he gets cleaned off into a bin." Literally whatever food they show being made, there'll be some stuck somewhere, destined to never reach it's potential.

Told you it was a weird one.

 

[bon vide]

i have this too. i try to be respectful of all inanimate objects in case theyre alive in some way,, and will rearrange stuff in my house just so that, if they are conscious, they wont be lonely

same with plants
trees give good hugs

hrmm. this sounds silly now but im probably not gonna stop lol

 

[Chance]

I'm sort of on and off with object emotions... I take very good care of the things I have, but I don't really get hung up on keeping things or having lots of things. I don't want a lot of stuff around to have to give my attention too.

I only want things I use and or need. I don't really like trinkets or knick knacks much. I do like books, and nice wall art, but only the collectable kind. I hate junk mail, and old magazines, and stuff like that laying around. Around here for a few years people have been doing this "shabby sheek" stuff. They make stuff out of junk... Not for me, not at all.

Some people say that ASD people are clutter bugs, and we have hygiene issues... Not me in any way. Please know if you like stuff and hygiene isn't your thing, then and I have no issues with how you live your life. We all have our own ways. I think my hygiene issues are partly triggered by my extremely oversensitive smell, plus I just get grossed out if my skin is oily and sweaty. I'm a bit of of a clean freak, and I most times take 3 showers a day. I cant stand my hair very long, or untrimmed. It makes me crazy.

I just like my life pretty clean, and organized. It makes things easier for me. I tend to get only things I really want, only after considering if I really want it, and it needs to be functional also.

I'm sort of a minimalist maybe, but its not about displaying or following some fad lifestyle. I just try and keep things simple. Its not about being cheap, extravagant, or anything like that. I just don't want to waste my time, or money, on things that cause useless effort, attention, and maintenance.

However... I don't like to just throw things away either... So I do try and find stuff a home that I no longer want, with people who want it. I give my extra or unused clothes to Salvation Army and stuff like that. I may not like a lot of clutter, but I certainly don't want to toss good stuff in the trash.

I'm having a tough time explaining this one... But maybe it made sense?

 

[Suzanne]

I'm sort of on and off with object emotions... I take very good care of the things I have, but I don't really get hung up on keeping things or having lots of things. I don't want a lot of stuff around to have to give my attention too.

I only want things I use and or need. I don't really like trinkets or knick knacks much. I do like books, and nice wall art, but only the collectable kind. I hate junk mail, and old magazines, and stuff like that laying around. Around here for a few years people have been doing this "shabby sheek" stuff. They make stuff out of junk... Not for me, not at all.

Some people say that ASD people are clutter bugs, and we have hygiene issues... Not me in any way. Please know if you like stuff and hygiene isn't your thing, then and I have no issues with how you live your life. We all have our own ways. I think my hygiene issues are partly triggered by my extremely oversensitive smell, plus I just get grossed out if my skin is oily and sweaty. I'm a bit of of a clean freak, and I most times take 3 showers a day. I cant stand my hair very long, or untrimmed. It makes me crazy.

I just like my life pretty clean, and organized. It makes things easier for me. I tend to get only things I really want, only after considering if I really want it, and it needs to be functional also.

I'm sort of a minimalist maybe, but its not about displaying or following some fad lifestyle. I just try and keep things simple. Its not about being cheap, extravagant, or anything like that. I just don't want to waste my time, or money, on things that cause useless effort, attention, and maintenance.

However... I don't like to just throw things away either... So I do try and find stuff a home that I no longer want, with people who want it. I give my extra or unused clothes to Salvation Army and stuff like that. I may not like a lot of clutter, but I certainly don't want to toss good stuff in the trash.

I'm having a tough time explaining this one... But maybe it made sense?

I am not a horder at all. I have what I use and clutter panicks me.

 

[Judge]

I patted my car's center console and thanked it for a very long job well-done. I sold it last week.

 

[Ambi]

It was reading a post, somewhere about how this person can imagine living in the era of the object he or she sees.

I feel terribly sorry for empty buildings or empty chairs.

We have a swing chair and when it is beautiful weather, I find the greatest pleasure in putting our red canapy on and the cream seating and green cushions. I get an overwhelming sense of peace and joy when I see it all.

Right now, it is completely void of furnishings, due to dreadful weather and I could cry with sadness over its bareness.

Recently passed a beautiful building and was told that it closed down several year's ago. It has been there, since the 1800's ( apparent authentic dating on the door) and suddenly I could have cried with pity and imagined how busy it must be and what a tragidy humans inflict.

I am in totally charmed by all of the objects I have collected - their colors, textures, designs are very evocative for me. The way my whole place is set up and arranged is also very evocative for me. Every single pair of earrings I have, every bracelet, every vase, etc. all bring up a special network of feelings, dreams, ideas, memories, etc. An object can easily hook these inner "networks" for me - so much so that I can sort through my confused internal state just be staring at, connecting with, and rearranging objects that are "hooked" to different inner elements. It has led to owning/purchasing "too many things" (now I need that money back!), but at the same time, I feel a sense of completeness - and each thing is so special - it's like I finally get a chance to see an aspect of my inner self reflected in the outer world - whereas I guess NTs maybe experience that with each other (i.e. in other people rather than objects). I am antsy and uncomfortable until a space is complete and comforting. I relate to the overwhelming sense of peace and joy" that Suzanne mentions experiencing when she views the arrangement of the swing chair. I react strongly like this to paintings and pictures, too - I have soooo many saved on my computer, and so many I have printed out and framed.

 

[xudo]

I patted my car's center console and thanked it for a very long job well-done. I sold it last week.

I kicked my car and told it it was a piece of crap when it died on my 29th birthday. I was happy with the £100 I got when I scrapped it

 

[Vanessa32]

i get that way sometimes. For example. when i was a kid, i found some of my parents old high school yearbooks. There were some pictures of empty school hallways, and i recall feeling sad for the school, that it was empty and had no people in it.

I recently was in Detroit, and did something i had been wanting to do for a while, which was to find the Grande Ballroom. This is/was the place where, back in the late 1960s/early 1970s, a lot of well known rock bands played. Both local Michigan based bands like the MC-5 and Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and bands from elsewhere like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin's various bands. It was a VERY emotional experience for me! I was born in 1964 and thus was too young to have gone to the Grande when it was open and thriving. It is currently absentee owned by one of the many ******** Christian churches that seem to be everywhere, and is in severe disrepair with trees growing out of the empty windowframes. I actually found myself talking to the building, and promised it that if i ever have the means to save it, i will come back and do just that.

So yes, i understand feeling emotions for inanimate objects.

 

[Idahocalypse]

I get the feeling that each plush toy I own has its own personality and probably "comes to life" when I am not around - Toy Story left a big impression on me when I was a child. (And the scene where they come to life in front of Sid gave me nightmares!)

 

[Eruva]

My husband and I have discussed this before, and I call it The Wilson Debate. I thought the scene in Cast Away where Wilson was lost was so sad. My husband doesn't because he thinks it's silly to feel emotion for an inanimate object.

 

[Full Steam]

I believe this

Me too.

I remember reading somewhere about molecules and maybe electrons displaying intent.

Rupert Sheldrake covers some of this in his book The science delusion.

I also believe evolution shows intent, and is not random.

 

[Full Steam]

I kicked my car and told it it was a piece of crap when it died on my 29th birthday. I was happy with the £100 I got when I scrapped it

I had a triumph spitfire once that hated me.

The feeling was mutual.

I love old and abandoned old buildings, especially old train yards, industrial buildings from the industrial revolution onwards.

They don't make me feel sad as they've had their time in the sun, but they make me feel quite happy.

 

[oregano]

I love old things, for some reason I view World War 2 as a big turning point in history even though I was born in 1974.

I have a couple derelict old tube radios in my closet awaiting restoration, one was made in 1939 and I got it from a distant descendant of the original owner and I can imagine that person listening to news of the attack on Pearl Harbor and of the surrender of the Axis on it. Another is a 1942 model year radio and it's kind of strange because the cabinet, the handle, and the knobs are all different types of plastic.

After Pearl Harbor FDR ordered all civilian industrial production ended and the factories retooled for the military. I can imagine the midlevel managers at the GE plant in Schenectady saying "We're all out of bakelite handles for the L-522! We've gotta use the catalin ones!" and then later "All our knobs for the L-522 are gone, but we still have some bakelite cabinets and catalin handles! You say we still have some plaskon knobs that will work? Use them, we've got to use everything up before we start production for the Signal Corps!"

I also have an old hot water bag that was made during the war as part of a special program meant to replace civilian items that were no longer serviceable. The thing is, this bag was never used. I can imagine some poor sap begging and begging his local ration board for a new bag, and then when he FINALLY gets it he comes home and his wife says "Honey, I found a way to repair our old one! We don't need a new one!" And then the guy who has spent a month or two arguing with the guys on the ration board for a new bag throws it on the floor and cries.

I always wanted to live in an old, ornate apartment, and when I lived in San Francisco in the mid 90s I finally got my chance. The problem was not only the mice and roaches, but the extremely bizarre vibe of the place, it literally gave me very bizarre nightmares. I finally had to break my lease and flee. That said, I love most old buildings, and like to imagine men in impeccable suits and women in Victorian dresses meeting their friends in the front parlor for tea. When I see an old house that has been "modernized" it makes me very sad, somebody ripped the soul out and now it is just a husk.

 

[Judge]

I had a triumph spitfire once that hated me.

The feeling was mutual.

It sounds like it may have been related to my 79 MGB. It hated me too.

 

[Pondering]

Although I don't view objects on the same level as a living being, they tend to hold equal, if not greater familiarity, which provides a comfort. People change. Objects don't. A rock today will be a rock tomorrow. People can leave. But if you set a rock on a shelf, it will be there on the shelf until you or someone else moves it. A visible change. Especially if they are the objects that follow us throughout our lives. It can be something as simple as a pencil or as complex as a building. I've never minded parting with fancy erasers, but stealing my oldest pencils was always a bigger issue for me, more in times past. I also think I'm more attached to vocabulary, colors, and information than things, though. Some words actually feel like friends.