posted May 20, 2008 02:50 AM         

Do you notice the physical or the psychological? Physical details or emotional mood and atmosphere?

I'm notorious for not noticing physical details. My attention is much more on the psychological.

An example of this happened earlier this evening. I was about to cook dinner when my SO came in the kitchen to talk to me. Since he saw what I was about to cook, he brought me what he knew I would be using (olive oil) and placed it on the counter in front of me. I put my hand on the bottle and held it there while we were talking. When the convo was over, I looked at the area of the counter where we normally keep the olive oil. With my hand on the olive oil I said, "Huh, where' the olive oil?" He thought I was kidding and then became even more amused when he realized I wasn't and just waited smugly until I caught up with him.

Stuff like that happens to me often. I always notice the mood of others, their facial expressions, that sort of thing. I'm more tuned into the interior--of someone else and of myself--than to inanimate details. I become even more like that when I'm tired, which I was today. Those physical details will be the first to slip past my notice when I'm overtired or distracted, and those emotional details will endure the longest.

I think the way we observe the environment would be best shown by our Mercury and Asc. Any other ideas on that?

posted May 20, 2008 05:25 AM         

However, and this may sound completely contradictory, I get chronically confused by what is ACTUALLY said, misunderstanding peoples words etc. Maybe because I pick up on their non-verbal message so easily...

posted May 20, 2008 07:26 AM         

Once I meet my friends, I totally forget about myself and the environment, and really focus on them, their vibes first. I have Cancer Ascendant so that explains it I guess. And also Libra in Venus makes me want to pay extra attention to communicating in the right manner flawlessly..

posted May 20, 2008 08:35 AM         

heart cakes -
Yes to emotionally volatile. I noticed the moods not the flying objects. Although I agree with you about that type of environment tuning someone into emotional undercurrents (partly so as to help steer things on a more peaceful course), I also believe that what we have in us will make what's outside us impact and form us differently. My siblings aren't as oblivious to the physical as I am, but they're both earth signs. I consider myself deficient in this way. Have you eve taken the myers-briggs test? I've taken it several times over the past 10 years, and I'm always close to evenly split in the different categories (slightly more "I" than "E"; and so on) except for in the Intuition v. Sensing (N or S) category. I'm a lop-sided N.

anna -
I think our Asc sets the channel that we contact life through, so a watery Asc will add a perception of other people's emotions. I agree with you about Neptune's influence.

posted May 20, 2008 09:00 AM         

I don't go out there to make eye contact with people, I seldom ever look at people, unless my aim is to watch people. I am more aware at night than during the day, of my surroundings. My Neptune trines my Pluto and Saturn and squares my Sun. I don't know how relevant those placements are to my view.

I am oblivious to the world around me, but not really because I notice some odd things too. I am not one of those people who you can ask, "Do you remember so-and-so that we met last week?" because i will not remember so-and-so, but if I see so-and-so's face again, I will definitely remember him/her.

So, I don't forget people, I forget the environment in which I met them. Yeah, that's it. I don't forget what or who or why "it" happened, I just forget where and when it happened.

added: So, to answer your question jane, I don't know what catches my attention but it must be incredible for me to stop and see it because of this issue of mine. Shiny and colourful things get my attention. LOL, but it is only if that thing or person doesn't blend with the environment that I really pay attention. Yeah... something different and shocking gets my attention, whether is it shockingly active or passive. This has made me wonder because I have a very keen eye for detail. Like sound, I have a knack of hearing sounds, oe seeing shapes that are not in harmony with the rest of its surroundings, but I would generally not know there was a sound until the odd one came up. So to speak.

posted May 20, 2008 05:47 PM         

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just a thought.. but you had emotionally volotile parent/s, right? i would think this attunement would come from this kind of childhood environment. i know that's true for me.

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oh yeah, definately. If you grow up in a volatile environment, you naturally are aware of others moods, facial expressions, unexpressed emotions... so as to recognize anger/conflict and avoid it. Abused children are excellent at recognizing the subconscious signals of others... they do it out of survival.

posted May 20, 2008 06:12 PM         

I think I'm more in tune with emotional nature, aura, etc. because that's what I notice FIRST. Actually, what's odd is this... When I'm very singularly focused on a person or a small group of people, I will remember EVERYTHING, every emotion, every body movement, every detail (yay Virgo), every smell, every sound, etc. BUT, I'm not good at gathering in my entire environment. Oddly, I still manage to remember things that other people don't about what was going on around me, but it's a little more fuzzy.

I do tend to live in my own world when I'm out. If I'm walking down the street, I tend to miss people I know simply because I'm usually thinking about other things. In the past, my friends have made fun of me because they'll come up and start talking to me, tell me almost an entire story, and in the last 2 sentences of telling it, I'll look at them blankly and go: "Wait... What happened?" lol. Luckily I've gotten better at not doing that.

posted May 20, 2008 06:26 PM         

I'm more on the psychological/atmospheric response side. But that response is in itself partly physical ~ naturally my eyesight is very poor. I don't rely on it.

Facial expressions are no help without contact lenses/glasses. I can't see faces. Certainly not eyes. But I have plenty of arguments with people without being able to see them properly. It is a bit weird if you are used to relying on physical signals. But if I have to get up in the middle of the night it is handy, no need to disturb anyone by switching on lights. I can manage fine.

Mercury in Taurus Trine Pluto, chart ruler.

posted May 22, 2008 02:05 AM         

I'm exactly like this too...

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One thing I have always known about myself is that I am oblivious to the world around me. When I in any environment, be it home or out there, I seem to be in my own little world. I have selective seeing, hearing and awareness. I am always in my own thoughts. People are always reprimanding me for ignoring them, not greeting them, etc. And it is just because I didn't notice you, or see you. That's it. Nothing personal.

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Like you, that's my default way of being. Once I'm in a social situation, my attention is on the people I'm with. Even then, though, at times I turn on that selective attention switch.

Maybe I'm just rude , but just b/c I'm with other people doesn't mean that I feel obliged to give that environment my attention all the time. I can handle only so much external stimuli before wanting to escape into my own mind to think.

posted May 22, 2008 02:45 AM         

I remember one topic about homosexuality where we almost, if we did not, end the discussion because we high-jacked the thread, talking about stalking each other on LL etc. Hee.

Pensive is the word to describe me most of the time.

Maybe we are rude but as you said, I couldn't be bothered to be on full alert all the time. I think it is having a short attention span also, so we quickly lose interest amongst people and delve into our thoughts because they are more interesting than what's going on around us?? I dunno.

And, I have found it quite strange how people recognize each other in traffic from another car, especially if it's on coming traffic with reflections on windows and stuff. I have never waved at someone I know on the road, nor have I seen a car I know whiz by, NEVER... not even at the traffic light. Why? Because I am busy being spaced out and daydreaming or whatever I do. But, I never miss the green light, I always drive so as to anticipate other people's driving so it's not like I am not there completely...

posted May 22, 2008 05:14 AM         

But I don't regret seeing your pic. Hot. I expected no less. Let the stalking commence!

I left the thread before looking at the other posts, but I'll sneak back in with my eyes closed to post my chart. Maybe even a pic...

lol about not noticing people in traffic. Many times people have told me that they saw me and even with their honking I didn't notice them. So self-absorbed. It's a miracle I'm still alive. After they told me, I'd be on the lookout for them as if they were Waldo (from the "Where's Waldo" books) and feel such pride when I did notice them. But after accomplishing that once, I'd go back to being oblivious.

I've never thought of zoning out in social situations as being due to a short attention span. It's actually been a joke for years now with people I know that I have Attention Surplus Disorder since I'll focus for a long time on something to the exclusion of noticing anything else.

I think you're right, and that's a part of it too. But I don't think it's so much a short attention span as it is a moodiness about where to deeply focus attention. Sometimes communication or the outside world in general is just not where I want to focus and I get irritable if forced to do so. Looking at your chart (what a convenient thread), we both have Moon square Merc. I think that's where that moodiness could stem from. Saturn's also involved for both of us (mine sextiles Mercury), and I think that's why we're so rigid with our moods, going quiet and inside even in situations where doing so may be rude. Oh and you have Pluto involved, while I have Merc in Scorpio. It's all coming together!

posted May 22, 2008 06:15 AM         

Actually, you have just reminded me of something else about me. For some reason, when I walk down memory lane with people, people always recall a mutual incident worse than I remember it. People always remember how awful things were, or how awful a certain person was - and I am always like, "no... it/he/she wasn't that bad, surely you must be exaggerating because I don't remember being that stressed over it."

Hmmm...

posted May 27, 2008 08:02 PM         

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I think it is having a short attention span also, so we quickly lose interest amongst people and delve into our thoughts because they are more interesting than what's going on around us?? I dunno.

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You ever have those moments when you snap back to reality, and realize you've missed everything a person's been saying to you directly?

I think, "Oh no! Someone's talking to me. Did they realize I wasn't paying attention? I'm looking right at them, and they're still talking, so I must be in the clear."

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What in your environment do you notice first?

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Not names. That's for sure. I seem to be pretty bad at names...at least in relation to my girlfriend who picks them up quite easily.

I notice beauty a lot. I love when nature presents its beauty to me.

quote:

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Do you notice the physical or the psychological? Physical details or emotional mood and atmosphere?

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Whatever I feel like really. I'm usually inside my own head a great deal. I'm not necessarily too concerned with my friends around me. If I had to worry about them, they wouldn't be my friends. I expect a bit of freedom to be aloof.

If I'm disengaged from the conversation, then I'll be noticing physical things.

If I'm paying attention to the conversation, then I'll be mining for infomation about people. I will almost always perk up if someone's birthday comes into play, so I can figure out what sign they are.