I Am Not Always Feeling Emotions

[queerbychoice]

Usually when I see Mikie online, we start the conversation by asking each other how we are. Usually Mikie answers this by saying that ey is either especially upset or especially happy (upset is more common). Usually I answer it by saying that I am "okay," although on rare occasions there is something I'm especially upset or happy about too, in which case I will say so. But more often I'm just "okay." Later in the conversation, every hour or so, Mikie will usually ask again how I am, but usually my emotions do not change on an hourly basis and so I am still the same way I was earlier. Since just repeating "okay" endlessly makes me feel boring, I usually answer by simply specifying what I am doing, because I figure that this conveys more information than simply "okay," and I figure that my "okayness" can simply be inferred from the fact that I am engaged in an activity which would not tend to make me feel particularly ecstatic nor particularly awful. However, Mikie always feels that I am evading the question and asks me again frustratedly, "Yes, but what are you feeling?"

chisparoja1: how are you?
QBC 101: i am reading an argument between two of my lj friends. it is being conducted civilly.
chisparoja1: yes but how are you? how do you feel?
QBC 101: i am okay. i am feeling simply interested in what i am reading. it confuses me when you expect me to always be feeling some more specific emotion at every single moment. the percentage of my life that i spend feeling specific emotions that can be put into words in a way other than by describing what i'm doing is rather small.
chisparoja1: :/
QBC 101: do you not have a "default, not really feeling anything in particular right now" emotional state???
chisparoja1: nope
QBC 101: i can't imagine this.
chisparoja1: i don't understand how you can not feel anything.
QBC 101: i don't understand how you can *always* feel something!
chisparoja1: :p

So! I am now investigating this further. Please satisfy my curiosity.

[Poll #234856]

Comments

[mainfisch.livejournal.com]

Kind of it seems that you and Mikie kind of
"inverted" a "typical" "problematic" talk between
women and men:

W: What are you thinking, honey?
M: Nothing.
W: But that's impossible!
M: Why can't I just sit around without thinking anything!

Erm. Regarding the poll, my answer was "yes,
I think so", but I should explain that there
are a lot of background feelings and emotions
of which I think that I don't want to mention
them in particular - it's kind of continuous
background noise.

And then I learned in my English lessons, that
"how are you" is a question that demands the
same question in reply, and no one will ever
consider to answer to this, except the answer
is something like "FINE!!!" and a MASSIVE
ATOMIC HANDSHAKE, and a grin that is so bright
that it darkens the sun. ;-)

The German equivalent to this seems to work
in the same way, you never consider to be
either verbose or "negative" if someone is
asking "Wie geht's?"