Is it wrong or weird to think you don't belong on this earth or universe?

I have this feeling all the time. :) It’s one of the main tenets of my fantasy writing.

OR…it could be that we’re not real people…just figments of someone’s imagination…

lol Ahhhh !!

I think WAY too much, but it’s gotten to the point where I don’t know where reality stops and the real world begins. It bugs me and I can daydream all day if I wanted too. The problem is I know I need to snap out of it and find something to live and fight for…..instead of clinging onto my imagination…

I write too and am an artist…maybe us artistic creative people feel out of touch with reality…. is it wrong though ??

I doubt it…the best art comes from those who can give up all ropes to reality. Consider it a good thing that your imagination is that strong and that connected.

‘Sides, reality is so very boring. I do believe the two of us could not survive with only the cold factual world, yes? That unreachable place of the head is a salvation…

Just as the mathematicians and intellectuals can get buried in their books, so we can get buried in our pens and paintbrushes. :)

And there is nothing more humorous then an analytical mind trying to grasp the wild mind or us artfolk…ya know?

Not strange or weird at all, a common thought if you’re human. I know personally, I can’t wait to get the fuck out of here.

I’ve always felt like I belong somewhere other than Earth. I cant look at the stars in the night sky without feeling nostalgic or like I’m missing something.

Pah! Mere romanticism! It makes you feel some sense of connection (even if you feel isolated and like you don’t belong here) in a lonely world.

There have been times when I felt like an alien—and indeed I am one in some senses. I am not built the same way as other humans. Sometimes I don’t think like other humans. It is an isolating, horrible feeling, and it is easy, if you’re inclined that way, to remove yourself into fantasy to comfort yourself.

I do it all the time. But I know—fairly clearly—where that blurry line lies. When I don’t know where the line is, it’s because I’m trying to comfort myself and alleviate my isolation. So this answer is a fantasy—that I am like some others in this way. LOL.

I often think that would explain why I have such a disconnect between the majority of people around me, and my own values.

I’m certain everyone has felt this way some time or another in their lives.

Then we realize we aren’t all that special.

I feel the same way often. Maybe it will change one day when I get married and have kids.

Remembering back too my younger days, can relate with your question. Like most young people, the path of life is not easily found, but it will happen, and probably sooner than you think! Don’t take all this too serious. Learn too laugh at life! Don’t over think this ride…Just enjoy the ride!

Yes, it is wrong, in the sense that it’s incorrect. You do belong here.
You may feel out of place here, but you should realise that there is no place in the known cosmos where you could feel any more at home. If there exist other sentient species, you’d feel much, much more out of place if you went to live with them instead. Any other world would be even stranger to you than this world.
If you look at the big picture, big enough to include all the other places you could possibly be, this really is your home. You’re still one of us, humans, and this is where the humans live.

I used to have this sort of feeling too, for a long time. In my case it came from not fitting in with the other kids. I felt like a piece from a different puzzle.
It’s what has been feeding my fascination with “other worlds” for all my life. Fantasy and science fiction. Maybe that’s where I belonged.
But eventually I came to terms with the fact that twenty-first-century earth is the closest thing to a home world I’ll ever have. Even if you and I feel like we’re stranded on an alien planet, the best thing we can do is accept that situation and integrate. Make the most of life anyway.

I also found out that there are communities I fit into, by the way. I’ve come to think of the people of the internet as “my kind of people”. I’m sure there’s a group like that for everyone.

@Spinel
I’m an analytical mind. I’m also a daydreamer.

I have a feeling of not belonging, but it is different from yours. I do not feel I have been through this before. Where we are is unlike anything that has happened in the past. I feel as if our lives have become too complex and too cluttered and that we are in danger of a Brave New World scenario. I have a yearning for a simpler more communal life that is more connected to the natural world and less dependent on technology.

My fiancee feels the same way. Her previous therapist says he thinks she has borderline personality disorder when he gave her a list of the symptoms she said it was like reading her biography. I’ve only been on this site for a couple of days, but I’m going to try and paste the link to WebMD that talks about the symptoms and experience of borderline personality disorder. I hope this helps. http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/tc/borderline-personality-disorder-symptoms

My first thought is that maybe this is a just a biologically based psychological experience or state. We know that religious experiences, de-ja-vou, etc. can be triggered by stimulating or supressing certain areas of the brain. I think it’s interesting to wonder how much we feel and believe is biologically based. That gives us reason to second guess our feelings.

But I think my second thought is more practical: Listen, you were born here, you live here, and so why wouldn’t you belong here? None of us have any real evidence that we existed before this life or will exist after. But we have all had the unbelievable good fortune to be born, to have life, and to exist at the top of the food chain, the sentience scale, and in the most comfortable and prosperous culture on the planet. As a famous author wrote (paraphrasing here):

‘God made mud
And God said to some of the mud, “Get Up”
And I, mud, got up and looked around.
Oh what wonderful things I could see
Lucky me, lucky mud.’

Cockroaches would love to be us. Kids scavenging on Philippine trash piles for a living would love to be us. So we should appreciate our good luck and, if possible, help others to where we are.

I have a hard time understanding those who say they “can’t wait to get the hell out of here.” What’s the alternative?

BTW, the poem paraphrased (poorly) is from last rights of Bokkanun, by Kurt Vonnegut. Really, everyone should read it.

A certain degree of detachment is fairly normal. I went through a period in my life where I felt detached from those around me, and indeed, from most of humanity. I did get over it, however, and the interesting thing is that it was a degree of suffering that caused me to get over it! The mind works in strange ways.

@Grisaille I totally agree.

I went through this feeling when I was younger and it turns out it was a side effect of living with a malignant narcissist. I was a bit player in someone else’s life. Until I stepped out of my assigned role, nothing felt real. I’m not saying this is what is going on with you, but it’s what caused me to live and be aware that I was living in a dream state.

I feel this way often. I think it’s something a lot of artists feel. It’s very strong and real for me and I too could literally daydream all day long, thinking, contemplating life, etc, etc.
I wonder all the time why I’m here & what it is I was sent here to do. I try to remind myself that I need to live, breathe, enjoy every moment while I’m waiting to find out my task as such. It’s all one big learning experience. Sometimes it feels like a chore though. Sometimes I wish I could feel ‘at home’ if you will. At the same time, I love life and the ups and downs it throws my way. (sometimes)

No matter where you go…
There you’ll be.
The rest is semantics…

wait a minute, you mean you can’‘t adapt to a mechanised, soulless, charmless, industrio-world-wide complex that’s cannibalising itself in the name of progress and freedom?

@mammal

How very droll.

I think this is very common with people who have autism spectrum disorders. The world doesn’t make sense and other people are merely irritations. Fortunately I have this only to a very mild degree and am able to function in the world, albeit with effort and annoyance.

I think that maybe we’re using humans as simple beings we can inhabit so we can survive on this earth, but really we’re from somewhere else. I always thought how good it would be to wake up again in the place I’m really from or something, like after the thing I’m existing inside gets too bashed up and dies… But it feels like there are things in this place that maybe the thing o things or whatever from that place have put there as things that are really from there, or maybe we designed it before we did i dunno, like music and really beautiful stuff and in forests or whatever… but I’m probably wrong and am going to waste all time dreaming about stuff like that, then just die… =] oh well

@Scarlett, I know what you mean. I feel like I don’t belong here. I used to think that the stork was carrying me to a different planet, and I fell out here by mistake. Then by the time the mistake was realized, it was too late. Most of the time I don’t like it here. I’m not trying to hurry my departure or anything dramatic like that, but leaving will be ok with me.
Then, there’s the Desiderata. Let me give you just a couple lines….
“You are a child of the universe. no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”
Take the first step..

No, as long as the thought is temporary.

“I am but a traveller here. This is not my home. But whatever good I can do, whatever suffering I can alleviate while I am here, it is incumbent upon me to do so. Despite being a stranger in a strange land, my brothers and sisters are here too.”

I don’t belong no…. I am completely different to everyone I know… no-one thinks like I do and no-one understands. bollocks to everything It’s better alone anyway… no-one to judge you apart from yourself…

@lynneblundell
Isn’t everyone you know different from each other too?

yes…but there’s is an added dimension with other people that really… I don’t know…. I’ll shut up.

@lynneblundell I think it feels like the whole time on Earth there is so many systems and organisations and people to make us as human shaped as possible, like they/ it got so caught up in Earth life and humanity that they forgot everything and now see all this hollow human stuff as the ultimate and anything other than that a failure. Like people who don’t go chasing some seemingly ‘successful’ career, but might see and know and love the other part of them who watches them from beyond this existence (whatever it is). And it seems like when finally time or fate or whatever pushes us over the edge, that is what I really want, not a ton of money and power over some businessmen. I don’t mean doing that is bad though, because maybe for some people that is what shows them whatever they need to be shown, because it must be different for everyone, kind of what it is to absorb while they exist here. And then everything on Earth could all be connected to make the environment to give so many things/ people so many different situations.
Anyway I want to lie under some trees and not have any people to endure =P (i’m sure they’ll be much more pleased not to endure me =P) when i get to leave this universe =] . (As long as i get to take ze music with me =])

Woah sorry i rambled, feel free to beat me =/

@lynneblundell

We are a part of all that lives, but we have forgotten our purpose. As the only conscious, rational beings, of which we are aware, our purpose is to nurture and protect all life. Life is the only counter-entropic process in the universe, and our outsized brains place us in the unique position of being able to alter reality in many ways.

Artistic and creative people tend to be Hypo-Manic in the sense that they have mania to the degree that they can be creative and tap their potential more than others in most cases, but are still capable of being grounded enough to function successfully in life. There is nothing wrong with daydreaming and feeling out of touch, as we all do some or alot of the time, but when it interferes with being able to live our lives productively, then it is something more. Yes, completely empathize with where you are coming from… I often wonder if it is the fact that I am not challenged and thus, bored… or rather, overwhelmed and unable to cope. I have rapid discussions/conversations in my head. And I pour it all out into a creative outlet… writing, whether just to write my thoughts to exorcise my demons, or write music to purge what I am feeling. Either/or… it helps me to relate to myself and keep me grounded in some semblance of reality, however brief.

@Scarlett ~ do you not find just a tiny, eeny-meeny speckling of frisson in feeling like you are an outsider? It sort of comforts me to feel that I am not entirely of this world.

I know that somtimes i wish that someone would come and take me off this earth and let me live in peace in a whole other world….................................................I am young and i feel like this….............................what has the world come to :*( I like smiles better ......................................................... :>)

I don’t really remember when I started feeling like I don’t belong, but I am now 29, married to a wonderful man, I have a 1 year old son that I love more than anything, and I still feel that way. I see other people content with things family, friends, career and property and I feel sad because I know none of this things will make me truly happy. It’s interesting to see that when I search for “don’t belong in this world” on the internet I see a lot of people with my same interest like reading, painting, drawing and writing. I don’t know what else to say at least I know I’m not alone even if it feels that way…

Introverts are often more artistic and have a more internal view of the the world. We like things like art, books, writing, and music because it takes us into another world. The true definition of an Introvert is someone who thinks internally. As a result they tend to feel alone and out of place. They have large, vivid imaginations that cause them to see the world differently then society.
My guess is you have something in common with over half of the population which is…your an introvert. Heck this entire conversation is introverted. We love complex concepts and abstract ideas. This is why introverts feel bored in society. ‘Hey how you doin. the wheather is nice” just doesn’t cut it. In most countries like America, thats the norm because America is an extroverted based country. Ironically there are still over half of us that are bored and don’t feel like we belong, so to speak. So there is nothing wrong with having a huge imagination and feeling out of touch. Its very common.

Welcome, @Burba. I hope you stick around. That was very interesting and helpful. It seems like there’s a double whammy there. Introverts have a hard time reaching out to others so they have no idea how common it is to feel alone. I wonder if we all knew that we are so similar in this way, would we feel less alone? Somehow, I think not.

Thanks Scarlett for asking that question. I have been wondering this about myself most of my life. Glad to see I am not alone.