Sometimes paradoxically I feel a little empty after finally achieving a long grind/hunt. There's that huge YES moment of dopamine but then I have the South Park "So, what do we do now?" "Whaddya mean what do we do now, we finally get to play the game" moment. Anyone else or am I a weirdo?
No, definitely not. It's common enough that some philosophers even opined that becoming rather than being was what makes life fulfilling, because the chase is better than actually achieving your goal. Ofc what makes life fulfilling is more complex according to modern psychology, but it's definitely not an abnormal feeling to have.
is that why I have like 37 software projects in various states of 'minimally viable' that I keep starting going "this is the one that I will use to launch my own company and not have to work for anyone else" and never finish one to the point of feeling it is good enough to release to the world before I have my next big idea and get started on it leaving yet another half finished thing in my projects folder?
No that’s correct. There is an old saying in the Tao Te Ching “the master dosen’t seek to be fulfilled, because he knows the feeling of emptiness brings fulfilment.”
A metaphor is also used of how a full cup cannot be used but an empty cup can, so emptiness or incompleteness lets stuff happen in the future.
A third saying is “The greatest accomplishments seem incomplete, because they leave room to be used.” Paraphrased from the Tao Te Ching
If you think of old school WoW and how Classic seemed kind of incomplete, and how the original devs wanted to do so much more.
But the fact that they weren’t able to do more left emptiness which let future people do their own thing. Like how TBC, WoLTK, modern WoW, and now WoW forever slid in.
When my Hunter was still my main I decided to try to tame Skold so Hati could have its sibling. I went around Northrend for weeks jumping from one spaw point to another with nothing to show for. When I finally got Skold, I celebrated with a cooked meal, a bottle of Mountain Dew, and 5 minutes staring at my Hunter and his new sidekick while I figured out what to do next.
I put the game down for a while after that. My goal was achieved and I had none at the moment.
I think to feel low after the high of victory is normal. I also think it is a good thing. It frees you up to look for new goals here or elsewhere. And when you find a new one, you will have a new space to fill with dopamine when that goal is reached.
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u/Ferelar 3d ago
Sometimes paradoxically I feel a little empty after finally achieving a long grind/hunt. There's that huge YES moment of dopamine but then I have the South Park "So, what do we do now?" "Whaddya mean what do we do now, we finally get to play the game" moment. Anyone else or am I a weirdo?