Presence is the focus of consciousness in the current moment and place, rather than contemplating other times and locations. It involves the feeling of heightened awareness of the setting, with the emphasis placed on self-awareness in this context.
The emotion of feeling absorbed is similar to presence, but grants more power to the external context. Whereas presence is achieved through the cultivation of an internal frame of mind, people feel absorbed when an external context proves especially compelling.
The metaphor of being absorbed in a situation is plain. The self is imagined to be a fluid, like a puddle of water, and external circumstances are thought of as something like a sponge, sucking the self into its matrix so that the two become as one. In the process, the identity of the person who feels absorbed takes on the shape of the thing they find so absorbing.
It isn’t just physical settings that can make people feel absorbed. Humans have the ability to become absorbed in scenarios that have never taken place. We can become absorbed in our own daydreams and fantasies. We also become absorbed in stories, whether we are consuming or creating them.
The writer Prarthana S. Sannamani explains, “I believe that to write well, you have to get absorbed into it. You have to feel like you have entered your novel’s world, and you are the character you are writing about. It is near impossible to write about emotions unless you live them in the your mind. There have been times when I write for hours without realising, and when I finally look up, I feel like I have just woken up.”
