Re: The point of no return.
I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THE MIND STATE YOU ARE DESCRIBING! For me personally, it's not so much about specifically wanting the pop, but the point of just pushing that balloon bigger and bigger to see how large it will get...
I love large round balloons, and in particular have a soft spot (hard spot?) for 24" Tuftex, so there is lots of time to appreciate the process and change in my mental state. Lately I've noticed that I'll start with longer, bigger, slower breaths spaced more apart (like 10 slow breaths, then feel the tightness and stretch the neck a little, then repeat). As the balloon gets tighter every time I check it and starts to get a little pear-shaped as it stretches, I'll hit that "point of no return" and feel the need to keep pushing it bigger and bigger, not stopping because I know it might pop in my hand while I've stopped blowing, and I always feel disappointed that it could have gotten even larger and tighter if I kept going. Without really meaning to, I'll blow shorter, faster, more constantly, and with fewer (or no) breaks to stop and check the size and tightness. Just bigger, bigger, bigger, until I hit the limit for that balloon!
Once I noticed this change in breathing, I started to wonder why... I think that psychologically this feels more like inflation by a machine, and I see the balloon expanding at a very steady rate that feels "unstoppable" and makes me even more excited about watching it get as big as possible (did I mention that this is almost always in front of a mirror?). It's always just that excitement taking over to see just how big that Tuftex 24 will get... and if this is the second or third inflation, the answer is "pretty damn big"!
Because I love overinflating very large balloons, the time between the onset of "it's almost there, don't stop" thoughts and the point when the balloon really can't take any more and finally pops can be quite a surprisingly long time. The "point of no return" you describe is really when I start to tune out any outside distractions and focus purely on the balloon at hand. It's very relaxing to me to feel the world disappearing and have that laser focus on the latex in front of me, watching it grow, feeling it get tight, watching it go more teardrop-shaped, and waiting, waiting, probing to see just how big and how tight this one will go... and then BOOM, and the outside world snaps back into focus as latex shreds fly across the room. It's really a very meditative experience, blanking out everything in the world other than an incredibly tight balloon in front of me.
Come to think of it, it has been a stressful day at work, and along with all of my brand new ones, I do have a half-dozen or so crystal purple and emerald green Tuftex 24's that have managed to survive a couple of big inflations so far... maybe it's time to see just how big they'll really get!
I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THE MIND STATE YOU ARE DESCRIBING! For me personally, it's not so much about specifically wanting the pop, but the point of just pushing that balloon bigger and bigger to see how large it will get...
I love large round balloons, and in particular have a soft spot (hard spot?) for 24" Tuftex, so there is lots of time to appreciate the process and change in my mental state. Lately I've noticed that I'll start with longer, bigger, slower breaths spaced more apart (like 10 slow breaths, then feel the tightness and stretch the neck a little, then repeat). As the balloon gets tighter every time I check it and starts to get a little pear-shaped as it stretches, I'll hit that "point of no return" and feel the need to keep pushing it bigger and bigger, not stopping because I know it might pop in my hand while I've stopped blowing, and I always feel disappointed that it could have gotten even larger and tighter if I kept going. Without really meaning to, I'll blow shorter, faster, more constantly, and with fewer (or no) breaks to stop and check the size and tightness. Just bigger, bigger, bigger, until I hit the limit for that balloon!
Once I noticed this change in breathing, I started to wonder why... I think that psychologically this feels more like inflation by a machine, and I see the balloon expanding at a very steady rate that feels "unstoppable" and makes me even more excited about watching it get as big as possible (did I mention that this is almost always in front of a mirror?). It's always just that excitement taking over to see just how big that Tuftex 24 will get... and if this is the second or third inflation, the answer is "pretty damn big"!
Because I love overinflating very large balloons, the time between the onset of "it's almost there, don't stop" thoughts and the point when the balloon really can't take any more and finally pops can be quite a surprisingly long time. The "point of no return" you describe is really when I start to tune out any outside distractions and focus purely on the balloon at hand. It's very relaxing to me to feel the world disappearing and have that laser focus on the latex in front of me, watching it grow, feeling it get tight, watching it go more teardrop-shaped, and waiting, waiting, probing to see just how big and how tight this one will go... and then BOOM, and the outside world snaps back into focus as latex shreds fly across the room. It's really a very meditative experience, blanking out everything in the world other than an incredibly tight balloon in front of me.
Come to think of it, it has been a stressful day at work, and along with all of my brand new ones, I do have a half-dozen or so crystal purple and emerald green Tuftex 24's that have managed to survive a couple of big inflations so far... maybe it's time to see just how big they'll really get!
Comment