"I’ve been to the other world (?) (Feat. Immersion)"

It was the late 2000s. At the time, I was working overseas for a few years.

As with many overseas jobs, I began to feel the weariness of loneliness and boredom. Around that time, I remembered that I had taken a semester of golf lessons during my school days. Coincidentally, one of my colleagues mentioned that there was an 18-hole golf course near our accommodation where we could play for a reasonable price. That’s how I ended up starting golf.

Here’s a brief rundown of my daily routine back then:

• I would go to bed around 10 or 11 PM and wake up at 4:30 AM.
• After driving 20–30 minutes and crossing the border, I would arrive at the golf course.
• From 5:30 to 7:30 AM, I’d play the front nine holes.
• Then, I’d return to my accommodation, shower, have a quick breakfast, and head to work.
• During work hours, if I happened to make eye contact with my colleague, we’d inevitably start talking about golf.
• After finishing work at 5:30 or 6 PM, I’d change clothes and head back to the golf course to play until it got too dark to see the ball (the sun would stay up until 8 or 9 PM in the summer).
• After returning, I’d watch golf videos until falling asleep.

I repeated this lifestyle for over a month.

Then one day, during what I assume was a weekend, something extraordinary happened. It was midday, and I was walking down the fairway after teeing off on the first hole when I suddenly entered another world.

 

 

The 1st hole of the golf course looked something like this back then.

Entry into the Other World

It felt like time was slowing down—slowing down to an almost surreal pace. Every step I took felt as vivid as a photograph. It was just me and the golf ball in front of me, as if nothing else in the world existed.

Every swing I took landed the ball within a meter of the hole.

At the time, my golf skills were nothing more than beginner-level. My usual driving distance was around 150–160 meters, but during that moment, it felt like I was hitting the ball over 200 meters.

This state lasted until I reached the 3rd hole, where a second shot went out of bounds and snapped me out of it.

 

 

The 4th hole of the golf course looked something like this.

Complete Immersion

My life may be short or long, depending on how you see it, but I had never experienced something so intense before. Even now, I can recall that moment as vividly as if it happened yesterday.

The only other moment I can compare it to might be when I had a severe car accident—when time seemed to stretch out in a strange way.

At the time, I didn’t know what had happened. But later, I came to understand that this was what people call a state of “flow” or “immersion.”

It’s a state where the perception of time distorts as you focus deeply on an activity, whether it’s studying, exercising, or anything else.

Complete, peaceful immersion in something healthy and meaningful—perhaps experiencing such moments is the true secret to life.