Cards in your active area MAY be moved to the discard or lost pile (depending on their symbol or the symbol of the action which placed them there) at any time and in order to meet game requirements, so you can think of them as already discarded or lost. When you recover discard cards (by resting, for example) or lost cards (through special actions), you have the choice of picking up corresponding cards in your active area OR leaving them in play. Discardable cards in the active area may be lost to negate damage (technically moving them to the discard pile first). Cards in the active area are not considered to be in your hand.