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I'm a musician and go to a jam session every Tuesday and on most Friday's I volunteer my guitar playing to a studio, which works with folk that have mental health issues that wish to try and write and produce their own songs and music. I've recently found a art group near where I live and considering giving it a try. Its been years since I last did any art. I used to be pretty good at it.
I recently joined a rambling club. The events which I have attended so far consist of a walk then a meal at a reasonably priced eaterie. The organisers put in a lot of work goes into planning these walks (routes, interesting features etc) and which eating places to go to, so I am glad that I joined. I find that it is a good way of meeting other people, getting exercise and having something to talk about at work etc.
In the past I have gone to part time classes etc. mainly to try and improve my job propects. The last time, I attended a college about forty miles away from my home and it was interesting being immersed in an area with a different accent and sense of humour. Most of the learning materials were online and could do practice tests etc online - a far cry from how learning used to be. I also enjoyed doing well at the units. Overall a positive experience. However, due to spending cuts there seem to be less part time study places available now.
Alopochen I think I enjoyed it because it was something I could do. A lot of day centre activities are geared to practical skills and I'm not good with those. Also I just like walking though I am wary of walking too far on my own because of my poor sense of direction. It was a chance to have a good walk without fear of getting lost..
Hi Alopochen!
Within work, there are social events quite often, so going to drinks or networking events is quite common! Outside of work, I meet for a spirituality-based youth group fortnightly, which is great fun! Then there's family socials as well, where we meet to catch up!
But there's more I'd like to get involved with!
Much love <3
Nothing at all. Years ago I did a walking group I enjoyed. We went as a group and came back as a group from the day centre I attended. I couldn't cope with a walking group that wasn't like that though. I have a poor sense of direction and need to be able to follow someone.
Thanks Starbuck. I’m forced, due to exhaustion, to take baby steps and as I do, I’m realising the importance and benefit of doing so, which will minimise the risk of crashing and burning, again!
Your plans sound perfect, you could also consider going along to your local allotments and having a chat to the folk there. Most people love the opportunity to talk about their special interest (nd or nt) and love the opportunity to help others by sharing their knowledge and wisdom, so I bet if you went along they’d be happy to chat to you and give you tips.
You are right BlueRay. We do rely on our interests a lot for happiness and contentment, so it is only right that they are allocated dedicated time in our busy schedules.
I'm currently looking at moving jobs so I can work closer to home, the idea being I can get home earlier and hopefully have more time to pursue the things I love.
For the time being, my partner has made me a raised growing trough and a potting bench - it's lovely!
This means I can do a bit of growing my own at home and if I find I do have the time, I can expand it to an allotment. I just like the idea of sharing knowledge on the subject and my partner said I do need to socialise if possible, so it might be a good starting point.
As for the art and music classes, everything I have found in my local area has been unstructured and not designed to improve skills or understanding. They are also very expensive for what they provide in my opinion. I would prefer a more structured course where I know what to expect before attending if possible.
I'll focus on the gardening with the hope of progressing to an allotment. The idea of a community kitchen and tea drinking sessions that I hear about from other allotment blogs sounds lovely.
Keep going with the baby steps BlueRay. It's more important that we get there eventually, rather than crash and burn trying.
I have 3 friends I can visit in their homes ocassionally, but that is all. I have tried classes but they are too difficult. I have had work in the past but that was also too difficult. I don't even like walking to the post box because there are often people walking dogs.
There were 23 of us in the group.
They were much better prepared and fitter than me and more experienced. Every one was well dressed with backpacks and walking sticks, sandwiches and drinks.
We had a couple of very heavy and steep climbs, lots of muddy fields, icey slippy paths and a mixture of woodlands, footpaths, road walking and almost invisible paths through fields.
Two breaks, 30min and 10min. Started at 10:30am ended 3:40pm
Nice scenery.
I made an effort to talk to people. Most were friendly, no obvious brush-offs. And many knew each other from previous walks.
Tired as hell at the moment with backache.
Yes, I count this group as my social activity. When we think of social activity, we think of it through the eyes of nt's, but that's not our idea of fun. So we need to reframe our idea of social activity and for me, this is a big part of mine and in many ways, the most perfect kind of activity or way of socialising. Everytime I come on here and read posts, a smile always comes to my face. I love how we talk and interact, it brings me joy, whereas most interactions with nt's, brings me the opposite and I'm bored of their conversations very quickly. Not always, I enjoyed tea at my mum and dad's house yesterday, with the family. I hardly said a word but I enjoyed listening to them talking, especially when the older ones were reminiscing about their childhoods as I was learning things about my mum and dad's lives that I didn't know, so I do like some social contact with them but I feel that this is where I get most joy from conversing.
When I lived in the Isle of Man, in the north of the island, there are few houses and the Internet and social media etc was a godsend for the kid who lived up there because he could interact with his friends who lived in the villages which meant he wasn't so isolated. The parents considered his time on the computer as his social time so they didn't mind too much that he spent time on the computer.
Yes, I recently joined an art group at the teachers house. I enjoyed it, there was only 5 of us, one autistic young man who sits at a table by himself and does his own thing although he's not anti social, he joins in the conversation sometimes and they all like him. Another woman has some physical difficulties, another one, a retired teacher I think, is a perfectionist and the other lady is a retired business owner. It's a nice group and very local but it costs £10 for 2 hours and we never know what we're going to do until we get there so it feels a bit disjointed to me. My friend told me about another excellent art group which is more structured and if you're on benefits you get it free, so I'm going to join that one.
I'd love an allotment but I'm not sure if that will happen, but my friend has one and although she is highly sensitive to just about everything and likes to keep social contact fairly minimal, I know that the allotment group are a very friendly group who help each other out and share regular cups of tea together, so I think you'd be most welcome if you got yourself an allotment.
I'm still finding my way with what I want to do, but I know that whatever we want to do, we will find a way to do it if we want it enough. There are many opportunities for people on low incomes although we have to do some digging to find them or get some help with that.
When I was working I found that it got in the way of everything I wanted to do, even buying the food I wanted from the shops I wanted. They were closed before and after work and often after work, I was too tired to do anything else. So this time, I'm creating my work to fit round my interests. The way I see it, our interests are of high importance to us, as we don't interact with the world in the same way nt's do, so for me, I have to put other things before the importance of work and also get other benefits from work, for example, interaction with others. So it's a slow process and I know my end goal, I'm just taking baby steps now to achieve it and I'm getting help with the steps I take.
Im sure it would be great if you got an allotment Starbuck.