Published on 12, July, 2020
I understand that many of us do not have jobs, and I know that those who do (myself included here) struggle a lot with them. This got me wondering about what dream job(s) we can think of, or even hope to do one day. It may be inspiring and help some of us find something that allows forum users to get a job or get a better-suited job.
I will put down some thoughts to get the ball rolling. My main priority is to be away from an office or busy environment.
1) work from home permanently doing some kind of PAYE employment for salary certainty. this would ideally just be for 2-3 days a week. if money was not a constraint then I would not do this work at all, and I would do something more fun like a gardening job in the summer, maybe become a landscape garden designer, write novels and short stories professionally.
2) design board games 1-2 days a week.
3) volunteer at a charity in a non customer-facing role 1 day a week.
4) maybe a part-time bike mechanic and/or frame builder 1 day a week. i can't afford the training costs and time needed to get the qualifications to do these things now but maybe in the future.
A 'portfolio' career is my ideal because I can get bored doing the same thing and this also allows me to think in terms of escapes - when things get too much doing job X I can flee to safety with job Y. I think this mental trick would be very beneficial for me.
How about you?
I would love to be a watchmaker or some other delicate craft but I sometimes get shaky hands, especially when nervous, and so in practice I could not do this. the idea is wonderful though. being a maker, creating something, just sounds so nice and rewarding.
i have realised this is actually a very helpful but frustrating exercise for me. the things I want to do are really nothing to do with the qualifications and experience I have, and what I am good at - with the exception of the board game design I suppose. I have three quantitative-based degrees from universities, am a reasonable logician and coder, have been published twice in good academic journals, but all i really want to do is make simple things like bike frames and create nice landscapes in gardens. perhaps I am running away from a world that is scary and challenging and I am too old and tired now to keep dealing with it.
degrees from universities, am a reasonable logician and coder, have been published twice in good academic journals, but all i really want to do is make simple things like bike frames and create nice landscapes in gardens
Perhaps the grass is always greener but I too have the same issues. Qualifications in things I cannot use. I sometimes spend hours crocheting because it gets me to that zone of nothingness. I watched something that may be useful. The person was saying that for an Autistic person to decompress, they needed to do a "special interest." This is what I've been doing unintentionally. I'm glad everyone is posting here as it's given me more ideas on what I might like to explore as hobbies or distractions....
Yep we usually have one interest and one fixation for me it's Warhammer
The person was saying that for an Autistic person to decompress, they needed to do a "special interest."
intuitively this feels right for me. these are the things that are my reward and escape from the day, the struggles etc.
not sure if it qualifies as a special interest but when things are too much even for a special itnerest it helps to have a release for energy/frustration. screaming and shouting alone in a room or garage can be good. i have a rubber mallet which i hit the floor of my garage with (covered in gym mats) which is a good way to relieve stress, believe me. extreme stimming, anger abatement etc.
I watched something that may be useful. The person was saying that for an Autistic person to decompress, they needed to do a "special interest."
Oooh, is there any way of finding what it was that you watched? I'd be very interested to see it. I've been thinking about how difficult it is for me to rest (not sleep rest, but I guess relaxation rest - I like the word you used, 'decompress') and did a quick Google for tips but could only find stuff about sleep problems instead.