Do you like or want to - work?

It was me who said about being a human being not a human doing.

I think theres a lot of pressure not only to work, but to do the "right" work, its often dependent on class and the social expectations that go with it, education plays its role in this too. How much education is encouraged or not, there's still a lot of people who discourage education and others who over value it, especially when they can't except that they're chid isn't that accademic.

I would love to go back to hairdressing, I love being in a salon, the smells of the chemicals, all the equipment and the feeling of making people happy, I mis the creative and artistic side of it too.

I would love to go back to university, I miss the discipline of study and the access to resourses that I just can't get anywhere else.

I do structure my days, with dog walking, shopping, cooking, reading, tv watching done at certain times and not others, I think it's important to dave structure when you're not working, as otherwise I find people sort of drift into aimlessness and  depression.

I hate being asked 'what do you do?' Having been someone who's had a career tangent rather than a path, people don't know how t pigeon hole me, even when I worked in a shop it wasn't a "normal" shop, it was a wholefood co-operative and I'd spend my evenings explaining the business model of a co-operative or talking about peoples food issues. As a hairdresser I had people either tell me about who bad all hairdressers were or asking me questions and for advice. When I was a counsellor, people would tell me all sorts of things I didn't want to know. When I was working at a B&B abd Retreat house, running retreats and looking after those taking them, people would either give me a funny look and go away, or they'd start asking me questions of the sort they thought they could bully me over, they didn't because I didn't give them the answers they needed to do so. Some people were really interested, especially busy Mums who liked the idea of spending a week in silence, not having to listen to the constant chatter of small children and having the space to listen to one of their own thoughts from one end to another without interuption.

Hi Cat Woman, I understand what you mean about people trying to pigeon hole you - I think they need to work out what your identity is, which to them includes occupation, so they can assess whether you are "their kind of person", whether they want you in their circle, and whether you are above or below them in status. We of course couldn't care less what someone does for a job - we just might be interested in what it involves or whether they enjoy it.

I also agree with you about structure. Now I'm retired I'm trying to get that in place. I'm thinking of doing some open learn free online study with the open university - have you tried that?

Hi Cat Woman, I understand what you mean about people trying to pigeon hole you - I think they need to work out what your identity is, which to them includes occupation, so they can assess whether you are "their kind of person", whether they want you in their circle, and whether you are above or below them in status. We of course couldn't care less what someone does for a job - we just might be interested in what it involves or whether they enjoy it.

I also agree with you about structure. Now I'm retired I'm trying to get that in place. I'm thinking of doing some open learn free online study with the open university - have you tried that?

Hi Desmond, I know what you mean. I did the Accounting Technician level 3 qualification whilst working full time - I was around 40 at the time so had more energy than I do now, but it was still very intense and pretty exhausting.

Now I'm retired I just want something to focus on and help keep my mind active. The open learn courses have no essays or reports to write and no deadlines, so it's a relaxing way to learn, at your own pace.

However, if learning is not for you, you should definitely not feel you should be studying. We are all different and all have different abilities, needs and ways of coping. I hope you have your life structured to suit you now. Feeling content, no matter what we do or don't do, is the aim.

I have too many qualifications. And, now, I don't feel mentally capable of further study. Thirteen years ago, I began an Accounting Technician course; then suffered burnout, the following January. I quit the course, and my life went back into tailspin.

I can't cope with such intensity.

I have too many qualifications. And, now, I don't feel mentally capable of further study. Thirteen years ago, I began an Accounting Technician course; then suffered burnout, the following January. I quit the course, and my life went back into tailspin.

I can't cope with such intensity.

I have too many qualifications. And, now, I don't feel mentally capable of further study. Thirteen years ago, I began an Accounting Technician course; then suffered burnout, the following January. I quit the course, and my life went back into tailspin.

I can't cope with such intensity.

Hello NAS95499 (might be a good idea to choose a nickname so we can recognise you) - welcome to the forum.

I studied with the OU some years ago - I was going to do an open degree, but at that time you couldn't get a student loan for OU and it became too expensive to keep paying for modules - however one of the courses I did was a stand alone qualification as well as counting towards a degree, so I completed that which gave me a diploma in social sciences. It was very interesting, but I was only doing it for the pleasure of learning - the qualification has never been used to get a job.

I don't want or need any qualifications now I'm retired and don't have spare money to pay for courses or loan repayments, so the OU free open learn courses are a good option for me.

Glad to hear it was good for your anxiety to join in the discussion.

Hello. I'm brand new here. I wasn't even going to post, I was just trying to distract myself from an anxiety attack, but I saw your comment about the Open University & felt compelled. You should absolutely study with the OU. I started out doing one of their free courses & ended up doing an Access Module with them.

With the free short courses I recommend you give yourself a schedule, otherwise it can be hard to stay focused & not wander off to another subject half way through. 

The official Access Modules are free to study if you meet certain criteria, otherwise they cost £900. Each module is 1 year & there are 4 modules to choose from: Arts & Languages... Business & Law.... Science, Technology & Maths... Psychology, Social Science & Wellbeing.

I did art & languages as it was something I have always struggled with, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. I'm thinking of going back to do psychology next. It was mostly enjoyable because you have the freedom to study when it's convenient for you. You have an online account that shows every piece of work that needs completing & when it needs to be completed by. You get 2-3 hours of work per week but you can speed ahead if you want to. You get an essay assessment every few months but they explain exactly how these should be structured and what questions you should ask/answer. You get assigned a tutor who you can contact any time, but they will always book an appointment to call you so no social surprises. The OU also have a helpline which can advise on everything from further studies to housing issues, benefits, even help to pay for your WiFi whilst you study if necessary.

As you can tell, I'm very happy with the Open University. I love learning but I ended up dropping out of school, and then college, and then I've quit every job I've ever had, so to finally find somewhere where the system was autism-friendly by default, somewhere I could actually succeed ... It genuinely gives me a spark of hope on the tough days. If they can do it, maybe other sectors of society can too.

Sorry for the info dump, but on the plus side, my anxiety has waned a little

 I'm not very good at putting links into messages, but here's trying:

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/

If you can get it to open it should take you to the main open learn web page, then if you scroll down you'll see a section headed "Pick a subject and start learning" 

If you then click on a subject, for example "History & The arts" then click the "free courses" tab that appears at the top.of the page, you should be able to see all the courses available in that section.

I thought I'd have trouble keeping quiet too and so did everyone else, but I didn't, I realised that so much of my talking was a mask, because it's an easier way of having attention than being called weird.

I might have another look at the OU if they're doing more courses, because most of them before were so limited

A silent retreat is an interesting idea - not sure I could shut up long enough to do it though 

The OU open learn courses are free, so no fees to pay, and online, so you just sign up (not much different to joining this forum) and study when you want to. After choosing a course, you then click "enter course" and study at your own pace. They are all short ones, mostly between 6 and 30 hours, but there are over 1000 to choose from.

I started the one called "Herodotus and the invention of history" today. It's interesting to me because Herodotus was used as a character in a video game I played called "Assassins Creed Odyssey" and I wanted to learn more about him and his writings. The course covers some passages of his text and also encourages critical thinking and assessing - such as how information is sourced and verified. 

Here is the course introduction, from the open learn website:

"With the information explosion online, how can you tell fake news from the real thing, or be more sensitive to how information can be weaponised? In the fifth century BCE, a Greek by the name of Herodotus faced a similar challenge when he set out to examine why his people, the Greeks, and the Persians went to war with each other. Chief among his tasks was deciding what and whom to believe, as he pieced together the events of the past. His response was to produce an enquiry (in Greek: historiē, which is where the English word ‘history’ comes from). Explore how Herodotus puts together his enquiry and learn how he makes the problem of finding out what happened to ours too."

It's interesting being sort of status free because your job dosen't match people expectations. It was also something interesting about being on silent retreat when you know nothing about the people you're with, the only judgements you can make involve the style and quality of their clothes and their table manners. But it feels like you get to know them from the inside out rather than the outside in, if that makes any sense?

I have looked at the OU and it's not for me, the courses mostly run over the summer and I want to be out and doing in summer, whereas wiinter seems a much better time to burrow in and study. I can't afford the fee's and don't understand the tech side of it. I've looked at numerous short courses and none of them have appealed to me enough to feel worth the effort, there are also a lack of them in the areas I'm interested in.