I was into cars, like seriously. Super charged camaro with an old roots blower level serious. I had a heart thing one night in a Target and asked myself after, what good is it all if I can’t hotrod me. Four years later I was racing bicycles and 160 pounds lighter.
After the 7th car to hit me broke my neck and back, I shifted into Arduino and compute stuff. I can do KiCAD, analog and digital hardware design and etch my own boards.
I can’t really go anywhere any more, so I mess around with rooftop astronomy from time to time. Like I make eye pieces and have a little azimuth telescope hacked with a ESP32.
I’m usually into the basal stuff. So like If I take a pottery class, I might play along for awhile but I am looking to learn and do other things. I am not interested in just the typical art. I’m looking at how to build the kiln, metal casting, and the supporting ceramics I can feasibly make versus buy. I would absolutely love to be Ben on Applied Science and have a lab like his. Controlling heat is a big part of that. The easiest entry point to said heat is pottery. The most expensive technique for getting into a new technology like kilns is to blindly start buying junk. You’ll save a ton of money and time just taking that pottery class and getting practically familiar with the tools and limitations in a space where you can ask experienced people questions.
Here is the thing: if you were in solitary or you had ALS, you likely would not give up. While you likely believe your interests and capabilities define you, they will not help you in a situation like this. When you are faced with a situation where you are forced to redefine yourself, survival largely pivots on your realization and redefinition for curiosity. Curiosity is the most fundamental force and survival mechanism. Your specialization is fine and admirable but in the worst of situations, it will not save you. In fact it may cause you even more difficulty to overcome. You are human, and likely a survivor. Therefore you are likely far more adaptable than you are aware. Personally, I am not so concerned with someone that shares all of my many interests. I am only concerned with someone that can match my curiosity. We are all only a product of our environment. Someone with a curiosity that rivals my own will always be interesting to me. Our environment will intertwine with time.
I learned the hard way with muses. It is easy for someone to yield to my interests and curiosities, losing themselves to a whirlwind. I change a lot with time, and someone like that never evolves with me. Those were the people that I thought shared my interests and existed in the same space. Those lasted a few years each, but nope, not for me. I want a rival of curiosity, because that is someone I can respect long term.
Cypher@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
So science yoga. You could skip the science part if you want but it’s easy to come off as a creep, as yoga classes are classic creep bait.
I had lots of success with picking up ladies at public semi-sporting activities like ice skating sessions and rock climbing.
Stuff where you can talk and help someone new learn without judgement while also building a bit of trust.
Helps if you’re fit but just doing this stuff regularly sorts that out.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
if yoga isn’t your thing, tai chi does similar things