First Post!

[practicingbeingmyself]

This is my first post for a personal project that I hope will help me learn to be okay just being me.

I've been trying to stay away from social media. It's such a time waster and often puts me in a bad mood! I am working on being less negative, and there is so much negativity online that can mess up my progress. But it's tricky to stay away from social media when that's one of the only ways I can stay connected with friends who live far away. I'd been looking for a way to keep up with everyone in a way that doesn't involve "typical" social media like Instagram/TikTok/etc. I randomly thought of blogging, looked up sites I could use as blogs, and found this. I really hope I stick with it this time!

Here, I want to be totally honest about who I am and what I'm doing. Outside of work, that is. I've learned that often the things I do when I'm not working are related to whatever I'm obsessed with at the moment. But I'm often embarrassed to be so obsessed with things. Something I've been thinking about recently though is how much I love it when people have very niche interests. For example, I was just online earlier today and was reminded that I used to follow someone on TikTok who was obsessed with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and would post about it all year. They must have had a lot of fun this week! And I love those sorts of things, people having a good time just geeking out about the random things they love. So why am I so ashamed when I do it myself? That's something I want to change.

Right now, I'm really into Pokemon. I really want Pokemon to be my winter thing! It's fun, wholesome, playful, bright - and during gloomy (yet beautiful) Minnesota winters, it feels really good to be into something that's a great mood booster. I've been spending time with one of my Minnesota friends lately, and he's really into anime. I was never into anime much myself, but have been really enjoying watching the Pokemon anime. I watch it almost any chance I get! Even if most of the time I'm not paying very close attention to it... but that just means I can rewatch it when I'm finished and see lots of things for the first time!

I really want to make little figures of the characters for myself. Apparently in the '90s there was a set of finger puppets made for children but of course they're collectibles now, and I'd been looking to maybe get some of them, but that might not be a good financial decision... And with all the craft materials I have, I figured it would be better all around to just make them myself! So, that's what I'm hoping to do as my first project for this page. For now though, I'm hours behind on my work, and have to get back to curriculum plan editing! I'm going to try to stay focused so later on, I'll have time to make my first one.

Comments

Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> This is my first post <<

newcomers has lots of resources about how to use Dreamwidth and where to find things you'll enjoy here. If you're coming from Tumblr, soc_puppet is posting tutorials for that angle. Find your Tumblr friends here.

The Follow Friday Master Post has lists of active communities by topic where you can look for some based on your interests. Many bloggers use recurring posts to pin down their key interests and maintain activity, which is also a good source of inspiration if you aren't sure what you want to post yet.


>>for a personal project that I hope will, well, help me learn to be okay just being me.<<

Excellent plan.

You might like goals_on_dw which is coming into its busy season December-January when there will be lots of goal ideas.

>>I've been trying to stay away from social media. It's such a time waster and often puts me in a bad mood!<<

It can be. Much depends on the venue: who uses it, what tools it has, etc. But some depends on the user. Where one person is looking at body-shaming content, another might be looking at cool dinosaurs.

>> I am working on being less negative, and there is so much negativity online that can mess up my progress. <<

Another good goal!

Nature abhors a vacuum. Thus the most effective way to avoid negativity is to seek out positive content instead. You might start with sites like Goodgoodgood that specialize in uplifting news. Consider making that a recurring post. Some folks like to use their hobbies for this and post craft projects, recipes, etc. Others like gorgeous or cute photographs. Here on Dreamwidth, check out communities like birdfeeding and common_nature.

>> But it's tricky to stay away from social media when that's one of the only ways I can stay connected with friends! I'd been looking for a way to keep up with everyone in a way that doesn't involve "typical" social media like Instagram/TikTok/etc. I randomly thought of blogging, looked up sites I could use as blogs, and found this. I really hope I stick with it this time!<<

Dreamwidth is excellent for connection. It gives you abundant space, good organization for most things, and the ability to choose who gets to see which of your content. There are also communities where you can make new friends who share your interests. Definitely watch for the snowflake_challenge coming in January, which creates a huge spike in activity.

>>Here, I want to be totally honest about who I am and what I'm doing. Outside of work, that is. I've learned that often the things I do when I'm not working are related to whatever I'm obsessed with at the moment. But I'm often embarrassed to be so obsessed with things.<<

Fandom is all about loving what you love. There's no shame in it.

>>Something I've been thinking about recently though is how much I love it when people have very niche interests.<<

This past year I've been building terraria. You can see some in my Photography tag.

I also collect weird stuffies. Recently I picked up a stuffed sea sheep, which is probably about 1000x life size because the real one is a teeny fingernail-sized sea slug with symbiotic algae in it.

If you want an ongoing supply of quirky links and discussions, feel free to drop by my blog and see if you like it.

>>So why am I so ashamed when I do it myself? That's something I want to change.<<

Sharing your interests and forming connections with people who like the same things may help. Some people find positive affirmations helpful, such as "I love X and this is a good thing because Y."

>>Right now, I'm really into Pokemon.<<

You might like addme_fandom, videogamefanfiction, animatedfanfiction, gaming, pokepodproject, or pokestop.

>> and during gloomy (yet beautiful) Minnesota winters,<<

I'm in central Illinois. Today's Small Business Saturday plans got canceled due to 4+ inches of snow. :/ But it is pretty snow and it sure brought out the birds.

>>I've been spending time with one of my Minnesota friends lately, and he's really into anime. I was never into anime much myself, but have been really enjoying watching the Pokemon anime. <<

anime_manga is another option.

>>I really want to make little figures of the characters for myself. <<

Hmm ... felt, polymer clay, or knit/crochet seem like promising media for that sort of thing.

>>And with all the craft materials I have, I figured it would be better all around to just make them myself! So, that's what I'm hoping to do as my first project for this page. <<

There are lots of Crafts communities if you feel like sharing your projects. They would probably be popular -- especially anything that can be made fast enough to serve as stocking stuffers.