Isolation Break-out!

In my last Groundhog Day Report, I concluded that I had a lot of social anxiety related to the feeling that I was too different in my thinking to get along with others. This is an existential anxiety that I want to face down, because it's likely that my fears are mostly unfounded. It's true that I have an unusual way of thinking and my communication style emphasizes sharing of information over social niceties. But there are some people who actually enjoy that!

Anyway, I want to strengthen my resolve by using a single personal directive that is easy to remember. I don't want to make a giant list of tasks and objectives, as I'm already low on energy. So, I've picked this single directive for March:

Simply talk to more people by reaching out and participating in online discussion.

This is not a groundbreaking insight, but I had subconsciously been avoiding due to the aforementioned anxiety. I'd also been busy running my own Discord server that ostensibly is to provide me with that feeling of connection, but I need to expand my web of connections.

So I've done a few things so far:

• Made a new Reddit account under my public name dsriseah and picked a few subreddits related to the #OpenWeb, #IndieWeb, and #Indie creators. This aligns with my own personal and business goals.
• Started a list of stores, coffeeshops, markets, places offering classes, etc that I can visit regularly and talk to the same people. Local interaction of any kind restores the soul!

I've also started to list what I actually like to talk about, and it's difficult to see how they connect with what other people might also like. I'll reflect on that in another post.