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Questions... Questions. Who may ask such questions? UGH. Need. To. Do. Something. Advice?
You may ask, What on earth...? Who is this person? You know me very well. Very, very well. I'm someone who gives to find not much in return besides the thought of knowing you did something to help someone else who you barely know. If at all. Yes, I'm that person.
So. Advice? Advice for life in general. Advice for things to do. Advice, advice, who has advice?
submitted by Cheesecake, age RANDOMname, This is not my CB name
(July 26, 2016 - 1:23 pm)
(July 26, 2016 - 1:23 pm)
With age comes knowledge... You always have the right thing to say, thank you! What you said on working past the lack of motivation is something I really need to do. Both with finding something outside of the CB that holds what I love about it, and on working on correcting my mistakes with lack of motivation. You listed questions that I really need to start asking myself.
As for reading, I am a huge fan of that, especially in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. Thing is, my school and town's libraries are tiny. The school one is closed during summer, of course. The town one has mostly adult books and classics. Classics aren't terrible, they just don't hold my interest. I have a ton of books at home, but I can't re-read something twice. I've tried... And so then I have Shakespeare. That loses my attention too, most of the time. Then sometimes I love it. So reading, I mean, I could find books, and I really should. It just means going out of my reading comfort zone.
And looking back, like you said, I have changed a lot. I've done things on the CB alone that I would never have done when I first joined. Because of it, I am also doing things in real life I wouldn't have done before. Writing poetry, getting back into photography, doing more art, reading new books, writing in new styles. I never really did those things before. So the CB has opened up a whole new door of opportunity in my mind.
Again, thank you, Oregano. There hasn't been an ounce of support and advice you've given me that hasn't helped. Because of what you said on the other thread, there is a good chance I might not be leaving (shocking, I know). Due to this, I might actually get somewhere this school year in having friends and finding hobbies. So thank you, and good luck in college. That's the next thing on my list to think about.
(July 29, 2016 - 11:40 pm)
You're very welcome, though if the advice has helped, it's because you've been supremely "helpable" - by which I mean honest. :) It isn't just age, either, although that does contribute - I've learned to ask myself questions like these over just the last year, and only because of a friendship with someone else who taught me how to do so.
Getting into the classics can be hard, maybe like learning to like vegetables... I found that it happened eventually on its own, as I slowly built up what was necessary to get something out of them. (And some of what we consider "classics" really weren't written for kids, either. I've been meaning to reread some books, like Austen and Dickens, that I read when I was really too young, and parts of which bored me enough to read carelessly.) It takes some experience and patience to untangle Carlyle or Gibbon, but one finds the "awesome" bits tucked into their dry-seeming sentences like raisins in cereal. :D Max Beerbohm is rather captivating (and pretty classic) if you can get hold of him. Does your library have an interlibrary loan program with other towns?
Some books don't take rereading, while from others you gain new things every time you pick them up... books in the latter category are the ones most useful to you (see Adler and Van Doren's "How to Read a Book," which contains many excellent ideas, albeit presented in a slightly dry and serious manner).
Good luck with your school year, too, and with thinking about college! :)
(July 30, 2016 - 4:22 am)
@Ashlee: I'm not too good with advice, but how about possibly organizing a photography and/or book club with your friends. Or maybe you could volunteer in your town to practice getting used to social interaction.
Also, you said in another thread that your parents were taking away internet access because they think you spend too much time online. Well, how about installing something that limits internet access? My mom has internet time limits on my laptop, so the internet goes off at a certain time. I have McAffee parental controls intalled, but I'm sure there are other brands that do the same thing.
Maybe other people can chime in.
(July 29, 2016 - 12:23 pm)
Thanks, Lap! That is actually really good advice. My friend created a book club at our school back in 7th grade, and I joined in 8th grade and have been in it since. As for photography, I might actually consider doing that. I have some friends who are interested in photography, and I could do a club where we hold contests and tips. Hmm... Something I should look into. As for volunteering, I guess I should actually look around. In a town like mine, there is a huge amount of stuff I could do.
As for internet restrictions... thing is, we sort of had a similar system in the past. Although instead, they would time us for, say, an hour, and then tell us to turn off the computer unless it was for school. That worked, sort of, but not really. I ended up going on and calling things like CB and my writing stuff as "school-related". It can be, in a sense, but it wasn't fair to my other siblings.
And now, being 15, they want me to be able to restrain myself from things and balance out my time. So there is a chance there will be a compromise of sorts. But either way, I appreciate your advice greatly. Thank you!
(July 29, 2016 - 11:23 pm)
I like to top. Top.
Toppy says xbpc. He must want an Xbox.
(August 5, 2016 - 7:33 am)