ET103

yup it me

  • he/him

just some fucking guy honestly


transistor
@transistor

there's an interaction i see a lot online and in real life where one person goes "i wish i could draw / write / read books / engage with a hobby / etc" and someone else goes "just do it! practice! talent is fake, anybody can do it!"

and that's not wrong! but i feel that it's missing the point. generally what's being communicated is not "i wish i magically had this skill without putting in the effort" (well, maybe on an emotional level) but actually "i wish i had the time, energy, tools, and support to acquire this skill." and that's not something that can really be helped by the somewhat patronizing encouragement to "just do it now anyway!!"


namelessWrench
@namelessWrench

I was literally too weak and frail to hold a book. There's a reason I couldn't really read more while I was in the hospital.


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in reply to @transistor's post:

Related to this are people complaining that they aren't improving at the skill despite the significant amount of effort they've put into it, and then someone else responding with either the "just do X" line or minimizing that effort by projecting any improvement out years and years from right now, regardless of the amount that person has put in. There's some kind of immediate, well-defined problem at play, and neither response sees fit to do anything about it.

the social scaffolding of a book club that took things slow (only discussing a chunk of chapters per meeting, not just saying “read this entire book for next time!”) was absolutely vital to get me to start reading books for fun on my own again after a long time of feeling unable to. i needed the support (or peer pressure take your pick lol) of the club to actually get myself to work on rebuilding my ability to concentrate on a book. i wish everyone who thinks wistfully about how they wish they could read books could have something like that