RiverGhost

I don’t like it, haven’t really needed it, prefer public transport and have terrible motor skills.

I really enjoyed reading your story. It’s honest about your faults and kind to yourself at the same time. I hope I can find a way to see my own life in a similar way.

I get it, most of my life I’ve had episodes that are more like yours, and my brain just found this and it doesn’t want to let go for a reason. The first couple of months I thought it was the best escape, but once I realized I couldn’t stop, I’ve been despairing. I feel like I’m going mad but more quietly rather than explosively.

Daydreaming. I’m sick of it, but I keep going there.

I don’t see anything mentally unhealthy about what you do, sounds cool.

A small pond the size of a large pond

This is how I feel with my little wild garden. I just visit, show some encouragement, and remove an obstacle or two.

I get this on my toes on cold days. It always freaks me out even though I know what’s going on.

You painted these yourself? They look so good! (I haven’t seen the originals).

Allemansrätten is my favorite part of living in Sweden. I come from a country that often ranks at the top of biodiversity metrics for many types of life, and yet I haven’t seen any of it because everything is private.

I agree, but I think I understand why I do it.

TL:DR Maladaptive behavior that is however ultimately harmless since I don’t bother people.

I was a “gifted child”; was always like 2 school years ahead, started uni at 15 and every single person I met would praise me for being the youngest. I was immature so it got to my head. I also have always looked much younger than I am, which also invites comments. Finally, I also have AuDHD and I’m constantly anxious about not acting my age and being too immature. So I try to look at other people’s ages to guide me in how I’m supposed to behave.

All of this is maladaptive and I’ve gotten a lot better with time, and I’m still working on it, but I’m not particularly bothered about the actual fact of having an interest in people’s ages. I make sure I don’t ask them about it or bother them about it, but many just offer this information on their own.

It’s probably normal to forget. I am probably the odd one in that I’m always very aware of my age and I’m almost 40. I’m also acutely aware of the ages of people around me, and (very mildly) uncomfortable if I don’t know someone’s age.

I know someone named Pia. Never thought it was weird but we didn’t interact in Englis

If you don’t have any specific interest in a language you’ll probably do fine in English.

Yeah I agree that it applies to all languages. I mean mostly that while it’s easy to get away with just English in places like Sweden, it’s not an equivalent experience. I really appreciate being able to communicate in Swedish here.

But yes, while my native language is Spanish, there are many things I can express better in English, and even Swedish. For example I learned a lot about myself emotionally and socially at the same time I was learning English as a teenager, and I struggle communicating these things in Spanish. I also only got proper therapy in Sweden and as a result, I express many aspects of my mental struggles best in Swedish.

I get it. I have only succeeded at learning languages I’ve been sort of forced to learn, even when I’ve also genuinely wanted to learn them.

I wanted to study an undergraduate degree that is only given in Swedish, so I went to school specifically to learn Swedish before that.

I work with programming so I’d get away only with English but somehow I’ve managed to reach a point where people mostly speak to me in Swedish, even though I don’t look Scandinavian. I have a coworker that keeps talking to me in English and I reply to him in Swedish and sometimes it takes him a while to notice we’re speaking different languages.

It does require a sustained effort and I slip when I’m lazy or tired. Also, having to use a language that doesn’t let me project the best of me can be challenging as an adult.

Swedish is my third language. As I became more proficient in it, I quickly realized how many nuances and how much content you actually miss by only communicating in English while you live in Sweden.

I’m not good at it, but I’ve been using a hard foam roller whenever tension gets bad enough that doing something about it jumps up the priority queue.

Like so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5aO1s3xwG4

I do, even if it’s a bot, because maybe it’s not. I have worked on 2nd+ line tech support, and I’d often see 1st line getting mistreated by customers. I could never do 1st line.

I haven’t!