I'm becoming aware of the fact that a lot of people in our group suffer from anxiety issues. And here I was thinking I was the only one :)
I just want to say that I think all of you are awesome for coming out to the Nano social events. I'm aware that there are at least over 350 people in Melbourne doing Nano this year; perhaps a large amount of these people are afraid to go out and socialize.
For what it's worth, I'm happy I met everyone here.
----------
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
Henry Ford
42,024 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 18 05
We're all highly strung creative types XD
I think NaNo's a good social event for people with anxiety; we all have the same goal, it's not actually a competition, and the kind of people who do NaNo tend to have a bit of overlap in interests -- not to quote that Age article or anything, but there are a fair few goths, geeks and gamers amongst us, and so conversations can spring up fairly readily around shared interests. And other shared interests as well -- like Alex and Max and Strop's physical flippy and fighty stuff. Aside from the whole 'write 50K' part, it's an event with very little in the way of expectations, too.
That said, I know people place their own expectations on themselves, and as such I was very grateful for Aimee and Katling and Scarlett's hugs and such during the day to help me keep from exploding in a ball of freak-out.
----------Municipal Liaison for Australia and New Zealand :: Melbourne
Moderator for Games, Diversions, and Other Exciting Forms of Procrastination
0 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 18 20
I think that's the whole problem, little princess. Everyone thinks they are the only one. Although anxiety is only the tip of my iceberg. I like writing because I have trouble expressing myself verbally. (I SUSPECT this may also be the case for others?). I like Nano because it's such a mix of misfits. And because some of my jokes actually get laughed at. Bless my cotton socks.
0 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 18 26
And to anyone who is anxious about attending and being the odd one out, rest assured it could never happen. We are like the several odd bods collected up from every social situation and all put together in a fusion of fruity goodness.
42,024 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 18 57
We're a cocktail of creativity!
OMFG. We should totally invent a NaNo cocktail.
----------Municipal Liaison for Australia and New Zealand :: Melbourne
Moderator for Games, Diversions, and Other Exciting Forms of Procrastination
28,005 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 22 00
Don't forget, we need to invent the "Flaming Newbie" also...
We need NaNoCoTa (Cocktails...) so that we can go crazy on them once it's over for the year...
Yes, I love that my sometimes way-too-vulgar terms and innuendos (in normal conversations that is) can be accepted, and "gotten" by a group of other like minded, creatively crazy folk...
I love the NaNoSphere! (as in atmosphere... Not like a dome or anything... Talking, or typing even, fails me today... )
----------NaNo07: A Ghostly Belonging - WON!
NaNo08: Muntaer - WON!
NaNo09: Growing Up Robot / We Have Your Voices
20,503 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 22 13
OMFG. We should totally invent a NaNo cocktail.
And it should have absinthe...
I remember coming to my first NaNo drinks, I looked at a table of the scariest looking people I've ever seen in my life and nearly turned around and went home right then. I'm very glad I didn't though because they're not nearly as scary close up.
----------'You're still riding that old thing?'
'Well, we can't all come and go by BUBBLE!'
0 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 22 50
NaNo'ers are tame..you should see the women in the women's circus..big, muscly, tattooed lesbians all looking at you - I wanted to run, not walk away. The truth is, the scary looking ones are usually the kindest, hehe.
1,950 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 22 57
Although I use excuses such as work/being broke/feeling not well for not turning up to a lot of, or the majority of, nano drinkies (throughout the year) and some write-ins otherwise in November, it is actually a lot more because of my anxiety. So I really really understand how it feels.
That being said every single time I turn up I can never regret it because at the end of the day my nano folk are my family, even if I do only see them every now and then and decline invites. I'm always welcomed with opening arms- as is everyone else.
So for all those with anxiety issues just take it a step at a time, and just try turning up to one event. There is an immediate sense of acceptance so try and get out there!
----------Click here for NaNoWriMo Wallpapers.
45,178 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 00 14
And it should have absinthe...
Kindred Spirits, you and I.
----------I got nothing.
4,211 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 00 25
Last year during NaNo I was going through way too much stuff. My marriage broke down, I was finishing my honours year with a full time study load, working full time for a total douche boss, had a pretty debilitating injury, and was generally feeling like life couldn't get much worse. My family and many friends were of no support at all, and every time I spoke to my "support" network I left the conversation feeling like I was to blame for everything wrong in the world and was a total failure. The friends I made through NaNo got me through it. Someone very kindly offered me a room at his place, even though we had never met before in person, and the people at drinkies were always able to make me see the remaining positives in my life. I might have bombed out on my novel, but it was the people here who stopped me from bombing out on my sense of self worth and self confidence.
968 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 00 44
<3 Talea
*scurries back inside the computer*
0 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 00 48
awww that's lovely.
I said to my mum today my other friends don't matter, until December.
1,950 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 01 03
And now you're going to rock the pants off everyone, whether they like it or not.
----------Click here for NaNoWriMo Wallpapers.
4,211 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 01 48
Wait, are we still talking NaNo? :D
51,417 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 01 58
I won't get all technical here, but yeah. Everybody gets anxious, and it's everybody's own private worry. And as I was told earlier, significant anxiety issues are probably the most common community affliction today, but since most people try to cope with it one way or another...
To be honest, I was a bit nervous too, coming to the first Wednesday drinkies. It's supposed to be reassuring that you're sane when your body is warning you against meeting these equally strange folk you met on the internet :P
But the nice thing is that there really is nothing to worry about. I haven't seen a more welcoming bunch of people since ever!
51,320 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 02 01
Talea, your story is awesome. Total proof how awesome Melbourne wrimos are.
As a newbie to Melbourne last year, everyone was mostly really welcoming. And even after I went AWOL half way through, was glad to see people still welcoming this year around too. Which makes me really want to try hard and come to write-ins this year.
----------NaNoWriMo '09: Barbarism - "...society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism..."
Blog | Twitter
0 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 16 34
Lauren I'd be happy to give you a hug :)
Thanks for all your comments. To Talea and Scarlett, I hope you both are doing okay now. To all, I am glad you have all had positive experiences with the group.
1863 - I am convinced you are a robot :)
Before I met everyone, it was an understatement to say I wasn't expecting much. I think when you feel like an outcast your whole entire life, it skewers your view of people and society in general.
There's a looong history of writers and other creative types who've dealt with depression/anxiety/addictions. Makes you wonder really, when it comes to writing - is it because of certain character traits that draws an individual to writing, or does one embody these traits over time?
Wow I'm getting pretty deep for this time of day...
----------Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
Henry Ford
76,236 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 17 05
Talea would rock my pants off.. but this would require me to be wearing pants to begin with. So....
And yes, 1863 is a robot, but not a Prime Number. In fact, I may have to use the designation 1863 for one of my robots this year. A robot you hear about, but never see... hmmm...
And I am curious about bsolah's comment about MOST people being friendly. I want to know who wasnt friendly, so I can hit them with sticks... YOU WILL BE FRIENDLY OR IT WILL HURT!
I can understand how meeting a MASSIVE group of weird and freaky people can be scary. But we're mostly harmless... and we have stuffed toys.
I would highly recommend checking out the videos linked into the Melbourne nanowrimo Group on Facebook. It shows how crazy we are, you get to see some of the faces, and how we act when put in the same room together. ANd while there is a catchy soundtrack, it is actually a very accurate representation of who we are... and who you want to be.... join us... become one of us....
Oh! Lunch time!
----------Shut up and LOVE it!
51,320 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 17 08
It's more to do with the fact I haven't gotten a real chance to speak to everyone properly. And plus, there's got to be at least one person in a group that hates to the token Marxist.
----------NaNoWriMo '09: Barbarism - "...society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism..."
Blog | Twitter
42,024 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 17 29
I think to an extent we hear more about writers with mental health issues in the media and in history because they're more interesting. Sylvia Plath's suicide is a more sensational tale than Susie Randomperson who had a few picture books published about cats and died quietly aged 89.
Other than that, I'd say it's a bit of both: writing is an excellent outlet for people with mental issues of every stripe, so it can be appealing to people with pre-existing conditions who want to vent some of it on paper. Conversely, perhaps people with a predisposition towards a mental issue who haven't yet displayed any symptoms who start writing begin to express their anxiety/depression/whatever as the emotionality of the writing sweeps them up.
I'm not entirely sure some of the words in that last sentence are actually words, but people probably get what I mean. It's like the nature/nurture debate in psychology; there are cases for both sides but in the end it boils down to 'a little of column A, a little of column B'. Unless it's John Watson, who was seriously on the nurture side and was also a total something I can't say because this is an all-ages forum, but his idea of a fun experiment was to condition small children to be afraid of stuff that was perfectly harmless.
----------Municipal Liaison for Australia and New Zealand :: Melbourne
Moderator for Games, Diversions, and Other Exciting Forms of Procrastination
50,097 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 17 34
*group hug*
Mmm.... Absinthe.
- Cha.
42,024 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 17 34
Which is when you break out the photos of you with the bunny ears on.
Nobody's gonna hate you for the Marxism, or me for my smuttiness, or Scarlett for her mental link to the computer, or 'dog and 1863 for the snerking, unless we make a point of getting in people's faces about it once they've expressed the wish that they not have to have it in their face, as it were.
----------Municipal Liaison for Australia and New Zealand :: Melbourne
Moderator for Games, Diversions, and Other Exciting Forms of Procrastination
42,024 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 17 37
Mmm.... Absinthe.
- Cha.
I am fond of group hugs. Never tried absinthe though. Should the two be combined?
----------Municipal Liaison for Australia and New Zealand :: Melbourne
Moderator for Games, Diversions, and Other Exciting Forms of Procrastination
0 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 17 41
I actually love the fact that everyone is different in this group - Marxists, robots, geeks, techies, gamers, goths, quiet ones alike.
Yeah I've always been interested in the Nature vs. Nurture debate. That sounds horrible about the guy doing that to the kids.
I'll pass on the absinthe - I don't want to end up cutting my ears :)
----------Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
Henry Ford
50,097 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 18 15
I think Van Gogh had a teensy bit more going on than just absinthe :)
[Edit:] On reflection derailing a thread about anxiety into a discussion on alcohol is not the smartest plan. I promise not to say anything else about it. If anyone actually wants to hear me rant about anti-absinthe propaganda they can ask elsewhere.
50,153 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 18 10
I'm imagining something like an Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter's tea party where some yells "Change Places!" and everyone gets up and moves, then continues conversation as normal...
Maybe punctuated by shots of absinthe? Perhaps at the after party...
As for anxiety I'll happily admit that I'm feeling it too, but I figure that its normal. This post is very reassuring and I'm glad that someone else spoke up about it, no doubt it makes us all feel better knowing lots of others are feeling the same. Good Job Kiki!
----------Daniel - www.twitter.com/watchingdan
42,024 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 18 34
Yeah I've always been interested in the Nature vs. Nurture debate. That sounds horrible about the guy doing that to the kids.
I'll pass on the absinthe - I don't want to end up cutting my ears :)
As well as being a cocktail of creativity, we're also a Bingo card of subcultures XD
----------Municipal Liaison for Australia and New Zealand :: Melbourne
Moderator for Games, Diversions, and Other Exciting Forms of Procrastination
38,063 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 21 08
TBH, I was pretty freaked out meeting everyone for the first time. So much so, that I walked up to Lauren and, out of habit, said 'hi' in Auslan. But yeah, it ended up being such delightful fun that I missed my train home.
And yeah, I'll add my name to the list of people with social anxiety. Even going to the gym is nerve-wracking.
----------You could have said a word, but you turned away. Or do you always act in such a passive way?
2008 NaNo: 帰り道 // the returning road (Failed)
2009 NaNo: スパイス！ (Working Title)
50,097 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 21 18
Never in a million years would I be brave enough to go to a gym, so I'd say good on you if you can do it! By which I don't mean to gloss over the nerves, I just like to give some credit and admiration for people who can do difficult things.
I have to pick my battles a bit, and that's one case where I decided to just find ways of exercising in private.
42,024 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 21 28
And yeah, I'll add my name to the list of people with social anxiety. Even going to the gym is nerve-wracking.
Heh, you can tell when I'm really stressed out because I start swearing in Italian.
I could manage gym visits okay when I could afford it, despite being worried I'd like break the treadmill or something, but it was too expensive. I did enjoy it though, whereas I can't for the life of me make the stupid Wii Fit work. I figure I'll get more exercise now uni's over and I have that weird thing called 'free time'. Well, I have it for a couple of days and then there's NaNo, but you know what I mean. At least if I want to I can pause NaNoing and it's not like I'm risking my uni marks if I take a couple of days off.
(I initially said 'I can stop NaNoing', but changed it, since that's clearly untrue.)
----------Municipal Liaison for Australia and New Zealand :: Melbourne
Moderator for Games, Diversions, and Other Exciting Forms of Procrastination