This week marks the first week of August which translates to my official first week of figuring out what my future will bring me. I recently said to someone I just am trying to find out after all this time what really is my core being. What is it that makes me happy, and what makes me… me. For over 35 years my career has defined me, now what? I started doing this in June and as I cross things off, I am starting to focus on a few things.
I started with a list of items that might seem strange to some but are things I like. You know the typical social media list you put together when asked to “Tell us about yourself…” For me it tends to include: comic books, drawing, MINI Coopers, games, LEGO, Geocaching, Cats, and stuff like that. I say I’m a multifaceted geek, but am I? I know I’m an introvert, who dislikes social situations. When pressed I can “Embrace my inner ‘Bob'” and play the role of the extrovert, but I really prefer spending time by myself or with those people who I feel comfortable around. If you made that list, congratulations- it is a very short list. Those who know me, know that when I’m passionate about something, and feel comfortable I become somewhat evangelical about things. How many people started geocaching, or thought about buying a MINI Cooper after talking to me?
So the first thing I did this “summer” was attend GeoWoodstock- geocaching is something I have been involved in since 2006, and while I’m not as diehard as I once was, I still kinda enjoy it. Sue is more into than I am. For me the creation of “Adventure Labs” has been what keeps me going. I no longer find that much joy in digging around thorny bushes looking for Tupperware. I do, however, like learning about new places and finding out what makes them special. Adventure labs take you around places and require that you answer questions based on your location. There’s an app for it, there are sometimes geocaches tied to them, but for the most part, walk around and look at the cool stuff in a small town and find out what makes the place special. So while geocaching itself is not high on my list, travel, and discovering new places is still there- I’d say exploring, but that word currently leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
What about MINI Coopers? I have taken part the summer to accomplish one of my first projects which was to get my Roadster redone. I own a 2012 early build (January) MINI Cooper Roadster – two seat convertible. Highly impractical, but also a lot of fun. It has a manual top, something MINI stopped making early on after complaints about how difficult it was to use- it isn’t but haters got to hate. I’d been bouncing around a lot of ideas and finally settled on something based on Dave Steven’s “The Rocketeer” one of my favorite comic books. While waiting to get this done Sue and I attended a few different MINI Club events. One put on in Fort Wayne – a drive to a haunted asylum…the other a drive to celebrate the local club’s anniversary and the renovation of the Indianapolis dealership. Afterwards I decided that there was reason I no longer did things with the local club… nothing against the people, but it just wasn’t fun. So I could check off being active in the local MINI community as a thing I wanted to pursue. I’m still looking forward to MINI Takes The States in 2024 and other MINI events, but I’m happy to keep my local MINI time to a minimum. Why? maybe it’s the introvert, maybe it’s some of the people, maybe its just looking for the right event. The asylum trip the Fort Wayne group put together was a lot of fun, I’m looking forward to seeing what else they have planned.
Now it comes to games… something I enjoy, but definitely puts me out of my comfort zone. This week is Gen Con the largest game convention in North America. “The Best Four Days of Gaming” held in Indianapolis, it is an amazing gathering of gamer geeks from something as simple as “Sorry” to complex war games and role playing games. All of which take me to an anxiety level that will make my little stress sensor explode. Why? I don’t like not knowing what to do. I don’t like not following the rules. I don’t like making a fool out of myself. I’m uncomfortable around people. I started playing D&D when I was in middle school. I played throughout college. I did a great job of faking certain knowledge. I never read Tolkien… I still haven’t read a lot of it. I read space opera stuff. My favorite genre still is “Comedic Fantasy.” I don’t take this stuff too seriously. The “Myth Adventures” series by Robert Aspirin is one of my go to books. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is another one that I love. My usual character is a sarcastic bard who will break the fourth wall whenever possible. With names like “Simon Garnetfunkel” or “Peter Paulenmary” I don’t take the game or myself seriously. Which isn’t always the right way to play. So I’m going to Gen Con this week and doubling down on a few things- but gaming isn’t the focus. I will be throwing myself into Star Trek Adventures (RPG) and a few other games, but mostly I’m going for the puppets.
Gen Con has a few different groups along with the gamers. One are artists, another writers, and then there are the puppeteers. So this year I decided to jump in and try out the puppet workshop. Almost all day Thursday I will be learning about puppets. How does this mesh with the introvert in me… I can hide behind a puppet. I’m not sure how this will work out I might decide at the end that I don’t like it. I may find out that I love it. Personally, I have always bee fascinated by Jim Henson and the Muppets… so as I try to figure things out- let’s see if my love of the muppets has a more prominent place in my life. At the end of the week- I’ll definitely have a better idea. I’ll be attending: The Kickoff and Make & Take, Hand Sewing for Beginners (Sue is an expert, but I don’t want to always have to bug her), Puppet Mouth-Plate Symposium, Building a Moving-Mouth Rod Puppet, Intro to Moving-Mouth Puppetry, Building a Better Hand Puppet, and Puppet Arm Rod Symposium. Do I know anything about any of this? Nope. So I’m definitely out of my comfort zone on this, and strangely excited about seeing what happens behind the curtain. Don’t worry (or maybe you should worry) I’ll make sure to do a recap after everything is said and done.
The other areas- LEGO, Comic Books, Drawing, etc. deserve more time and space. I think the thing that I’m really trying to do is focus on what I like and what I am passionate about. Partially because I don’t want to be all over the place, but also because with limited resources I don’t want to be collecting things that I really don’t care about in the end. As I start this journey, I’m know I’m going to go down some paths that will define what I don’t want to do… while other may open up some avenues I hadn’t even thought of. The bucket list of activities that just need to be checked off vs. the stuff I want to continue on for what remains of my life. Here’s to the journey, not the destination. I’ve got a lot of other things on the list as I go through the 3-6 months of just figuring things out- more on that later…