h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Peanut, Bel, everyone else! The site hasn’t given me any problems lately so I didn’t take the precautions, but I’m taking them now! The backspace thing didn’t work, my posting just evaporated into the ether.

Trying … not really to reproduce the posting that was eaten, but at least to give a few answers.

AlwaysLunchtimeSomewhere, I welcome all ideas! The more the merrier. I consider every one of them.

Over here there aren’t really ‘spiritual’ people with ideas alternative to the mainstream … or if there are, they are staying quiet about it like I am because of not wanting to upset other people. I have some atheist friends who are great, and I also have a very good friend who is actually a retired preacher from a conservative church, but he is openminded and respects me – as I him – and so we can actually talk even about religious issues without any problem in spite of our differences. Shows that it can be done, but this is the exception here rather than the rule.

Thanks Peanut for having gone to all that trouble! I live in the far north of this country now, in the city of Polokwane. It’s a distance away from Pretoria and Johannesburg and those other places, so I won’t be able to attend meetings, but I’ll contact them and maybe get the newsletter. Anyways, schizophrenia per se is not my problem at the moment, I have it under control as far as delusions and so on are concerned, I am just still socially isolated. But maybe not so bad as I sometimes think. Maybe the feeling of loneliness is still because of my parents dying, and me being alone in this house, and not really understanding the everyday stuff. But actually I prefer living here to having to move close to my sister and her family, because the plants I have here are *very* valuable to me, and there’s still a lot more garden space that I can use.

I don’t think there are organizations that help people in my kind of trouble over here. But I am not really in serious trouble. For the short term I think I’ll manage financially, I have two new painting commissions coming, and also a finished one for which I still have to be paid. But anyways, I still wonder if I shouldn’t try getting better at the whole socializing thing.

But all right … apart from my real life … how about here on h2g2? Any tips for how to constructively interact? What could I do to be a better friend to others?

Hi Willem

It was no trouble at all. I just thought it might be a start point really, they might know of organisations that have a good degree of awareness already that you might like to volunteer for or something in the future. Not that you couldn't volunteer for any organisation it was a thought, that it might be something that you might like to be able to open about from the outset

Or something else that crossed my mind is while I was googling around there were charities and non-governmental organisions that were trying to raise awareness, promote understanding of mental illness and well being and dispell prejudice. One way or doing this is saying that not only are people are ordinary, everyday people but some are very talented, cue Willem.

I wondered if there might be an organisation that might to use a some of your artwork in a promotional sense, which would be good for them and perhaps also for you. Nothing obvious popped up but this is the thing about making contacts you never know where they might lead

Willem, I don't think there is anything you need to do on h2g2 to be a better friend on h2g2. You are very welcoming and attentive when people post to your jouranls and your contributions to . You are interesting, have a good heart and I don't see any problems with the you interact at all, so you don't need to improve on anything, except to have a little more self belief and confidence in yourself in this regard. If you want to widen your social circle on h2g2 just get out there! As for the friends you have,they wouldn't want you any other way than you are.

Last thing, all this talk of volunteering, gave me the prod I needed and today I became a volunteer museum custodian and I am well chuffed

Oh hey, Peanut, congrats! I hope you enjoy the museum work - I know you will.

And Willem, you are such a valued member of h2g2 already. Your contributions are treasured (and I hope you knew that, but sometimes this grumpy old editor needs to say it).

thanks Dmitri, I am very excited about it

Hello again! Peanut, congrats on the job, what kind of a museum is it?

I'll see about contacting organisations. I would like to help with writing about mental health issues. I'm already trying to do that over here with my paranoid schizophrenia series, I'm just not getting to it enough. It is a rather difficult and painful thing to write about.

Do any of you folks over here also feel what is almost a tangible resistance preventing you from writing freely? This is the sort of thing I've been experiencing on h2g2 lately. I find it very difficult to sit down and write something like this ... I usually postpone it until late in the evening. I used to be more open here but then ran into trouble, upsetting a bunch of people, so now I am very timid. But I shall keep on trying!

But at any rate thanks to all of you for helping me out here and for your friendship generally!

I think you should write freely about anything on h2g2 - within the House Rules, of course.

As I tell Post writers - not everybody who reads, comments. Often, there are loads of people out there reading and appreciating who don't say anything at all. Those who do comment may not be representative.

The writing piece I wrote for this week was kind of personal. I had second thoughts, but posted it anyway. Lo and behold, someone was kind enough to say it resonated with him.

Willem feel free to write what you want. As Dmitri says, as long as it's within the House Rules (Oh, and doesn't give away too much personal information), you can let yourself wander through the Guide

I am guilty of reading lots of stuff but not commenting on them, a lot of the time things do strike a personal chord, which makes it difficult to say anything.

A lot of what you have said in this thread has hit home with me, one way or another

It is a local museum, so is quite small, it is mostly about the towns history although it covers some of the surrounding countryside and villages. It packs quite a lot in though, from prehistoric right through to 1950s

There have been some pretty big cuts in spending, the local library is open shorter hours and both the Arts Centre and Museum have been transfered to the voluntary sector although the museum has had a grant from the council to keep a roof over it head and the lights on. But that isn't going to forthcoming in future years.

We have lost some things altogether youth clubs and day centres, the swimming pool, the post office is now in a portacabin.

h2g2 is mixed for me at the moment Willem, on the one hand I am feeling great because I have been quite sociable and I feel that I have established some good friendships, others are progressing nicely and I have been meeting new people

one the other hand I think the atmosphere is a little muted, maybe that is what you are picking up on.

I am not always confident about posting, my writing skills aren't good and even though I try quite hard I don't think they are going to get much better than are. It took ages to write a post about lucid dreaming today and still I don't think I could find the words that gave the experience of climbing a cliff any sort of justice

Also posting in peoples journals especially for the first time takes quite a bit of bottle for me, so I for quite a while like a-l-s and wait for a conversation to pop up that either just grabs me like Catcuscafe's white moth or one that asks a question, like what do see in your garden, or some such and then take the plunge, some times it does feel like that but it has been worth it

Morning all! just to say I'm here and reading.

Interesting!

I can relate to so much, and thanks all for setting it down here.

I think its great when people write freely here, within House Rules of course, but I appreciate that t's not always easy in an online context. If I go off on one of my heartfelt rambles I find sometimes I feel completely exposed afterwards, simply because hootoo is to huge, and I never know who is reading.

I am easier in a small group, here and in my life generally, but its my choice to be here, when I am here, and I know the territory so ..

...I sort of muddle through, really, when it comes to conversations on this site. Muddle being the key word . Oftentimes I want to chuck it in, but there is something about hootoo which makes me bash on regardless.

Must be to do with you guys. heheh. Thankyou. .

I prefer to relate face to face, but this being an international site, well, I say to myself that it's a miracle to at least be able to chat with people from all over, even despite my limitations in being able to communicate on screen.

It was so great when you came into my white moth journal the other day, Peanut! I am really shy, you know, , but hopefully friendly, and I am always fascinated and interested to meet new people, and try to make people feel welcome if they come into my journal.

I do sound a bit peculiar in postings sometimes, because of my tendency towards cryptic poetic ramblings .

Sometimes, on my earlier days of hootoo (I joined about seven years ago), there would be hilarious times when a few people, who thought I was some kind of drug casualty, some kind of reclusive poet guy living in the desert in Arizona, having visions of psychedelic purple spiders, found out that I am a surprisingly uncomplicated middle aged English lady

Like, totally disappointing. Or maybe a relief. .

I think I might to go one of the hootoo London meets sometime, although I am too shy to go my own. hint hint. . I have only ever met one person from hootoo, and that's the lovely Hypatia . I know its not easy from South Africa, Willem. hmm. Doesn't help, perhaps, when you read about the hootoo meets.

Peanut, erm .. shy now .. you mentioned your post on lucid dreaming. I am fascinated by lucid dreaming!! Is there any chance I could read your post, or was it in a private conversation?

Have to go ... late for my life, my other life, . Back to the purple spiders in the deserts of Arizona ..... .... just being stoopid, sorry. ...

You folks are amazing ...

cc

Morning Cactuscafe, here is a link for you,it is an ask thread, although you would be more than welcome in any of my threads http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/classic/F19585?thread=8293659 but like I said, I don't have the words to do it justice. There is a technique there for lucid dreaming but that is something that I haven't tried, I have them infrequently and view them as a treat when they happen and a little part of worries if I try too hard, it won't happen, even as a treat you made me very welcome in your thread and I appreciated it I get what people are saying about feeling over-exposed, I write a lot more posts than I post. I nearly didn't post that one because I didn't feel that I had a good job explaining and it was personal. What swung it was the hope that other people might have experiences of their own to share feel more confident to post if someone did and have better words so I could build on that. Writing about your experiences Willem must be hard on the personal level. I couldn't express myself like that but you are a wordsmith and you have the bottle to share, just, wow. It leaves me in awe. For what it takes personally and in terms of craftsmanship Going to say some thing personal now Willem, I worry sometimes that when people say things like that about you, about how you are valued and an amazing person to know, you don't quite believe it. I don't know if that is right or not. For myself, I don't say these things because I am 'quite a nice person who likes being nice', or I think these are things you need or want to hear, it is because it is true! *posts quickly before she changes her mind*

wowzum Peanut! That's amazing, your post about the rock climbing, the rock speaking to you, and it all. What a multi dimensional sensory picture you write, and now I am fascinated by lucid dreaming, all over again. heheh. It is very shamanistic I think, lucid dreaming.

Thankyou for sharing, I really appreciate it.

Weird, I picked up your post here in Brunel skin, but not in the format which I think might be Pliny (The Elder), I always call it Pliny The Elder. My laptop crashed this morning, in fact, trying to access hootoo, but that could be me. In fact, its more than likely to be me. .

Thanks again,

cc

Hello everyone! Thanks for the ongoing comments. Peanut, congrats, that sounds like a nice museum, all the best with the work! And I enjoyed the lucid dreaming rock climbing thing also. I often dream of mountains; a while ago I dreamt of climbing an incredibly tall cliff, and a guy climbing with me fell; I slid downwards very rapidly to see if he was OK, and it felt like I was sliding down the cliff for hours! The dream ended before I could find out what became of him.

Right let me see how freely I can write. It's not really a case of not being able to write freely as ... well, memories of me having done so really badly. There was a time around 2000 and 2001 when I wrote manically here on h2g2. I produced messages that were effectively books. But I wasn't on my medication then, my mind raced and I didn't have a lot of control over what I wrote. I later started understanding that people could not handle that. And I did end up repulsing people who were friends or might have been.

Now ... I am still not sure how much I should dump on people. I can always say about a hundred times more than what I'm actually saying. I really do try and be concise. A problem remains, that I have way too many ideas, way too many things I'd like to tell people - helpful things, in my view.

Then there's another thing, the throwing pearls before swine aspect. I have, at this point, figured out a few things - bits of insight, that I either wish to impart, or to consult people over. If I am wrong, someone else could help me out; if I am right, then I could help others out. But in many conversations there are 'swine' that would not discuss the ideas respectfully, but will trample them. The thing is because the pearls could be very valuable to me and to other people I don't want to expose them to being trampled. But if I keep them to myself I'm also feeling guilty, because valuable knowledge should be shared - if I keep it to myself, that's being selfish in a way.

I've built out my space here into an environment where I feel safe discussing things I'd not be willing to expose to the more 'open' forums here. But I feel a bit alone as well! But I have at least some respectful readers and commenters here. Should I try for more?

Cactuscafé, I for one enjoy your spontaneous writing and the rich imagery and emotions and things it suggests! If I was more spontaneous ... I'd also weird people out a bit. I also like more to speak to just one person or in a small group where everyone knows everyone else quite well.

Peanut, I honestly appreciate it if people say I'm worth something. It doesn't do to be self-deprecating, and also I don't think I would go for friends that are flatterers. In real life those people who are close to being good friends are ones I trust to criticise me fairly when necessary. As an artist at least this is vital and I know people will criticise me because they frequently do! And I appreciate that because that's how one learns and grows.

Sharmanistic is a good word Cactuscafe, I like that.

In waking life I love looking at cliffs, no so much being up them and they do tell stories about what conditions they were formed, the fossils and stuff and when I am at peace and surrounded by nature it is the only time that I feel spiritually moved

apart from the first time I got to hold Hiccup, I just stared at her and everything in the universe made utter sense, I felt deeply connected to everything and my bond and love for her was something I had never experienced before, in that it had so much depth and was so powerful, I never knew I could feel so much.
I like to think that wasn't all due to the methadone they had given me for pain relief after a C-section, that was , I know for sure that the love and bonding bit isn't, probably it has some influence on tangents

Willem, you are aware of other people needs, how much they can take at one time and you are not manic now, so if you go into an open forum your posting style will be fine. I think if you do it would be better to be relatively concise

I thought your journal post on Art and Offence would have been an excellant candidate for Ask. It wasn't too long for a post in an open forum and there is a lot to explore.

The one thing I would caution against,(I don't know if something that is necessary to caution against but I will mention it anyway) is taking too much responsibity for an open thread, in your journals, you are very attentive and respond to everyone that posts. That would be too much to take on in a good Ask thread

I don't know what other things you would like to discuss, there are some things I would steer clear from on the open forums because of the trampling and how it would make you feel.

If you started out with something like the art and offence post, you would reach that wider audience and people get to know you and ask to friend you and would then post to your journals

Or you could post something in your journal that you would to talk about elsewhere but are unsure of and ask for feedback from your friends here before putting it out there ?

If you would like to have a one to one discussion with someone, you could go to their space and say I would be interested in having a one to one discussion with you about... They can take you up on that offer if they want too and it would establish to people ing that is a thread they shouldn't jump in on,people are respectful of that

Hi again everyone. I was at a concert yesterday and managed to speak to people a bit, and today Jannie (the main heart and mind behind this concert) and his family came for a visit, which was enjoyable as well. He and Karolien and their three kids rode to my house all the way on their bicycles! The two littlest ones were in seats at the rear of Jannie's and Karolien's bicycles. They are a lovely family. I really wish I could have kids one day, but at least I have my young nephew Christiaan.

Peanut, I actually exeprience this spiritual, mystical awareness and feelings a heck of a lot, probably several times every day on average. And it's not because of my meds, I felt like that even more before I started taking them. But I really do feel a deep connection with everyone and everything.

I'm not sure I would want to put the Art and Offense thing on Ask. Here in the newspapers it has been the occasion for some highly cringe-worthily stupid letters. I do not want to give people an occasion for saying things they might regret later. So I'd prefer starting with something less controversial. So I'll take your advice, and post things in my journal that might be conducive to discussions elsewhere and of course would be grateful for any friends telling me here if or how I can make it suitable for more general commentary.

But not now! Bedtime again over here. Again I postponed trying to post something sensible to the last minute!

hi Willem, excuse me - i just happened to be passing by & saw the lights on!


it's never too late to say something sensible!

(...but i've personally found it *can* be too late to say something funny - sometimes )


anyway, that seems a pretty profound post you just made - sounds like a plan to me! go for it, is what i say!

thank you for creating a thread which contains so much humanity - have a good night