Inertia

I've posted before that complaining in a journal on the Internet about being lonely is a particularly futile thing to do. First, there are lots of different places and ways to talk to other people over the Internet; and in my particular case, I'm an active member in a few Delphi Forums, and now I even have my own forum, having adopted the one my former roommate started. Second, I've got some really cool friends here, and you'd think after two years I could be less shy about emailing or calling up some of them and suggesting we hang out. Third, if I'm still lonely despite all that, then maybe I should get off the stupid Internet (or "inertnet" as one perceptive Delphi person dubbed it) and go find some group to join where I'd be meeting and actually hanging out in person with new people.

But it is hard to overcome that inertia and do things. Oh, that's the fourth point: the list of things I'm supposedly interested in doing but never actually spend time on, instead moping about on the "Inertnet". But I don't want to get too sidetracked here by that list. As I was saying, it's hard to overcome that inertia and find the enthusiasm to get involved with some strange new group, which is option three.

For example, I trained in martial arts for seven years before moving to Seattle, and really enjoyed it. I'd still like to get back into training, it'd be good for me and I'd enjoy it, but it was much easier to start the first time when I had friends already training; I just joined them. This time I'll have to try to find a school on my own. The most I've done is half-heartedly glanced in the yellow pages.

A few people have suggested to me that I should volunteer with some kind of community group. I usually think of that as "working with the poor or the sick," and I'll admit to being a bad person: I'm just not interested. However, the musician Tara Jane O'Neil, whom I talked about in my previous post, is going to be playing at the Vera Project next Sunday. This is relevant because it's made me take a look at the Vera Project, which is "a volunteer-based, non-profit community center that produces live music and arts performances in Seattle as educational and community building opportunities." Now that sounds like something I might really enjoy; before I moved, I spent nine years as a Board member and the program book editor for the Nashua Chamber Orchestra. So I think after I've had a chance to go to the show next week, I'm going to try volunteering.

The other thing that I might like to get involved with is the monorail project in Seattle. There's a community advocacy group called Friends of the Monorail, but it's not clear from their Web site whether they're seeking volunteers, or just general public support. I'll have to look into that some more.

Well, there's more I meant to write about, but this is plenty long, and makes for a fairly cohesive post. I'll save the rest for another post.