This is the end result of no one actually understanding the notion of “practice makes perfect” and probably some other shit that kids are internalizing these days that I am not privy to.

It’s also really helpful to read again.

No one is perfect, people just get good at stuff by doing it a lot (and can also get worse if they stop doing it). So many friends of mine are always talking about doing creative stuff and how hard it is and yet they never actually just take the first step to try anything.

Every time I share my photography with my parents, they suggest new ways I should be selling it. Just let me enjoy the pretty birds, dad

Anyone who tells you to manually set everything in photography is silly. I took a photography class and made sure to thoroughly read a professional photographer's breakdown of my camera and how to operate it.

The only reason I've seen suggested why you should use manual mode is if you want a very specific shot that the automatic settings won't allow you to get. You know, like everything else. Automatic modes (i.e. aperture modes mainly) are there for a reason and while it's good to know how to manually set your parameters and read the light meter, you realistically don't want to be fiddling with your camera while whatever subject you want to photograph is potentially changing (for portrait or still shots its not as bad, but if you need to do any form of quick shooting you're only hampering yourself). Do I still use manual mode sometimes? Of course! I was taught how to use it and when I need it it is extremely helpful. But I typically only need it for night photography or if I want a specific effect (which can often be achieved with shutter mode but I never really use that).

Hey kids, do you like violence?

Wanna see me stick nine inch nails through each one of my eyelids?

Wanna copy me and do exactly like I did?

Try 'cid and get fucked up worse than my life is?

I have a job where the consequences of making a mistake are Significant.

I have a crafting hobby because I can suck at it with no consequences at all, and sometimes I make something cool.

Nothing like poverty to teach you how to do things yourself.

I grew up poor. We're didn't suffer or starve, mom and dad just never had any extra to give us kids anything like fancy toys or games or anything. I remember being completely bored out of my mind in the house and wanting a snack. The best thing we could come up with was toast and butter ... but sometimes we didn't even have butter so we opted for lard instead ... and sometimes we didn't even have bread! (but we didn't opt for eating pure lard)

What that meant was that I spent all my life learning how to do things myself and on my own. I learned carpentry, plumbing, electrical, mechanics, welding, metal working, landscaping, operating machinery, small engine mechanics, boat building / repairing, hunting, trapping, camping, survival ... mostly because we lived away from the city and we are Indigenous ... we never had anything or anyone help us so we had to learn to do things on our own. I remember being on many snowmobile trips into the wilderness and breaking down ... dad would just spend hours or even a night or two camping, tearing apart an engine, fixing a problem, putting it all back together and going on our way again. Same thing in the summer with an outboard. It all just built confidence for me and my brothers and sisters to never be stuck in any situation. We just learned to do what we could, work at it and figure it out. Sometimes we might not do a great job because we didn't know what we were doing and other times we were geniuses because we had messed up so many times before that we finally figured out how to do it right.

Once you build the skill and confidence, you can do just about anything in any situation ... then the world doesn't feel so intimidating any more. It's a skill and you have to learn to do it. And the only way to do it is to just go out and get started with it.

I'm trying my best but it's so goddamn hard. I went to two trade shows past weekend and actually talked to someone new (well, the same person twice, but still). But literally every other person there had a much more extensive collection and knowledge than I do, after 5 years of obessessing over the subject.

I will always just be a very lightly informed amateur without real skills in any field.

Sometimes those model kits actually just won't stay together without a bit of glue.

I also love to watch someone unlock this super power within themselves. To not stress out about the wonky pancake or the missing crochet stitch.

Reminds me of the American mindset of always making something FIRST, THE BEST or THE BIGGEST! Nothing can ever just be nice or comfortable. It can never be "Know the thing next town? Yea we did that here!", it's always "Know the thing next town? Yea we wiped the floor with em! Come to us!". Needless to say, my visit to the states was quite tiring after a while.

I like the Dune movies and the sci-fi miniseries. The world building is cool. I tried to read the book. Nope. Not for me at all.

They are hobbies, they have no value but the joy from doing them

My proud non technical ass is proud of my duct tape homelab. I have no idea what I'm doing and it is my favorite of many ADHD driven hobbies.

Man, I'm horrible about this. Thank you for the reminder

I half ass all the things.