The Willingness to Embrace Joy in Things.

[BookTenTiger]

Another related thought is that our hobbies often bring us great joy. But sometimes any strong emotional reaction also scratches that itch. So folks get caught following a hobby that makes them feel angry or frustrated or outraged because they are still getting a strong emotional reaction from it.

 

[payn]

I've been mulling this over for a few years. I think generational sharing is quite exciting. I dont have any children, but look forward to sharing with my nephews and nieces when they get older. I picked up the Heroquest board game on Hasbro pulse and Cowboy Bebop RPG to share some things I loved when I was younger with them. I'm not a Disney adult so they can rely on Grandma for that.

I was talking to a friend just the other day about his experiences sharing his joy of gaming. He had a nephew and niece and they enjoyed the time together. Though, only the niece has really taken up the hobby herself. Nephew likes it well enough, but its not going to become a lifestyle for him. So, you always have to share with an expectation that some folks will appreciate your joy, and others may be indifferent.

I just finished Doom Patrol on HBO and despite feeling like it could be a better show, it just worked for me. After a lot of consideration, I found out why it was so appealing. It reminded me of the Dr. Who shows I watched as a kid. There is always an element of danger, that often turns out to be quite unexpectedly disarmed. There is a certain joy that the unknown isnt always death and misery. Also, there is a ton of space to harness creativity that is just waiting for the right opportunity. On the flip side, the characters are very flawed and tragic figures. There is a certain relate-ability to that even if the melancholy to jovial roller coaster can get abit exhausting over time. Not everybody's cup of super tea.

I guess my own rambling thoughts are coalescing around the idea that joy can be a moving target. If something provides that nostalgic scent, you can really overlook a lot of flaws. I try to keep that firmly in mind as im discussing the things I find joy in. There are many I know that I just get, that are not the best examples of the artistry they represent. On the other hand, I also try to keep this in mind when I am indifferent. I know folks care about things and im not going to stomp on that joy at every chance. I tend to temper my response based on the discussion parameters. For example, if the OP is like where are my Star Wars fans at??? Im not going to go in there and say how much jar jar sucks. Though, if the OP asks what is your opinion, then I feel like i've been asked. Even then, im not going go on for pages about it becasue honestly id rather put energy into joy than disappointment. YMMV.

 

[TwoSix]

I think the message is, nobody can control how we respond to, engage with, or enjoy, a piece of media but ourselves. Ignore the noise, dont engage with social media, and just consume the media you like.

Bolded the important part. Social media is the vampire of joy.

 

[payn]

Bolded the important part. Social media is the vampire of joy.

Funny enough, my social media is EN World and a few discords. I find its the only place I can find decent discussion. Whenever somebody comes in hot, I just assume they are coming in from the wilds of reddit/twitter or whatever.

 

[TwoSix]

Agreed with a lot. If you start asking me about books, movies, comics, etc, in genres I like, once I cover some of what I regard as true greats, you’ll hear me talk about works that maybe have one or two great moments that’ve really stuck with me, or one really good half and a dud one, or whatever. I look for reasons to be pleased, and worry about the opposite only when it really seriously gets in my way. I used to be very much fussier and critical, but spent some hard years training myself out of it.

I think the trouble comes from the perception that choosing not to make criticism, and being overly enthusiastic towards something, is a sign of ignorance, a lack of seriousness, or the lack of the ability to think critically.

 

[TwoSix]

Funny enough, my social media is EN World and a few discords. I find its the only place I can find decent discussion. Whenever somebody comes in hot, I just assume they are coming in from the wilds of reddit/twitter or whatever.

Yea. I tend to think of forums like ENWorld or various twitters as more of a "participatory" media, simply because they're smaller and more insular. It's the constant idea vomit of Facebook and Twitter and Youtube, and more recently the constant AI-generated "articles" on news aggregator sites, that I think fuel the perception of constant negativity of "social media".

 

[payn]

Yea. I tend to think of forums like ENWorld or various twitters as more of a "participatory" media, simply because they're smaller and more insular. It's the constant idea vomit of Facebook and Twitter and Youtube, and more recently the constant AI-generated "articles" on news aggregator sites, that I think fuel the perception of constant negativity of "social media".

Yeah the clickbait influencer hate feed algorithm is one of those things everyone knows about, yet just goes with it because “that’s just how it works”.

 

[Reynard]

Yea. I tend to think of forums like ENWorld or various twitters as more of a "participatory" media, simply because they're smaller and more insular. It's the constant idea vomit of Facebook and Twitter and Youtube, and more recently the constant AI-generated "articles" on news aggregator sites, that I think fuel the perception of constant negativity of "social media".

I have been using forums since they were BBSes, so I don't really put ENWorld in the same category as other social media.

 

[Mannahnin]

Yea. I tend to think of forums like ENWorld or various twitters as more of a "participatory" media, simply because they're smaller and more insular. It's the constant idea vomit of Facebook and Twitter and Youtube, and more recently the constant AI-generated "articles" on news aggregator sites, that I think fuel the perception of constant negativity of "social media".

I use FB similarly, though I have to be watchful of the dopamine hit addiction cycle and I have to admit I'm sometimes a victim of it.

I try to remember to practice the same joy-seeking behavior, block trolls and jerks (this tool is more useful and I think should be used more somewhere like FB; it's less disruptive there than somewhere like here), seek out good groups and curate a positive feed. Sometimes you can find wonderful niche spaces even on worse sites (I'm in a Patrick O'Brien Appreciation Society FB group where people are almost always scrupulously friendly and kind).

 

[Umbran]

I have been using forums since they were BBSes, so I don't really put ENWorld in the same category as other social media.

So, I'd be careful there. There's going to be a tendency to classify the things you/we like in a more positive light than things you/we don't.

EN World is, fundamentally, still social media. Pretty much every ugly or unfortunate dynamic seen on those other venues is observable here.

The most meaningful differences are only in scale. First, the place is small enough that we can at least make a significant attempt at human moderation. Second, when human moderation isn't applied, the place is small enough for your user name to be recognized, over time, such that some amount of social consequences can apply to bad behavior.