Back in the past, I only really enjoyed meeting with people in a one on one context. I didn’t like to meet in large groups of people because I felt that I often didn’t get a proper chance to speak to anyone and I also felt like I was talking over others. I was never truly relaxed in a group; group events would make me feel anxious.

As I grew older and mellowed, I realised that I had no reason to dislike group events. They were a chance to meet up with lots of friends at once which was often very fun and exciting. Seeing so many friends in one go creates a level of excitement which is quite unique. My annual Christmas meals are large group events and they’re some of my favourite things to do.

On the other hand, interactions with groups seem to lack the depth that you’ll find when interacting with people one on one. You can focus all of your attention on one person and have nice long conversations. In a group, I personally feel I’m being spread a little thin – the more people there are, the less the value of each interaction.

It’s a difficult balance to get right, but I think I probably like both equally these days. People act different in small, subtle ways when they’re in a group and you find out more about some people by seeing them interact with you and other people in these different contexts. I think it’s quite important, socially, to interact with people in both one on ones and in groups. They’re different experiences which are both quite valuable and, by doing both, it helps you to appreciate each thing more.

Or, at least, that’s what I think. Everyone’s different, after all and if you find that this doesn’t apply to you then so be it! I would not mean to suggest that my perspective is an objective standard.

I like looking at fanart and other works by independent artists online. It’s something which makes me quite jealous, because I struggle to get my own artistic skills up to that level. I know it’s just a matter of dedicating more time to it, but there’s only so much time in the day.

Being able to draw nice pictures, especially of people and fictional characters, is an incredible skill. I know, it’s unhealthy to compare your own abilities to those of others, but it’s impossible to avoid doing entirely. My favourite kinds of images to look at are those of characters and of people.

In order to try and improve my skills, I’ve actually opened a DeviantArt account. I’d appreciate it if you take a look. Kind strangers often “favourite” my pieces or leave me very encouraging comments. What I like to do, is to draw characters in a set, rather minimalist way. It means that I can make things look alright, even without much skill. Over time, I feel like my abilities have started to improve by doing this and I shall continue.

I was somewhat inspired by Pop Figures, which, for those who don’t know, are small plastic toys of various fictional characters and famous people which are all done in the same, simple style. I wanted to do something similar with drawings. What I do is a draw all the characters who have appeared in my works of fiction, which sometimes includes well known characters since I sometimes do fan fiction. Looking over them then makes me feel happy about the amount of writing and drawing I’ve produced.

Ideally, I’d like to be able to do detailed character drawings, along with great backgrounds, but I guess I need to take it one step at a time. There’s one DeviantArt user who draws different incarnations of The Doctor and has even invented a few of his own. He also draws other characters from popular culture. His style is so good (so check him out) and if I am ever able to produce things to the same quality as him, I shall consider the visual art world conquered – though I realise I’m a million miles away from it.

We all work and improve at our own pace and looking at what others have achieved can be a good form of motivation.

(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)

Although it is somewhat late of me to address it now, you probably realised that I did not post anything here last Friday. The reason for this was that I went to Scotland for the weekend to visit two of my very best friends. I did the same thing last year. However, this time I enjoyed myself a lot more.

So why did I enjoy myself more? I was there a day less than last time and I got to see considerably less of one of my friends. You’d think that it would be an inferior experience. But the thing is, last time I went there I had a terrible job. Having to work in such a toxic environment was really draining and it made me unhappy. Of course, going to Scotland was a very nice escape which I enjoyed very much. It’s only now that I am completely removed from that environment that I realise that my unhappiness with my old job was actually spoiling the things which were entirely disconnected from it.

I think it’s quite important to realise that if you’ve got something horrible and toxic in your life, it doesn’t just affect you when you are with it – it brings you down in every context. You may feel like you’re okay and happy when you’re not dealing with it directly, but actually it will be leaving an unknown cloud over you, which will stop you from feeling truly happy. The lesson is, that you need to remove toxic elements from your life as quickly as possible.

(Don’t today’s Finger Puppet Show!)