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Feeling lost and with no direction, what skill should I learn? (lemmy.world)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi everyone. I am feeling like I've lost any direction after getting laid off earlier this year (was working as an analyst in telecom and very recently landed a much lower position in healthcare data entry due to necessity). I already have several hobbies but I am either burnt out on them or they have lost their luster (similar to how life has lost its luster for me this past 6 months).

I would really love to learn a new skill, preferably using my hands to create something while challenging my brain. I'm willing to take classes, study, practice, and buy some equipment required for the skill.

Please tell me about your skill/hobby that gives you purpose. I've kind of exhausted google search which always returns the same 20 or so craft suggestions like "make custom invitations for weddings", and while that sounds good for someone, it may not be good for me.

Current hobbies: Music composition and gardening,

EDIT: trying to move away from hobbies that involve me sitting in front of a computer. I already do that way too much.

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[+] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, that's really beautiful. I can tell you have a lot of passion for your hobby. I am going to look into this and subscribe to the youtube channels you listed. Thank you!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

It's definitely been life-changing for me. I never had the "touch". When I'd do stuff around the house, I'd put in screws at crazy angles and drill holes in the wrong places on walls. I never felt like I could fix or build anything. Machine tools let you build crazy shit without relying on your visual reasoning or coordination. You want a hole at a spot? Move the handwheels to that spot and you're there. There's no fucking around. That built up my confidence, and the stuff that does require spatial reasoning (like using a file to turn a round hole into a square one) happens slowly enough that you can make mistakes and still be okay.

If you decide to get into it, I'd recommend getting a lathe first. if you can't afford a mill, a drill press is still very useful. You can do almost anything on a lathe if you try hard enough, and a drill press makes some things a lot easier. Blondihacks will have a lot more to say about it, but I believe that's her recommendation.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Ha ha, read this wonderful piece through thinking, sounds great but what would I ever make? And then omg, yarn winder. I'm a knitter, and my yarn winder is a plastic monstrosity. I mean I'm never going to do it myself, but there definitely is a market for beautifully machined yarn winders.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

+1 for the channels you mentioned, plus I find Inheritance Machining is pretty good too. A goodish amount of dry wit (not as much as TOT, but often gets a smirk out of me), and I really appreciate how he incorporates his manual drawing into a lot of his videos, rather than CAD.

Clickpsring is by far my absolute favourite. I've been following him since the very start of the clock build, and loved every second of it. I like his 2nd channel too - Clickspring Clips - for the occasional 2-3min video brief of him making a single part.