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       #Post#: 170861--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Sharing Hobbies with loved ones
       By: billieryder Date: March 9, 2023, 8:53 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       A lot of my post was presuming my health issues away because the
       crux of the problem is independent of my health.  Ie a cooking
       class is well within scope ... In a reasonable time frame.
       Surfing will never be in  scope because of eyes and my phobia of
       water.
       But yeah.... It has been made crystal clear to me that he
       can't/won't pick the hobby because he has no interests therefore
       he wants me to be sufficiently passionate about something he can
       join in on and share.  But the things I am passionate about? Say
       machine learning? Quilting? Not something he can join in on.
       Cycling?  I'm not passionate enough about because I don't do
       enough of it whether that relates to distance or how many times
       a week.  I know people who bike 100s of miles a week.  I don't
       compare so I suppose I could be more passionate but I was as
       passionate as I wanted to be about it. I almost reached my goal
       of 1500 miles (16 miles short) last year.  He probably did twice
       that so he says I don't do it at a high enough level to engage
       him.  But he won't join a group to find someone who wants to do
       it at that level.
       I'm not sure I am an all consuming passionate kind of person.
       Someone mentioned their husband putting in 40+ hours at music.
       Not me.  I'm not that dedicated to any one thing.  If he needs
       passionate and lofty in his partner to move forward he might
       have picked the wrong person.
       And I just have nothing these days on how to solve this impasse.
       Before I might have doubled down on trying to be more dedicated
       but it doesn't yield results.  If I manage a schedule of x times
       a week he starts in on x *2 times a week is needed.  It's a
       never ending commitment that steadily increases and I'm tired of
       it.  I'm out of hobby suggestions that might interest me and
       honestly the things he suggests don't interest me and sometimes
       his ideas turn into my workload.  I had actually forgotten about
       that point until Ani mentioned it.
       I was wondering if someone might have an interesting idea to get
       past this that I hadn't thought of or tried.  Mostly I have
       thrown in the towel.
       #Post#: 170862--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Sharing Hobbies with loved ones
       By: MidwestmikkiJ Date: March 9, 2023, 9:28 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       I think what we’ve all said in different words is “throw in the
       towel”. At least on hobbies. Couples don’t have to have a shared
       hobby
       #Post#: 170865--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Sharing Hobbies with loved ones
       By: animaniactoo Date: March 9, 2023, 9:48 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       With respect, I don't think there is a solution to this, because
       the core problem is that the two of you just have different
       approaches to how to do this. Or whether you even want to.
       If you wanted to do anything about it, I would say something
       along the lines of "I'm willing to try out various things with
       no commitment longer than a month to see if I like it. This is
       what I'm willing to do. It's either enough for you, or it's not,
       but it's all I have to give." and then let him react to it
       however he is going to react to it. Don't make it your problem
       to solve. Because it's not your problem to begin with! And
       trying to solve it is - again - taking on the work that should
       be his, and putting in more effort than he is willing to put in.
       #Post#: 170871--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Sharing Hobbies with loved ones
       By: acl-ny Date: March 9, 2023, 10:44 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       "I was wondering if someone might have an interesting idea to
       get past this that I hadn't thought of or tried.  Mostly I have
       thrown in the towel."
       Honestly, I'm not sure what you're asking here. Ideas to get
       past his insistence on controlling your hobbies and how you do
       them, your life and how you live it? Or something else.
       The way I'm seeing it, based on this and all your posts, is ---
       there is no getting past this. He is inflexible. He wants you to
       do ABC and XYZ, at levels that you do not want to do, if you
       want to do them at all.
       But one thing I don't think you've tried yet is sending him back
       to his place. Personally, I'd send him home for at least a
       month, tell him you want no contact until the month is up, and
       then meet on neutral territory when and if you do allow contact
       after the cooling off period. It would also be ok to tell him
       you need more time. Maybe that will give you a chance to clear
       your head and realize that you can indeed manage without him. My
       hope is that you'll find that you're actually thriving.
       I say this as someone who broke up with a long time bf, who was
       a decent guy, because of far far less egregious stuff than this.
       We were just no longer working out. I also broke up someone I
       loved with all my heart, but I knew that we wouldn't work out
       long term as well. It was hard, but I survived just fine.
       I really think you need to get out from under his thumb for a
       while and give yourself a chance to find yourself and your voice
       again.
       Hugs.
       #Post#: 170874--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Sharing Hobbies with loved ones
       By: billieryder Date: March 9, 2023, 11:19 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       I'm glad I put this out here.  Nothing I suggested was fitting
       the bill and I wasn't happy with the things he was suggesting
       either based on interest or past experience of how it would go.
       I actually told him we were at an impasse because of our
       different approaches.  As opposed to me trying once again
       racking my brain trying to meet the requirements.
       But I was open to being wrong about missing some obvious
       approach. So I'm going to stay the course on not wanting to go
       all in on some hobby with a lofty goal rather than dip my toe
       and adjust.  And he will have to come up with his own hobby that
       I may or may not engage in   I'm tired of trying to come up that
       magical hobby with the lofty goal that I want to do that he
       thinks is worth sharing in.  Not sure it exists.
       #Post#: 170891--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Sharing Hobbies with loved ones
       By: Queenie Date: March 10, 2023, 6:47 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Just be yourself.
       #Post#: 170922--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Sharing Hobbies with loved ones
       By: HugeHug Date: March 10, 2023, 8:42 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Billie- Hax had some advice for a letter writer in today’s
       column which made me think of you and your situation:
       “If you’re plainly mismatched (ahem), then let that express
       itself organically and see what happens. Give the friendship a
       chance to either be real, or sail off into a Santorini sunset.
       You really don’t have to perform.”
       You, as well, really don’t have to perform for Mr. Ryder.
       {{HUGS}}
       #Post#: 171044--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Sharing Hobbies with loved ones
       By: Sahmtoo Date: March 10, 2023, 11:55 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=billieryder link=topic=1790.msg170861#msg170861
       date=1678416798]
       But yeah.... It has been made crystal clear to me that he
       can't/won't pick the hobby because he has no interests therefore
       he wants me to be sufficiently passionate about something he can
       join in on and share.
       [/quote]
       It's just not reasonable for him to expect someone else to
       provide this level of energy to get him excited about doing
       something. You can't be his external motivation, even if you
       were inclined to be as obsessive as he is asking you to be. My
       guess is that he's depressed or something, and he's hatched this
       plan for how you could solve his lack of passion because it's a
       way for him to dodge his own responsibility for his life.
       What do you get out of this?
       #Post#: 171054--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Sharing Hobbies with loved ones
       By: billieryder Date: March 10, 2023, 12:44 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=Sahmtoo link=topic=1790.msg171044#msg171044
       date=1678470944]
       [quote author=billieryder link=topic=1790.msg170861#msg170861
       date=1678416798]
       But yeah.... It has been made crystal clear to me that he
       can't/won't pick the hobby because he has no interests therefore
       he wants me to be sufficiently passionate about something he can
       join in on and share.
       [/quote]
       It's just not reasonable for him to expect someone else to
       provide this level of energy to get him excited about doing
       something. You can't be his external motivation, even if you
       were inclined to be as obsessive as he is asking you to be. My
       guess is that he's depressed or something, and he's hatched this
       plan for how you could solve his lack of passion because it's a
       way for him to dodge his own responsibility for his life.
       What do you get out of this?
       [/quote]
       This is what I need to make crystal clear back to him.  I've
       told him that I can't make him happy by taking a moguls clinic
       for example to become better at moguls (I have improved but I'm
       still pretty bad.  Just not utterly hopeless).  It doesn't work
       that way.  And we have proof with skiing and cycling.  I'm been
       pretty pleased with my cycling in particular (pre eye).  Less
       pleased with skiing skills but I am still pretty decent.  But he
       is better at both by a wide margin and therefore he is unhappy
       with my passion and his ability to share at a level that is
       meaningful to him.
       Mostly what I get out of this is hassled.  Either for my lack of
       passion, my inability to think up something or my lack of
       interest in whatever he suggests.  This is being presented as a
       shared thing so I must participate.  But see above on how well
       this sharing has actually worked - not well at all.
       #Post#: 171058--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Sharing Hobbies with loved ones
       By: acl-ny Date: March 10, 2023, 12:52 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=billieryder link=topic=1790.msg171054#msg171054
       date=1678473890]
       [quote author=Sahmtoo link=topic=1790.msg171044#msg171044
       date=1678470944]
       [quote author=billieryder link=topic=1790.msg170861#msg170861
       date=1678416798]
       But yeah.... It has been made crystal clear to me that he
       can't/won't pick the hobby because he has no interests therefore
       he wants me to be sufficiently passionate about something he can
       join in on and share.
       [/quote]
       It's just not reasonable for him to expect someone else to
       provide this level of energy to get him excited about doing
       something. You can't be his external motivation, even if you
       were inclined to be as obsessive as he is asking you to be. My
       guess is that he's depressed or something, and he's hatched this
       plan for how you could solve his lack of passion because it's a
       way for him to dodge his own responsibility for his life.
       What do you get out of this?
       [/quote]
       This is what I need to make crystal clear back to him.  I've
       told him that I can't make him happy by taking a moguls clinic
       for example to become better at moguls (I have improved but I'm
       still pretty bad.  Just not utterly hopeless).  It doesn't work
       that way.  And we have proof with skiing and cycling.  I'm been
       pretty pleased with my cycling in particular (pre eye).  Less
       pleased with skiing skills but I am still pretty decent.  But he
       is better at both by a wide margin and therefore he is unhappy
       with my passion and his ability to share at a level that is
       meaningful to him.
       Mostly what I get out of this is hassled.  Either for my lack of
       passion, my inability to think up something or my lack of
       interest in whatever he suggests.  This is being presented as a
       shared thing so I must participate.  But see above on how well
       this sharing has actually worked - not well at all.
       [/quote]
       So what are you going to do about it?
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