The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

More and more, I’m being social, and it’s kind of weird.

I never think of myself as being Anti-social. I’m very social online, and I can hold my own with other people. It’s not really something that I’ve ever felt I had a problem with. However, I have, for the most part, stuck to my own circle of friends. I’ve known them forever, and they’re completely awesome. I don’t regret a thing. I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Hanging out with them, though, has a very particular dynamic, and I’ve become used to it.

Now, suddenly, I’m hanging out with people from school. Fellow TAs and whatnot. It feels weird.

Again, I don’t feel like I’ve been sheltered, perse, but when I interact with these people, in this very different environment, I feel like I know so little about this stuff. I don’t do bad. I have fun, and I’m not awkward. At least, not any more than I am naturally, and not in a way that makes me uncomfortable. But it’s such a fucking unknown. Everything with my normal circle of friends is a complete known quantity. Hell, how everyone I hang out with online is also a known quantity, for the most part. There are no surprises, just good times. Not being able to completely predict how Cole or Cara or whoever are going to react is… interesting to me.

Frankly, it’s probably good for me.

I know I state this point over and over again on this blog, from time to time, but that’s only because it’s important. The idea that I will move away at some point is scary, but true. After I get my master’s I’m either going to go on for a PhD or get a job somewhere where my editing skills could be put to use. Neither seems likely to happen in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. At some point I’m going to have to move away. If I get lucky enough to move to somewhere where I already know people, using the power of the internet, so much the better. But more than likely I’ll just have to make new friends and such from scratch.

It’s good to break out of my bubble. It’s good to have fun with new people. It’s good for me. And unlike vegetables, it’s fun. I should push for it more. I shouldn’t hesitate and be safe. Hell, I’m in the process of making one of the least safe moves I will ever make in my life via transitioning. Going out with people who are not Matt Essner or Justin Spaeth is not that hard, right? Of course not.

Not that I’m going to abandon the awesome friends I have. Just… should be open. I should be social. That’s a good thing.
It’s a good thing.