That's the sad truth that I had to confront myself with a long time ago. My brain just wasn't right from the day I was born, undiagnosed autism is my guess. this is why I so desperately need to hear from people. I get almost no input from what would be considered a normal social interaction, people need to be extremely direct and tell me "I'm just kidding" or "im being serious" or I will just keep acting the way I do. That is what scares me the most, the fact that my brain was wired different from the start and I'm stuck in this loop of hurting people without knowing it. I have had this happen in other groups, and having someone be direct with me is how I made those small steps to get better and better. Thankfully, the way I acted in the past was much worse and is mainly not on this community, but it shows me I have hope for a change, and I want people to see that.
I have a limited understanding of it all, it's like I got teleported into a foreign country with no knowledge of their customs or language, no interpreters that understand how I normally act. They all assume I know every custom and that I am acting awkwardly on purpose or out of disrespect. That same fear and my lack of understanding of how normal people act is what worries me that people will not see the changes I notice in myself. I want to change myself and have fun like I see in every other player on this server, but in the end these are just words and I am going to have to go through years of learning how to interact with people. They never taught it in school and everyone simply picked it up while I was left on my own, not understanding anything they were talking about at all. It mystifies me when I see people talking on talk shows, movies, in real life, when they are in close friendships like those in police and fire departments. I pretend I am in their shoes and I have no idea where they get their next sentence from. It took me a long time to realize nobody knows how I work either.
I hate to say this, but I may never perform perfectly, I will always be different, but you and everyone else deserve something better than what I give you and I understand that but it frightens me not knowing where to go, what to say, what to do, how to tell what emotions people are feeling, like the worst nightmare playing over and over. That is why I have to talk to people, I have to absorb their personalities like a computer, study their mannerisms, but I also have to ask them constantly why they did this or that or what emotion they were feeling when they said something in a certain tone and the vast majority of people are not and quite honestly do not have to deal with me incessantly asking those questions, but anybody who is willing to talk or help me along would mean everything to me. Those little bits of information give me clues, they are never an entire blueprint for a human being, but I slowly and often painfully learn, person by person, mannerism by mannerism, each individual thing that is right and wrong. I want to be able to listen to someone speak, interpret what they said, and ask them if my interpretation was correct or if I need to improve, and how I can spot how they are feeling.
As I said with snowy, just the act of replying gives me hope. I feel a breath of relief when someone acknowledges what I am saying, that they know I need help, and I wish the same can happen for everyone else who interacts with me, and it lets me know that you all are good people who genuinely care for me and want to see me change. I want people to feel safe and comfortable telling me what I can improve on. Criticism isn't always nice to hear, but it helps me avoid causing more pain down the road. You are always welcome to speak with me if you would like and we could come to an understanding of the specific things I did to make you uncomfortable.
until