Personal Experience Journal about Improving my social skills

[Archibald]

A few days ago, I decided to try and improve my social skills.
I made this thread to talk about what I’m doing to try and improve it.
My first two comments on here will just be copy pasted from something I posted on another website but every subsequent post will be made here.

Thank you for reading my journal or something.

 

[Archibald]

12/14/2024

Today, I wanted to improve my not so great social skills and because of my productivity thing, I had to bring a big jar of M&m’s around to reward myself. So, I thought it would be a bright idea to approach random (not really random: I got a little nervous about talking to new people and avoided specific groups) people and offer them an M&m that is not blue for free.

The whole time I was doing this I felt uncomfortable but that was kind of the point of what I was trying to do. I will continue doing these things with strangers until I feel comfortable socializing with all types of people.

 

[Archibald]

The phrasing on the last sentence feels a little weird.
Also, regarding the part talking about working on my social skills before joining this site: for the past year or so, I’ve been on and off about working on my social skills and it was enough to gain some friends. Currently, I have two friends I mainly talk to.

12/15/2024

Another day of giving M&m’s to people.
A few recognized me from last time. A female with glasses that one of my friends (I’ve been working on my social skills before I even joined this site) claims is his friend, a male who looks gay, and a guy who probably uses Reddit. I’m trying to befriend the redditor because it’s funny when he makes a soy face and I’d also like to learn more about why he needed to go to a mental hospital (from what I’ve heard so far, he had depression and other mental issues).

I still felt pretty uncomfortable and I noticed myself mainly avoiding big and conventionally attractive males (they’re very intimidating). Next time, I’ll approach more big men.

 

[fatcel_3000]

I still felt pretty uncomfortable and I noticed myself mainly avoiding big and conventionally attractive males (they’re very intimidating). Next time, I’ll approach more big men.

 

[Archibald]

12/21/2024

Today is the start of winter break and for the next two weeks I won’t have as many opportunities to practice my skills on.

I’m burning a DVD so tomorrow I could go to the store myself and print some photos. maybe I could practice with the cashier.

 

[Archibald]

12/22/2024

Today, I printed pictures of my dog.
The cashier was a pooner and xe started up an awkward conversation about the way I carry my coins (in a pill bottle).
Afterward, I went over to Goodwill since that’s the only thrift store I know of that’s open on Sunday. The cashier was a nice old lady called Marie, she liked the picture I took of my dog.

Edit: The pooner's name is Mario.

 

[Archibald]

12/25/2024

Midnight mass with a pocket full of capacitors. I don’t go to church that often but I’m starting to think I should attend more frequently in the future.

I also recognized Mario when I was getting more photos printed.

 

[Archibald]

1/6/2025
I forgot to say happy new year to you guys, I am sorry.

With all of the things I've been doing for the past while (counting time before I made this journal), I think I've become a fairly confident person. It isn't anywhere near the levels of someone like... umm uuhhh (can't think of anyone associated with huge levels of confidence) but it's enough to where I feel like I could genuinely be myself around others and openly be passionate about things.

Tomorrow, I'm going to continue giving out M&m's to people and I'll work on something at home to prove an idea I had a conversation about with a friend.

 

[Tabula Rasa]

Tomorrow, I'm going to continue giving out M&m's to people

Like the chocolate?

 

[Archibald]

Like the chocolate?

Yes, like what I did in earlier posts.

 

[Truecel]

 

[Archibald]

View attachment 3920

Marge, how does this relate to me?

 

[Archibald]

1/9/2025

Today I made a bold move and decided to sit down with a group I gave M&m’s to and ramble on to them about my interests.
I landed on a group of two guys who seemed accepting enough (I could tell from all of their accessories). So I introduced myself and they did in turn and I went on and on about this cool thing I’ve been experimenting with for winter break; they seemed very intrigued.
One of them mentioned something about themselves that seemed like something I needed to know but I didn’t hear due to background noise.
From the conversation, I learned that they had similar interests to me and by the end of it, I'd made two new friends with one of them giving me their phone number.
I can’t wait to see them tomorrow.

Approached the big guys and offered M&m’s, they politely declined. That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

 

[Tabula Rasa]

1/9/2025

Today I made a bold move and decided to sit down with a group I gave M&m’s to and ramble on to them about my interests.
I landed on a group of two guys who seemed accepting enough (I could tell from all of their accessories). So I introduced myself and they did in turn and I went on and on about this cool thing I’ve been experimenting with for winter break; they seemed very intrigued.
One of them mentioned something about themselves that seemed like something I needed to know but I didn’t hear due to background noise.
From the conversation, I learned that they had similar interests to me and by the end of it, I'd made two new friends with one of them giving me their phone number.
I can’t wait to see them tomorrow.

Approached the big guys and offered M&m’s, they politely declined. That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

Are you approaching these people around your neighborhood?

 

[Archibald]

Are you approaching these people around your neighborhood?

I could never do something like this in my neighborhood. Other than me, only young children and adults go outside.

It’s a good thing I’m still in high school because it’s a really good place to get comfortable talking to all different kinds of people; all the groups are forced together in the same environment and it lets me pull off some of the stuff I do because students trust each other more than complete strangers, like with the M&m’s.
I will eventually finish school so I’m going to try branching out on where I interact with people. Thinking about looking for clubs (as in groups centered around an interest) in my community or talking to people like Walmart employees or church attendees, co-workers if I get a job.

 

[Archibald]

Are you approaching these people around your neighborhood?

If you’re looking for a place to start interacting with people, start with somewhere you’re consistently exposed to the same people.

 

[Tabula Rasa]

How is high school like for you?

 

[Archibald]

How is high school like for you?

I usually sit alone on the floor at lunch if that tells you anything.
All of my friends are considered weirdos or nerds.
I’m getting pretty good grades.
Not the best but definitely bearable because I get to talk about all my interests with my friends.

 

[Tabula Rasa]

I usually sit alone on the floor at lunch if that tells you anything.
All of my friends are considered weirdos or nerds.
I’m getting pretty good grades.
Not the best but definitely bearable because I get to talk about all my interests with my friends.

How do other people treat you?

 

[Archibald]

How do other people treat you?

Surprisingly, most people ignore me even though all my shenanigans include very noticeable objects or activities.
People who don’t ignore me include friends and teachers. They have relatively positive views about me and think I’m a kind person with cool interests.

 

[Tabula Rasa]

Surprisingly, most people ignore me even though all my shenanigans include very noticeable objects or activities.
People who don’t ignore me include friends and teachers. They have relatively positive views about me and think I’m a kind person with cool interests.

That sounds cool. My high school was small and people were generally insular, which was kind of a disadvantage for me because once your reputation is already established, it's near impossible to change. I think when you're young it's ideal to have a broad social network; you should know people from different schools and participate in the wider community, especially if your starting location isn't ideal.

 

[Archibald]

1/11/2025

HEEEELLLLPP!!!!
I was texting the friend that gave me their phone number and they revealed something I didn’t know before (could be the important thing I didn’t hear (the individuals that are aware

)).
It went something like this:
>Regarding the joke you made yesterday: I didn't get it and stuff.

<It's okay, don't worry

>I thought your lungs, stomach, intestines, etc. were trying to create life forms!

<It's alright, Just my uterus doing uterus things before I evict it.

HHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Archibald]

1/13/2025

This weekend, I found out that uterus bro was interested in learning how to animate. Since I already knew some of the basics and I’ve animated a few things myself before (I did stop motion videos with Lego and a few things in flash), I suggested to uterus bro that he should try it and I could help with a few things if he needed any. The weekend’s over so I’m excited to see if he’s done anything yet.

 

[Tabula Rasa]

1/13/2025

This weekend, I found out that uterus bro was interested in learning how to animate. Since I already knew some of the basics and I’ve animated a few things myself before (I did stop motion videos with Lego and a few things in flash), I suggested to uterus bro that he should try it and I could help with a few things if he needed any. The weekend’s over so I’m excited to see if he’s done anything yet.

Who is uterus bro

 

[Archibald]

Who is uterus bro

The guy I was texting on 1/11/2025.
I decided to call him that since I didn’t want to reveal his real name and he said he has a uterus in the text messages.