Creating special interests artificially

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I've had several recurring special interests over my 43 years. I enjoy mapping religion, survivalism and primitive skills, pragmatic combatives, and entertainment magic.

But none of it is particularly helpful in relation to employment. I live in one of Australia's worst employment areas, twice the national average: here about 8.6% unemployment as opposed to the national average of about 4.3%. I'm aging, it's been three years since I worked, I have no trade skills, and in a small rural setting there are no close trade schools.

But this post isn't so much about employment (or it would be in the employment section), but rather the Aspie trait of special interests.

Motivated by my employment situation, I'm contemplating deliberately trying to develop a new special interest. The thing about special interests is that they get our attention. We get a little obsessed with them... and very knowledgeable. So if I could transfer that positive to an employment subject, then it could only help.

It's just that our special interests happen organically, usually in response to such motivators as fear, stability and pleasure. I'm not sure if it's possible to artificially adopt a special interest into 'the family' motivated by a desire to fill a need for employment.

Anybody here deliberately CHOSEN to go out and find a new special interest to meet a need... successfully?

Thanks.

I don't see why you can't intentionally change interests. I've done it a number of times, usually learned about all there is to know about the subject, thus I get bored and start looking for something new.


Btw, I'm shocked at how low your unemployment rate is, here in the US its about %10, and where I was living (I just moved) it was closer to %35

Thanks MC for the perspective. Clears things up.

Yep, I guess compared to where you are, our employment situation isn't so dire. Wow! 10/35%.

Analyze your previous special interests and see if there are elements in each that might be able to be combined into something employable. One thing about a job is that even if it revolves around a special interest, often there is a lot of time spent doing other stuff. If you are a pastry chef and love making pastries, you still have to clean up the kitchen after work.

It might be possible to move sideways from a special interest into a similar pursuit with broader appeal. Many of my current interests are "cousins" of past interests that are now dormant, but I have never forced a move like this. For me it's important that special interests are discovered serendipitously and have no practical value, but that may not be true for everyone.

i love solving problems, but the things that trouble me in life rarely present themselves as such. when it becomes possible to state what the problem is, that's the eureka moment, even if it shows me i'm unable to do what that would entail.

so, break down your big distress into separate aspects that can be approached as a problem.

those that seem unsolvable, take that as a cue to find a way to go on without having them solved.

I remember the time that I was obsessed with Routemasters, and I tried to become obsessed with nightmares so that I could impress another member by talking about something else. I didn't like myself too much back in those days.

For a long time my special interests have involved some crazy idea for me to make money and build a career out of.

Photographer
Comic book illustrator
Physicist/ astrophysicist
Author

So far the only area that I've gotten anywhere with is my creative writing and I do have contacts and interest so I hope this one will make me at least make some money, or get another job through it.
I've been thinking about getting back into graphic design but I'd have to go back to college/uni for that.

I agree with Wavefreak about finding some element of your interests that could help you be employable.

Maybe you could look into becoming a bush walking guide or something? Depending on where abouts in Australia you live, you could get some good business. I'd even sign up. Know much about our caves?

I have often wondered if I could create my next special interest, but with this there are two problems;

1. I'd be more inclined to make my next special interest something that already interests me such as comics or physics, neither of which are helpful to me - I'm unemployed but a special interest of any sort would be of no benefit to me given as I am not well-off enough to go into higher education to be able to get any sort of career, and thus am restricted to working retail or if I'm lucky admin...roles where special interests are worth very little. An intimate knowledge of geometry is not going to help me much behind a supermarket checkout.

2. I've had special interests in the past including major interests in geology, biology, and gynaecology - assuming here that I could have gone into higher education, these would have all made wonderful career options. Problem here is that I'm no longer interested in geology, in fact I have forgotten EVERYTHING I learned - it was a given in my family that I would be a geologist, I won awards and was head-hunted for field work from a young age, I knew a lot but as soon as I lost interest I lost the knowledge too and even wanted to distance myself from this interest. What if I had gone into that line of work but lost interest?

You'd have to find a special interest to work for you - you'd first have to think of a line of work you might be able to go into and thus already have a bit of an interest in, and look into how you would get into such a career - from there you'd either have to hope it develops into a special interest, or if not that you would have to force yourself into being interested...if only it were that simple, I'd not have failed IT in high school if I could have made myself interested in such things.

Special interests can be beneficial in employment - sorry, you mentioned employment and thus I am focusing on this - if not for determining career paths then for the benefits of transferable skills. Find an aspect of a special interest that transfers into whatever job you go for, find a hobby that involves your special interest but which also then demonstrates skills such as organisation, or just use your special interest to study part-time to show a willingness to better yourself to future employers.

I think with special interests we may well have an interest and then we can choose to then learn more about it, at which point it can go from a general interest to a 'special interest' - for example I have an interest in comics, I have the sneaking suspicion that if I was to go away and start learning about comics it may become my next special interest. For the most part forever we can't force it, we get what we get and run with it, some of us are lucky enough to have interests that can lead to a career, some of us are not that lucky.