I’m an adult male who works downtown near a pretty nice park. Now that the weather is getting better, I’d like to get outside at lunch and work on juggling.
I’ve never done it because I don’t want to the the weirdo that’s juggling in the middle of the day, but I don’t really have any other time when I can practice in an open space.
Would it be weird if you were in a park and a grown up man was there juggling?
Edit: Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. It probably says a lot about what I think about people who choose to mind their own business while engaging in things they enjoy in their spare time. I’ve learned a lot here. There also doesn’t seem to be a juggling/flow arts Lemmy community so maybe that’s something we can do.
Maybe refrain from using running chainsaws, but apart from that the park sounds like a great place to practice juggling!
Also, people doing their best to get better at their hobby are the most interesting people.
I walked through a park just a bit ago and there was a juggling group performing. There’s also a person in my city that hula hoops continuously while dancing all over downtown, often on rollerskates. It’s all a delight to see in our typical modern hell scape, even if they weren’t good at it, I enjoy people having fun.
On posts like these, the question to ask yourself is “if I saw a video on the Internet of someone being a dick to a person doing this thing, would they look like an asshole?” If the answer is yes, then it’s fine to do.
That’s a great trick
Wondering if it’s weird is weird. Go enjoy your park.
i am not even sure how that is wierd
just go juggle, wtf lol
I’ve seen bagpipers doing their thing in random parks. Alone, with a bagpipe, standing in a field, practicing. Bagpipers who needed the practice, btw.
I thought it was cool. Nobody seemed to mind.
You do you!
Yeah but that’s kind of arguable. Bagpipes make a lot of noise so it’s just understandable there may be some objections. I love it when a piper is down the street so you can hear the music echoing through the buildings, but it is loud and may not be for everyone
Juggling is no different than the yoga or tai chi class in the next open area. There’s no impact on anyone sharing the space, except possibly some social conventions. Just do it (be careful not to put a coffee mug out or you may get donations)
I live near a big public park and it would be strange if there wasn’t someone juggling there on a sunny day.
I’d say that’s exactly what the park is for.
Dude fr, just juggle. I learned to juggle a few years ago and was hanging out juggling by a coffeshop and met another, much better, juggler and we juggle for a while.
When you’re 20, you care what everyone thinks about you
When you’re 40, you don’t give a shit what anyone thinks about you.
When you’re 60, you’ll realize no one was thinking about you the whole time. It will be more empowering than depressing.
Skip the worry. Do you. It’s public space and hurts no one.
I keep trying to reinforce this for my wife at her work. People tend to grossly overestimate how much time others spend thinking about them. They don’t really think about you at all.
Too many people think they are the center of the universe, and everybody is watching them, so they never figure out the people they think are watching, think they are the center of their universe, too, and everyone is watching them.
I have noticed that too, which is really odd because they well know I’m the center of the universe not them. \s
“You’ll worry less about what people think about you when you realize how seldom they do.”
David Foster Wallace
and hurts no one.
That depends entirely on what he’s juggling and how skilled he is.
If they were farting glitter and juggling I would certainly be impressed.
As long as the glitter is biodegradable ….
I love this comment just for the fact you point out that no one really thinks about you and even if they do, their opinion isn’t relevant.
I myself am 50 and I gave up many years ago even considering what other people think about me, as long as I behave in an ethical and kind way.
This to say, I cannot imagine the daily stress of today’s generation, where every moment is spent disingenuously performing for others on SM and trying to get them to notice you
I’m approaching 40 And it was hard enough with cable internet being all the rage.
Now that kind of connectivity is 24/7 and on personal pocket sized devices.
I don’t envy today’s youth.
It’s possibly the least disruptive thing you can do that may also entertain some passersby
Everything’s weird.
As long as you’re not actively hurting someone, do what you love.
As a professional juggler I say go for it! That’s where I practise and never had any bad experiences in public parks.
True story: I used to worry so much about what people thought. One day I did an experiment, dyed my hair lime green and went around to the shops, library etc. Nobody batted an eyelid and I realised it was just me.
Nowadays I do “weird” things in public every weekend, and people usually pay in advance!
Would it be weird if you were in a park and a grown up man was there juggling?
No. It would be depressing if I was in a park and no one was there juggling, or trying to learn to ride a unicycle, or failing to slackline, or setting up a tent for the first time before going on an adventure, or doing yoga, or practicing artistic moves.
To me, that’s just what people do in a park. That’s (also) what parks are for.When you start, for the first 5 minutes or so, people will look at you, maybe they’ll even point at you, maybe even laugh.
But unless you live in a really shitty depressing place, that laugh will be one of joy, and they’ll look and point at you cause they are interested.Source: I did all those activities in parks. No one ever laughed at me, and I never got the feeling they thought I’m a weirdo.
You’re spot on. I’m always looking at people doing stuff like that, and it’s always with envy of their ability to do stuff in public. The guy falling off his skateboard, the fat guy in the pool, the weird meditation circle.
We need more of it. The world is a much better place when we can see other people enjoying and bettering themselves.
This is why you can also maybe pick a spot where your back is facing most foot traffic and people can point and look all they want without distracting from your practice.
Or if you’re ambitious, you practice in front of the busiest footpath and get all of the embarrassment of failing in front of an audience out of the way early.
So nothing can phase you later when you perform.lol true as well! I personally am not that ambitious when it comes to juggling but I should be.
the only barrier to this is in your head
