This is an extension of something I posted earlier about, but I'm broadening the topic in hope that someone will actually respond this time.
Has anyone found a "nonverbal" way of opening up to people and learning who they are? I put "nonverbal" in quotes because I don't mean the things like tone of voice and facial expression that so many of us aspies are bad at. I mean a vehicle for meaningful expression that does not require you to be able to put your thoughts into words, AND (here is the catch) can be done in a group?
As someone who is very much a picture thinker, I find that although I can communicate clearly in words when I need to say something, I nearly always walk away from a verbal encounter feeling that I have shared absolutely nothing at all personal. I feel that this, much more than any "shyness" or lack of ability to understand another person, is my biggest roadblock to making friends.
I feel that others can much more easily "size each other up" in an initial meeting and decide who they want to connect with more. Whereas I am at a very large handicap in this respect, because I can't show how I see the world to others until after a long and laborious process of trying to break through the communication barrier. By this time most people have either lost interest, or by the time I break through, I realize that the other person really is nothing like me.
I suppose it might be easier if I were a skilled painter or sculptor or even musician. Then I could create something personal in the outside world, and these thoughts and feelings wouldn't be so frustratingly locked in my head. However, I am not that good with kinesthetic/practical things, so that's somewhat hard. Also, creating paintings and sculptures is usually a solo act, and so it is not well suited to the "call and response" nature of social interaction, where each person shares an idea and the other has a chance to change his/her response based on that. A painting or a sculpture is more something that doesn't engage a viewer until it's already a static, fully polished work.
TL:DR--I need a way to open up to people that works for picture/abstract thinkers whose connection to the world is not easily expressed verbally. Has anyone else here found one?
31 May 2015, 4:29 pm
