5 ms·

If I may ask, what your previous career/education was about? Maybe they are not very relevant, but they are definitely better than nothing and could be a common

by panta 9y ago

If I may ask, what your previous career/education was about? Maybe they are not very relevant, but they are definitely better than nothing and could be a common interest with a potential employer. The fact that you are a bit technically minded is a good starting point, especially together with the willingness to learn. You love maps, so you could for example learn a bit of python (it's easy and quick to jumpstart, I promise) and use it to play with cartography. Give a look to [Kartograph](http://kartograph.org http://kartograph.org), [TileMill](https://tilemill-project.github.io/tilemill/ https://tilemill-project.github.io/tilemill/), [Leaflet](http://leafletjs.com http://leafletjs.com), [OpenLayers](http://openlayers.org http://openlayers.org). There is also this interesting list of [Essential Python Geospatial Libraries](http://spatialdemography.org/essential-python-geospatial-libraries/ http://spatialdemography.org/essential-python-geospatial-lib...). This will not guarantee a job, but it would be an interesting skill set for which probably there is demand. I'm not in this field, but in case I could give you some pointers for the Python part.

hestipod 9y ago
I don't want to give details in public but it isn't something I could or would want to be involved in again for many reasons. The skills were specialized and honestly irrelevant to anything I could do online. I am starting from scratch. I appreciate and understand your view but the "self learn a marketable skill" has never worked. I cannot compete with young, healthy people who are grinding away. Without some miracle/kindness/bespoke option I am lost. It's not negativity or cynicism even though it sounds so...its just truth proven over time. Even this post which initially gave me a tiny boost of hope thinking someone might do as you said and see it and have a solution is so far off the front few pages nobody but you will continue to see it. Just learning to fish for a "special kind of fish that may or may not be available and I have to compete with better, stronger fishermen for" won't work. I'd need someone to teach me to fish and give me the opportunity to fish within my limits. That's honestly a pipe dream.
- panta 9y ago
  You have to start somewhere. If you start saying it won't work, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the other hand, if you start something not too unreasonable saying that you can do it, it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy too, but a positive one. Being positive and optimist is free, and can go a long way... (of course you need to put in also some work, but not necessarily an extenuating amount).
  - hestipod 9y ago
    Thanks and I know your words come from a well meaning place...but this is how it always goes because there isn't a self made path out of this sort of situation but people need to believe there is. You HAVE to have lots of outside help and 100% of the people I have known or see like me who did get a life back had that support. People don't accept the actual limits and hear what I am saying and talk about optimism and prophecies because those things SOUND right to us but it's not real life. It's factual, logistical, and reality I am up against. I'd never turn down a practical and realistic plan ti regain a life...I've never had access to one. If I had what my friend had that would be different. Here my only chance is an individual or company CHOOSING to help me and that doesn't happen in this culture. It's so much easier for people in general to blame victims and stay safe in the "knowledge" that they would find a way out if it were them...I used to say the same so I know it's not something people will listen to until they live it. I know how I sound but I also the depression and mental stuff is a result of the lack of Maslow's lower levels not being met and you can't cure things "backwards". I need stability and a legit path and the rest would follow...but I am expected by most to somehow fix the effect before dealing with the cause. I find the more I talk about it the more depressed I get...which is ironic to me...but the alternative to let it pile up doesn't chance things either. I wish I could see a way out...

by panta 9y ago

hestipod 9y ago

I don't want to give details in public but it isn't something I could or would want to be involved in again for many reasons. The skills were specialized and honestly irrelevant to anything I could do online. I am starting from scratch. I appreciate and understand your view but the "self learn a marketable skill" has never worked. I cannot compete with young, healthy people who are grinding away. Without some miracle/kindness/bespoke option I am lost. It's not negativity or cynicism even though it sounds so...its just truth proven over time. Even this post which initially gave me a tiny boost of hope thinking someone might do as you said and see it and have a solution is so far off the front few pages nobody but you will continue to see it. Just learning to fish for a "special kind of fish that may or may not be available and I have to compete with better, stronger fishermen for" won't work. I'd need someone to teach me to fish and give me the opportunity to fish within my limits. That's honestly a pipe dream.

panta 9y ago
You have to start somewhere. If you start saying it won't work, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the other hand, if you start something not too unreasonable saying that you can do it, it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy too, but a positive one. Being positive and optimist is free, and can go a long way... (of course you need to put in also some work, but not necessarily an extenuating amount).
- hestipod 9y ago
  Thanks and I know your words come from a well meaning place...but this is how it always goes because there isn't a self made path out of this sort of situation but people need to believe there is. You HAVE to have lots of outside help and 100% of the people I have known or see like me who did get a life back had that support. People don't accept the actual limits and hear what I am saying and talk about optimism and prophecies because those things SOUND right to us but it's not real life. It's factual, logistical, and reality I am up against. I'd never turn down a practical and realistic plan ti regain a life...I've never had access to one. If I had what my friend had that would be different. Here my only chance is an individual or company CHOOSING to help me and that doesn't happen in this culture. It's so much easier for people in general to blame victims and stay safe in the "knowledge" that they would find a way out if it were them...I used to say the same so I know it's not something people will listen to until they live it. I know how I sound but I also the depression and mental stuff is a result of the lack of Maslow's lower levels not being met and you can't cure things "backwards". I need stability and a legit path and the rest would follow...but I am expected by most to somehow fix the effect before dealing with the cause. I find the more I talk about it the more depressed I get...which is ironic to me...but the alternative to let it pile up doesn't chance things either. I wish I could see a way out...