Special interests that are too niche to be relatable?

[Luca]

This is something I’ve been kinda depressed about lately and I was wondering if anyone else feels the same.

I sometimes feel like my special interests are TOO specific, or too niche to be relatable for, well… anyone, really

I was trying to help a friend find a Meetup group that he could attend, since he just went through a bad breakup and needs some social interaction with people who share his interests.
His main interests are board games, and motorcycles. There were TONS of Meetups in his area for those interests.

But when I tried searching keywords for my interests on Meetup- “dog training,” “drummers/percussionists,” “European music,” “Electronic music/DJing,” “drawing and painting, therapeutic” (not serious art! Everyone would laugh at me!) etc, I found exactly zero results in my area.

Even within the categories of my interests, I fit into more niche subcategories.
- I’m a professional dog trainer, not someone who leisurely trains my dogs for fun. I train and compete very seriously, and it’s really time-consuming.
- I’m a DnB drummer and a folk percussionist. Most of the other drummers I meet are rock or metal drummers, and older adult men (nothing wrong with that! It’s just not me.)
- I’m trained in basic sound engineering and LIVE mixing. A lot of DJs I’ve met don’t do a lot of live stuff, or they work ridiculous hours that would screw up my sleep schedule even *more.* I’ve worked at clubs, I would know.
And I’ve mentioned on here that there are still very few female DJs or LGBT people in that industry.
- The EDM music that I like is also very niche. I’m not a big fan of the Pop EDM and melodic House stuff that’s really popular right now (though I tolerate it.) I like more of a “hard” or “dirty” sound, like the stuff that’s more popular in Europe. I like music that really “goes off.”
(There is a reason I don’t often discuss this interest on the forums It’s unusual! And somewhat “masculine”)
- I am an artist but not a professional one. My artwork is the kind that people either really love or really hate
I don’t fit in well with *serious* art students. I tried art school, it didn’t work!

So I’m really at a loss here… I don’t think anyone can really relate to my interests and sometimes when I talk about them, I feel like I’m shouting into the void

I do have some “normal” interests I guess, but none that I’m super excited about.
And some of my more passionate interests are too expensive and time-consuming to do often (world travel) or just really weird and off-putting (paranormal/creepy stuff and cryptozoology.)

Anyways… didn’t mean to make that into such a rant :|
Does anyone else ever feel like their interests are too specific/unusual for most people to relate to or be interested in?

I’m kind of looking for advice but also interested in hearing others’ thoughts and what your most unusual interests are.

I will also add that I’ve gone through a lot of threads on here and not found anything that’s really similar to my specific interests.

 

[Knower of nothing]

My mom shares the casual art hobby and she set up a club herself for a few years and got a fair few people to join. Later on she found one nearby and switched to that instead. But before I would suggest you to look into what you could organize yourself, with your amount of interests you sort of sound incredibly busy as is! Maybe that's the norm. I don't have much perspective on this.

Personally I've sort of accepted I'm bad at relating to people when it comes to the things I like even when we largely share interest. People like the same things for different reasons and my perspective is sadly rather rusted and inflexible. Simply sharing the things I make, pictures of where I've been, or some thoughts on media, with my friends is sufficient.

As for what interest I have I would consider unusual I feel a bit bad mentioning that despite the specific, unusual nature of it and the fact you would never ever find a meet up for this in any area, there's healthy communities online so it's not that isolated.
I enjoy doing simple level design for the 1994 video game Doom 2, I also enjoy writing music in MIDI primarily using the msgs sounds (the old windows defaults). I can then even put the music in the levels, should they fit.

Here's an old midi: Soft
Here's what a completed level looks like:

(the game is fake 3d, most the design is done with a 2d floor plan)

 

[Luca]

My mom shares the casual art hobby and she set up a club herself for a few years and got a fair few people to join. Later on she found one nearby and switched to that instead. But before I would suggest you to look into what you could organize yourself, with your amount of interests you sort of sound incredibly busy as is! Maybe that's the norm. I don't have much perspective on this.

Personally I've sort of accepted I'm bad at relating to people when it comes to the things I like even when we largely share interest. People like the same things for different reasons and my perspective is sadly rather rusted and inflexible. Simply sharing the things I make, pictures of where I've been, or some thoughts on media, with my friends is sufficient.

As for what interest I have I would consider unusual I feel a bit bad mentioning that despite the specific, unusual nature of it and the fact you would never ever find a meet up for this in any area, there's healthy communities online so it's not that isolated.
I enjoy doing simple level design for the 1994 video game Doom 2, I also enjoy writing music in MIDI primarily using the msgs sounds (the old windows defaults). I can then even put the music in the levels, should they fit.

Here's an old midi: Soft
Here's what a completed level looks like:

(the game is fake 3d, most the design is done with a 2d floor plan)

I guess I’m kind of inflexible when it comes to my own interests too
But I do honestly enjoy it when people talk about or show off something they are interested in. I love the threads on here about interests.
I sometimes just feel like I don’t get “interested” vibes from other people about my own stuff a lot. Most people either seem to find my interests boring, or weird.

That is a very specific musical interest but I find it really cool and creative actually!
I listened to “Soft” and the “Cheesecake” one. Very different from the kind of music I make but I still like it, and think you’re very talented MIDI stuff is cool.
I play around with Ableton sometimes but I haven’t made anything really good yet lol

Interesting that there are entire online communities for something as narrowly specific as designing levels for a game that’s as old as me (lol) but since gaming overall seems to be one of the most popular interests in general, I’m actually not that surprised there’s a community for it. But it’s good that there is! Especially because you get to meet people who are into the same stuff, who can be supportive and will talk about it with you at length.
I think your design looks incredibly professional. I would not be able to do that, with that much precision.

Sorry if I sound dumb, I’m not very educated about gaming

Sometimes I wish I had even a little bit of interest in playing video games myself because it would probably be easier for me to meet people that way
I find video games too hard, for the most part, and I get embarrassed when people want me to play with them because I suck at it

 

[Forest Cat]

My gardening interest is not too niche, but the number of guys I know who have the same interest in it as me is; 0. Zero. I don't know one guy who wants to mow a lawn, make a flowerbed or plant a tree. And since I loved doing that from I was very young, I have been laughed at more than once, especially as a teenager. But I don't care about that.

 

[Luca]

My gardening interest is not too niche, but the number of guys I know who have the same interest in it as me is; 0. Zero. I don't know one guy who wants to mow a lawn, make a flowerbed or plant a tree. And since I loved doing that from I was very young, I have been laughed at more than once, especially as a teenager. But I don't care about that.

But that’s a beautiful interest!

There are lots of things I’m into that are really stereotypical “male” interests (like I mentioned about playing the drums, and DJing) and a lot of guys have kind of laughed at me and been like “You won’t be good at that.” But I am!

Honestly, it makes me happy that there are men who are into gardening and love flowers. And gender stereotypes are kind of silly Guys can plant flowers, and girls can play the drums. Nothing wrong with either of those!

Plus, planting trees is good for the environment!

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

One of my niches which is very specific and that I really don’t anyone in my area having the same enthusiasm for are mechanical music boxes. There are collectors like me worldwide but not really in my area. It seems like bigger cities and towns with more antique shops and a long history seem to have enough people who share the love for music boxes that they have clubs and/or museums and those who repair and restore them. A few of these museums are now permanently closed which is a shame. That is why I would like to open up my own museum displaying my collection and have recordings and videos of what each do. I have some very interesting pieces in my collection including a musical Japanese style lazy Susan and a Rocky and Bullwinkle music box which is rare.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

My gardening interest is not too niche, but the number of guys I know who have the same interest in it as me is; 0. Zero. I don't know one guy who wants to mow a lawn, make a flowerbed or plant a tree. And since I loved doing that from I was very young, I have been laughed at more than once, especially as a teenager. But I don't care about that.

Gardening, niche? I guess where I am gardening is life and we share recipes. I have gotten several people into growing German Red garlic, a very flavorful hard-necked heirloom. I get green zebra tomato plants from a friend who starts things from seed. And then I always have a tier of peppers. This year it is going to be Thai birdseye chilis.

And lawns? I only have a small one, but in the two acres between my house and a pond I have removed all invasives and planted it in native prairie grasses; big bluestem, little bluestem, indian grass. Now to naturalize some wildflowers in the mix.

 

[Wolfnox]

I can understand that. My interest in philosophy and human history doesn't have many others who I can talk about with. Especially when one is simply looking for discussion and not debates.

 

[Tom]

Have you considered joining a Colombian Drum band? I find this type drumming mesmerizing. I would literally follow them anywhere.

 

[Luca]

Have you considered joining a Colombian Drum band? I find this type drumming mesmerizing. I would literally follow them anywhere.

That is amazing!!! I would love to find people who were interested in something like that. I'm not Colombian but I do have mostly South American ancestry (Argentinian and Venezuelan, specifically, as far as I know) and Portuguese ancestry!
Something I always have trouble expressing to people and that a lot of people might not be able to relate to me on is my ability to "feel" music. I don't know how to explain it but it's really powerful.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I sometimes feel like my special interests are TOO specific, or too niche to be relatable for, well… anyone, really

Have you viewed the "What's your special interest?" threads? I think what you are describing comes under the category of "autism 101". So many of us have very, very specific special interests,...and of course, makes them somewhat "unrelatable" for 99.99% of the population,...including other autistics.

I've tried to understand why this is. Why is it that, for example, some guy might go to a car show because he is a "gear head" or a "car guy",...but it is the autistic that is specifically interested in and has an unparalleled, deep knowledge of say,...steam powered vehicles from 1890-1920,...or Lamborghini's,...or the aero cars from 1920-1940? Very specific and niche.
It could be anything or any topic, but what I do know about the Dunning-Kruger phenomenon is that the more one knows about a topic, the more questions are asked,...and it is at this point where most people would loose interest,...but the autistic, with their "hyper focus" might jump down a pathway of questions and discovery that may lead to a very specific expertise. It's sort of like that 3yr old who keeps asking the question "Why?", the parent explains,...the child again asks "Why?",...the parent explains,...again, the child asks "Why?" and so on until the parent gives up and doesn't have any more answers. This may be it for most neurotypical children,...but I think the highly intelligent autistic child, because their intellectual curiosity has not been satisfied,...will take a deep dive into that topic and study anything they can get their hands on. You see these young children knowing the entire history, politically and socially, of all the Presidents of the United States, or all the "family tree" of the dinosaurs of the Triassic Period,...whatever,...and we say to ourselves, "What an unusual child." "That kid's not normal."
Furthermore, I think, just like certain "repetitive" behaviors due to an excess of excitatory neurotransmitters,...we can get these pervasive thought patterns where we just can't seem to stop thinking about something. We are walking around distracted at times, not focusing on what we are doing, the mind stuck in this loop of "special interest". It's a blessing and a curse. The blessing,...you may be, unknowingly, the world's intellectual authority on a very specific topic. The curse, you've sort of alienated yourself socially because you can't seem to find relatability with people around you.

 

[Luca]

Have you viewed the "What's your special interest?" threads? I think what you are describing comes under the category of "autism 101". So many of us have very, very specific special interests,...and of course, makes them somewhat "unrelatable" for 99.99% of the population,...including other autistics.

I've tried to understand why this is. Why is it that, for example, some guy might go to a car show because he is a "gear head" or a "car guy",...but it is the autistic that is specifically interested in and has an unparalleled, deep knowledge of say,...steam powered vehicles from 1890-1920,...or Lamborghini's,...or the aero cars from 1920-1940? Very specific and niche.
It could be anything or any topic, but what I do know about the Dunning-Kruger phenomenon is that the more one knows about a topic, the more questions are asked,...and it is at this point where most people would loose interest,...but the autistic, with their "hyper focus" might jump down a pathway of questions and discovery that may lead to a very specific expertise. It's sort of like that 3yr old who keeps asking the question "Why?", the parent explains,...the child again asks "Why?",...the parent explains,...again, the child asks "Why?" and so on until the parent gives up and doesn't have any more answers. This may be it for most neurotypical children,...but I think the highly intelligent autistic child, because their intellectual curiosity has not been satisfied,...will take a deep dive into that topic and study anything they can get their hands on. You see these young children knowing the entire history, politically and socially, of all the Presidents of the United States, or all the "family tree" of the dinosaurs of the Triassic Period,...whatever,...and we say to ourselves, "What an unusual child." "That kid's not normal."
Furthermore, I think, just like certain "repetitive" behaviors due to an excess of excitatory neurotransmitters,...we can get these pervasive thought patterns where we just can't seem to stop thinking about something. We are walking around distracted at times, not focusing on what we are doing, the mind stuck in this loop of "special interest". It's a blessing and a curse. The blessing,...you may be, unknowingly, the world's intellectual authority on a very specific topic. The curse, you've sort of alienated yourself socially because you can't seem to find relatability with people around you.

Thank you for explaining it this way! That's just... wow. You nailed it! Lol.
I think what I find frustrating is that I get "tunnel vision" about specific subjects and then I become extremely knowledgeable about them, only to discover that it seems like no one cares
But it definitely doesn't sound like it's a problem that's unique to me, from what you and others have said here.
I'm fascinated by lots of different things and I love learning. But then, yes, it becomes a "deep dive" into a subject that a lot of people don't understand or can't relate to. Definitely a blessing and a curse.

 

[Darkkin]

Okay, all of you are miles more relatable with content then I am. Mention the words villanelle, quatern, quatrain, tercet, etc...and you can hear the crickets. Even on poetry forums.

And it might make me sound like an arrogant ass, but I know the work is good. Very good. To the point where I got another student expelled for proven plagiarism. It wasn't copy with her own twist; it was literal, she physically took the copies from my professor's office.

The showdown at Student Poetry Night was one and only time I made a very public confrontation. When you have the pieces proceeding the stolen work and the pieces immediately follow as well as every step of the process provable in a linear, accessible timeline you know you can just lob the brick and watch the offender shatter.

What I do is hyperspecific within a finite finge hobby to begin with. People don't know how to approach it because I don't put out rough draft poetry. Maybe a work tweak or punctuation edit, but no obvious issues or handholds.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I can understand that. My interest in philosophy and human history doesn't have many others who I can talk about with. Especially when one is simply looking for discussion and not debates.

When I travel, I like to understand the history of tne country I am visiting. I am one week back from a trip to Thailand and studied parts of their history to inform my travels. I really liked reading about the Ramakien, a national epic begun by Rama I, before visiting the grand palace where, near the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, there is a mural with scenes from it. Then visited Ayutthaya the ancient capitol with the royals on an island surrounded by two branches of the Chao Phraya river. And I saw in Bangkok how this was replicated by digging canals around the administrative heart of the city. I selected three things to see for their architectural and Buddhist importance.

Then I went to Kanchanaburi and visited the Death Railway and POW museum and everybody knows the Bridge Over the River Kwai.

History is fun!

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Okay, all of you are miles more relatable with content then I am. Mention the words villanelle, quatern, quatrain, tercet, etc...and you can hear the crickets. Even on poetry forums.

And it might make me sound like an arrogant ass, but I know the work is good. Very good. To the point where I got another student expelled for proven plagiarism. It wasn't copy with her own twist; it was literal, she physically took the copies from my professor's office.

The showdown at Student Poetry Night was one and only time I made a very public confrontation. When you have the pieces proceeding the stolen work and the pieces immediately follow as well as every step of the process provable in a linear, accessible timeline you know you can just lob the brick and watch the offender shatter.

What I do is hyperspecific within a finite finge hobby to begin with. People don't know how to approach it because I don't put out rough draft poetry. Maybe a work tweak or punctuation edit, but no obvious issues or handholds.

Nice. I dabble in Haiku, but there is no Kigo for the English language.

 

[Gerontius]

It's already niche to like vinyl records. I don't like vinyl; I like those early shellac 78rpm records--or the Edison Diamond Discs (I even have one of the proprietary Edison phonographs to use that format, in working order & used frequently) and the old-fashioned Edison, Columbia, Albany cylinder records. I have Victrolas from the little cheap entry-level type up to a couple mahogany monsters standing four feet tall and weighing a hundred pounds.

So people ask me -- do you like music?
Of course, I say.
-- do you like (and then they name some artists I've not really heard of & already know I'm not interested in.)
No. I don't.
-- What do you like?
Nobody really, I tell them, which is not quite true. I have a real fondness for- -David Bispham, Ada Jones, Billy Murray, Prince's Orchestra, Sam Ash, Irving Kaufman, the Peerless Quartette (and their excellent baritone William Hooley) Fred van Eps, Enrico Caruso, Jascha Heifetz, Paul Whiteman, Ted Weems, The Goodrich Silvertown Cord Orchestra, the Silver-Masked Tenor, Roger Wolfe Kahn & His Orchestra, Leon Witkowski & Orkiestra Witkowskiego, Fritz Kreisler, Jones & Hare, Henry Burr, Ethel Waters, Dinah Shore, Glenn Miller and his orchestra, John Philip Sousa, Arthur Pryor, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, the Victor Light Opera Company, the Edison Mixed Chorus--

OR they ask me: do you like high-end audio.
"NO," I say, cutting that off before it starts.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

This is something I’ve been kinda depressed about lately and I was wondering if anyone else feels the same.

I sometimes feel like my special interests are TOO specific, or too niche to be relatable for, well… anyone, really

I was trying to help a friend find a Meetup group that he could attend, since he just went through a bad breakup and needs some social interaction with people who share his interests.
His main interests are board games, and motorcycles. There were TONS of Meetups in his area for those interests.

But when I tried searching keywords for my interests on Meetup- “dog training,” “drummers/percussionists,” “European music,” “Electronic music/DJing,” “drawing and painting, therapeutic” (not serious art! Everyone would laugh at me!) etc, I found exactly zero results in my area.

Even within the categories of my interests, I fit into more niche subcategories.
- I’m a professional dog trainer, not someone who leisurely trains my dogs for fun. I train and compete very seriously, and it’s really time-consuming.
- I’m a DnB drummer and a folk percussionist. Most of the other drummers I meet are rock or metal drummers, and older adult men (nothing wrong with that! It’s just not me.)
- I’m trained in basic sound engineering and LIVE mixing. A lot of DJs I’ve met don’t do a lot of live stuff, or they work ridiculous hours that would screw up my sleep schedule even *more.* I’ve worked at clubs, I would know.
And I’ve mentioned on here that there are still very few female DJs or LGBT people in that industry.
- The EDM music that I like is also very niche. I’m not a big fan of the Pop EDM and melodic House stuff that’s really popular right now (though I tolerate it.) I like more of a “hard” or “dirty” sound, like the stuff that’s more popular in Europe. I like music that really “goes off.”
(There is a reason I don’t often discuss this interest on the forums It’s unusual! And somewhat “masculine”)
- I am an artist but not a professional one. My artwork is the kind that people either really love or really hate
I don’t fit in well with *serious* art students. I tried art school, it didn’t work!

So I’m really at a loss here… I don’t think anyone can really relate to my interests and sometimes when I talk about them, I feel like I’m shouting into the void

I do have some “normal” interests I guess, but none that I’m super excited about.
And some of my more passionate interests are too expensive and time-consuming to do often (world travel) or just really weird and off-putting (paranormal/creepy stuff and cryptozoology.)

Anyways… didn’t mean to make that into such a rant :|
Does anyone else ever feel like their interests are too specific/unusual for most people to relate to or be interested in?

I’m kind of looking for advice but also interested in hearing others’ thoughts and what your most unusual interests are.

I will also add that I’ve gone through a lot of threads on here and not found anything that’s really similar to my specific interests.

Try to find people who share your values and ethics. Interests are not that important.

I share not even one interest with my wife.

Hugs!

P.S. If a special interest is shared by many people its no longer special.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

It's already niche to like vinyl records. I don't like vinyl; I like those early shellac 78rpm records--or the Edison Diamond Discs (I even have one of the proprietary Edison phonographs to use that format, in working order & used frequently) and the old-fashioned Edison, Columbia, Albany cylinder records. I have Victrolas from the little cheap entry-level type up to a couple mahogany monsters standing four feet tall and weighing a hundred pounds.

So people ask me -- do you like music?
Of course, I say.
-- do you like (and then they name some artists I've not really heard of & already know I'm not interested in.)
No. I don't.
-- What do you like?
Nobody really, I tell them, which is not quite true. I have a real fondness for- -David Bispham, Ada Jones, Billy Murray, Prince's Orchestra, Sam Ash, Irving Kaufman, the Peerless Quartette (and their excellent baritone William Hooley) Fred van Eps, Enrico Caruso, Jascha Heifetz, Paul Whiteman, Ted Weems, The Goodrich Silvertown Cord Orchestra, the Silver-Masked Tenor, Roger Wolfe Kahn & His Orchestra, Leon Witkowski & Orkiestra Witkowskiego, Fritz Kreisler, Jones & Hare, Henry Burr, Ethel Waters, Dinah Shore, Glenn Miller and his orchestra, John Philip Sousa, Arthur Pryor, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, the Victor Light Opera Company, the Edison Mixed Chorus--

OR they ask me: do you like high-end audio.
"NO," I say, cutting that off before it starts.

Very, nice eclectic taste. I like all types and especially like some of the Smithsonian Folkways collections. While modern, it sounds like the Pasadena Roof Orchestra is up your alley. I liked hearing the tenor banjo in early jazz like that, used as counterpoint to the tubas bass line.

 

[Tom]

That is amazing!!! I would love to find people who were interested in something like that. I'm not Colombian but I do have mostly South American ancestry (Argentinian and Venezuelan, specifically, as far as I know) and Portuguese ancestry!
Something I always have trouble expressing to people and that a lot of people might not be able to relate to me on is my ability to "feel" music. I don't know how to explain it but it's really powerful.

That style of music is called Batucada and can be found in many places thru-out Latin America, especially Brazil.

I am not sure what you mean by feel but for me it exerts a powerful influence and is almost impossible to not start moving with physically and it has a pleasant effect on my mind, like a hard drive cleaning.

 

[Gerontius]

Very, nice eclectic taste. I like all types and especially like some of the Smithsonian Folkways collections. While modern, it sounds like the Pasadena Roof Orchestra is up your alley. I liked hearing the tenor banjo in early jazz like that, used as counterpoint to the tubas bass line.

They're better than the average revival band, for sure. Here is an original cover for comparison--


1930, Puttin' On The Ritz, Phil Spitalny Orch. Hi Def 78RPM .wmv - YouTube

This one "Hallelujah"-from Hit the Deck, released in 1927, was early for electrical recording (they'd only invented how to use a microphone in 1925, releasing it on "Victor Day" to much fanfare--and making every single existing phonograph in America obsolete at once) and you can hear a little bit of tube distortion from the old RCA Radiotron vacuum-tubes. Somewhere I have a phonograph from 1929 that has those same tubes in the amplifier, ten of them.

Shilkret's Orchestra is all but forgotten today but they were huge back in the day, made dozens of records. Franklyn Baur isn't really my favorite singer but I like his enthusiasm.

The best reason for period playback equipment--it's loud. These records are meant to be loud.

Nat Shilkret - Hallelujah 1927 Franklyn Baur "Hit The Deck" - YouTube


And a record that for whatever reason I very much enjoy-- Musical comedies from the 1900s-1920s were light on plot, almost amateurishly enthusiastic in performance, and recorded snatch by snatch onto some of the worst sounding media known to man, but I still collect Victor Light Opera records. Fritz Kreisler, classical composer & violinist, collaborated on writing this one.

But yeah I don't tell people I have stacks of this stuff -- and ancient classical records -- and forgotten bits of this & that all stowed away. It's conversation murder.

Gems from Apple Blossoms (Victor 35697A) (Recorded 1920) - YouTube