Disappointment: The meetup experience did not go well.
Being interrupted and being told “you are wrong,” in no uncertain terms by an old geezer, and then being attacked by the group leader for telling the geezer to let me finish talking and stop interrupting, is wrong.
Further in the session, the geezer told someone “those are the rules” without clarification. What rules? How to put a sentence together? What do you mean? Explain, please.
My initial impression of the moderator was not impressive – he felt needy and off-balance somehow.
Facing the geezer, my first thought was here is a man used to being in power and control, who feels it is okay to interrupt others.
Rudeness and ego-centrism do not have a place in a group such as this. Other groups I have been in have not had these elements from either members or the moderator.
I am sad, too, as I had looked forward to becoming part of a community of writers. The other members of the group were good, and there was some talented writing.
Enlightenment: While disappointed by this experience, it also served to make very clear to me something which had been rumbling around in my head for some time: Scheduling things to do on my days off does not always work in my favor.
Each time I schedule something that needs some work – such as a writing meetup – it means a lot of focus on that event. If it becomes something that takes up a lot of time and energy without reward, ultimately I am exhausted. As an introvert, quiet time with self-reflection and thought is a necessity for self-renewal.
Scheduling time with people I value, doing things I enjoy, is a completely different thing. I come away refreshed and joyful.
I knew this before the meetup. I know this now even better than before. My choices are very clear.
Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 