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.
Most people are going to think it’s cool, it’s not any more weird than playing the guitar on the street or playing on a public piano.
Good point, put a hat on the ground in front of you can you can make a buck or two… (this isn’t legal in every city, but it should be)
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
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.
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 used to see whole groups of people juggle in the park.
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!
Na, totally fine. Go for it mate.
Seems about the kind of activity people tend to do in parks.
Unless you’re causing harm to other people, what someone might think is rarely a good reason to not do something you genuinely want to.
I’d expect that people will probably look and watch, but that’s just because juggling is entertaining
Are you even a juggler if you don’t go play in public from time to time? It’s a gift for others to see.
Absolutely not weird, and any normal adult would just walk by and think hey cool.
Unpopular opinion time, the only people, and I mean literally, the only people that are even suggesting it’s weird or thinking other people think it’s weird, are the sweatys that have never actually been to a park, or understand the dynamics of park people.
If someone sees you and thinks “wow look at this weirdo” it’s on them, not you. And in truth they’re probably just jealous of someone that’s having a good time :)
Plus, don’t read into that unnecessarily. It could be someone seeing you and thinking “that’s unusual. How cool!”
I live near a big public park and it would be strange if there wasn’t someone juggling there on a sunny day.
I used to have some friends who were jugglers, I’d hang out when they’d practice in the park and even learned a couple simple patterns. Occasionally someone would stop by and say hi and say that they were a juggler too or something. The only time anyone objected was when one of them started to juggle flaming torches at night, a security guard asked him to stop. But in general it was no more/less weird than throwing a frisbee. (this was in the midwest USA, dunno about other parts of the world.)
Ive seen this a lot and i don’t think it is weird. One thind I’ll mention is people are probably going to stop and watch you, ask questions, maybe even ask if they can try. If that won’t bother you while practicing then I’d say go for it and get out there juggling. You could probably leave a hat or something on the ground and people will toss you a couple of coins just for letting them watch.
Compared to other public spaces, no.
I think it all hangs on what you’re juggling
