On being interesting

THIS WEEKEND, somebody asked me a question I’ve always struggled to answer: “So what do you do for fun?”

The question was simple and could easily be tackled with a straight-up honest answer. But somehow, for reasons I think I already know but haven’t had the audacity to verbalize until now, my mind goes blegh especially if the one asking is a guy. Whether I like the guy or not, I always take the question as an invitation to sell myself, to tell him that despite this semi-hideous (hehe) facade, I am interesting.

Now that I’m writing about this, it feels terrible to realize that maybe I am not as interesting as I think I am.

What do I do for fun? I watch soccer. I support FC Barcelona, I read books written about the sport, I watch matches and read match analyses and (rowdy) comment sections afterwards. I like to read. I’ve been into fantasy recently. The last one I read was Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind. It was interesting and a page-turner, but I doubt it’s going to be turned into a movie or a TV series anytime soon. Speaking of which, I also like watching movies. The last one I watched was Deadpool. I read comics too!

I rarely go outside the house so I wouldn’t say I’m active. I work out every now and then and I really want to try boxing. Next year, I plan to join a university club that builds UAVs because I’m interested in robotics. Also, I make tiny sculptures using polymer clay. I haven’t made anything new recently because of school, but it’s something I want to be good at. I like art and I think I know about art history a little more than your typical non-artist person, but definitely a lot less than an art history major.

So, uh, am I interesting enough? Am I just bad at selling myself like most people, I suppose?

I wish answering this question is just like one of those things that take practice to master. A little more social interaction and eventually, I would be able to answer it without hesitation and everything would come out like how I hope it would. That he would think I am worth having a conversation with because I have things to say, because I have noteworthy opinions and insights. Because I am interesting.

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The featured image is from GIPHY.