Special Interest Friend

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Ever meet someone that's involved in your special interest and you enjoy interactions with that person solely based on that activity?

I did and was happy with that. However as is normal probably for the NT is to make it a panoramic friendship that entails involvement in one another's family or social realm.

I guess I'm not cut out for friendships as I have no interest in hearing about all her other friends and kids nor do I want to talk about mine. We don't share a common lifestyle or social circle.

My other special interest friend is a weather hobbyist on Facebook. He is happy to only converse about weather.

Just curious what you guys experience.

Yes, I've experienced this. I had a special interest which involved collecting and sharpening things like knives, wood planes, chisels, etc. That was also my longest special interest I've had as it lasted nearly ten years. It ran its course and it very often consumed my thoughts; truly an obsession, from conversing with and procuring natural sharpening stones from many different regions of our planet to talking with manufactures of sharpening powders and on and on and on.

I met a friend that lived about 150 miles from me. We would meet from time to time at his house/shop and we'd talk about our shared interest for hours. In retrospect, I'm convinced he was an Aspie as well.

We were members of a forum that no longer exists and met others that shared that interest and once met some of them at a "meet up" hosted by someone who liked to make their own knives and had a large and impressive shop. One of the forum members we met for the first time face to face was diagnosed as Autistic in childhood. He was non-verbal until age 6 or 7 if I recall correctly and went on to excel in the scientific field.

Family obligations were such that my level of involvement in that special interest conflicted and as I mentioned, I got what I wanted out of it and my friend and I lost touch.

I don't like it when people feel the need to talk about their kids and their other friends and their kids especially if I'm not friends with any of their other friends.

True and I'm hella not interested in mundane details of their lives or mine.

Seems though to be the pattern of most NTs. Women are said to be relational. I don't fault this person for doing what seems natural.

Absolutely! I have special interest friends like this. And I can tell the NT’s get tired of it. I have one friend who I have a lot in common with and he is part of my family now. Like a brother. But he’s also High functioning Autistic.

I gently told the special interest friend that I would like to spend our limited time together with the special interest and not TALK about other PEOPLE. I phrased in a way that expressed I was caring to know about her in relation to the spirituality that we share. I'm careful not to say much on here as politics and religion are touchy subjects.