The hobbies we have say a lot about us. A job you might do for the money, to support yourself and your family. But the hobby you choose to do with your free time, what you might even spend money and effort to do, says something about who you are as a person.
Time is ultimately a limited resource for every one of us. You might make a lot of money, you can surround yourself with people who love you, you can educate yourself with class after class. You can control most of your other resources, but the resource of time is fundamentally limited.
So how we choose to spend our time is crucially important. What you do when you have the opportunity to do whatever you like might just be the closest you get to your true self.
Of course, the actual hobbies can vary quite drastically from person to person. Some people might have just one or two hobbies, some might have a hundred. They can be active or passive, they might involve others or just yourself. You might need intellectual stimulation after a day of drudgery, or maybe your brain needs some relaxing time after working hard all day. Maybe some of the hobbies you have are healthy, and maybe some of them are destructive.
Given how important hobbies are in our lives, we probably spend less time thinking about them than we should.
So have you given any thought to your personal list of hobbies? Have you thought about why you do what you do or why you like what you like? Are the various hobbies you have related in any way? What needs that you have are being met by your hobbies? Conversely, what needs are not being met that could be with the right hobby?
How do you choose a hobby?
Related questions: What are your favorite hobbies? Why do we like what we like? What makes you you? What makes you the happiest?
Upon examination I’d have to say that most of my hobbies have come with an opportunity for:
(1) continuous learning,
(2) focus, and
(3) inner peace
These days, I get these opportunities through — as noted in an earlier post — gardening, taking photos, and blogging.
I’ll never run out of issues to address when learning how to perfect my garden and gardening skills. And, weeding and harvesting take focus (e.g. pick or pull what’s right, ready, and not harmful). And time in the garden puts me in a zone, a focus that leads to inner peace … for at least awhile.
When it comes to taking photos, I am the most ametuer of ametuer — so much to learn … oh so much. I almost only know the word aperture exists, and little more. That said, with enough focus, I can almost always find a very good shot … usually in my garden. And I’d say that using those photos as covers for my “garden gratitude” cards does bring a little peace to my mind.
Now, with blogging there’s the more technical aspects, the backend stuff that makes for a pretty and functional blog. And there’s also the simple act of writing the best that you can. I try my best to write well, while also being very conversational — on this blog as well as http://www.pronetohope.com [Prone to Hope], my blog about Living with Anxiety and Depression. Now, as many of my posts on Prone to Hope are used to bring me back to peace as I am focusing my way through high Anxiety or a panic attack, I’d ask for some forgiveness if the writing isn’t perfect. All the same, focus is what brings me back to a me that can claim inner peace.
Lastly, I’d say that when exercise has been what I’d call a hobby (e.g. yoga, marathoning) rather than just a thing that must be done (i.e. my morning weights routine), it has been accompanied by continuous learning, focus, and inner peace.
I don’t think we so much choose hobbies as hobbies choose us.
I think that as we are exposed to different experiences we are drawn to the ones that bring us joy, satisfaction and/or peace. Of course, this is different for everyone.
My main hobby is vegetable gardening. I was exposed to gardening/farming as a toddler, and again at 8 years old. I have loved it ever since.
I enjoy hiking. Though I have physical ailments that prevent me from making it a serious hobby, I love the opportunity to take short hikes whenever possible. I picked up hiking as a hobby on my honeymoon. We went on several lovely hikes through the forests of western Washington and I loved it.
Rockhounding is also a minor hobby. I love the idea of digging for buried treasure and can happily spend an entire day searching for semiprecious stones. I first experienced rockhounding at the age of 11 when I stumbled upon a cache of fossilized shells.