What is it and why do I do it?
We’ve just more or less wrapped up Hobby Weekend that started (sort of) with @galenkp ‘s weekend-engagement post, this post on what qualifies as a hobby and several of the 456 comments on #weekend-engagement.
Some things I do or have done clearly qualify as a hobby. Some go past that. Some just become a part of me. I’ll discuss some of these, and hopefully I’ll come to some resolution as to what and why. The possibility exists that I will just muddy the water and never figure it out :)
I listed motorcycles as my HOBBY with reading as a second choice. I really think both of them are something more than hobby status.
I ride because I can, and love the peace and serenity of being in the wind. It is, for me, a Zen like state at it’s best. I’m functioning at a practical level that keeps me from being dead and function at another level that allows thought and time travel. At least until my butt gets sore and I need to stop.
I read because I have a need to know. Not a desire to know, a need. Over the course of my life I have done several direct studies that range from Tolkein’s Lord of the Ring books to the American Civil War. I’ve studied photography in great depth (particularly film) and causes and conditions of WWII.
These studies might be considered a hobby, but to me they are more than that. I get onto something and I just can’t quit with it until I KNOW the answer my mind searches for.
For instance, over the course of the last 3 years I have studied Pandemic responses in our society. It all started with an idea for a book (there is always an idea for a book) and took some interesting tangents. Most notably the mathematics of the spread of infectious diseases. Then came CV 19 and many times I have wished I didn’t know what I know. Needless to say, the book project doesn’t seem so pressing as it did 3 years ago.
This post has it’s genesis in my sad remembrances of hobbies that I had to give up on.
Fly Fishing. It’s so encompassing for me and I miss it horribly. There is nothing quite like being on a creek or river in the west where there is nobody in miles. Not one single human soul to know how you attack the river or what bug you start with or what it feels like when a trout rises to your fly. It’s the outdoors and nature and camping all rolled into one simple motion with your right arm. It’s spending the ice season tying flies and getting your equipment ready for spring. It’s planning new places and returning to favorite places. It’s all about the equipment you carry and has nothing to do with that. It’s technique and it’s not. It’s life.
Golf and Bowling. Often called life sports. I loved and hated both. I learned how to be better than the average bear at both. At various times I pursued them with a passion that is hard to quantify and at times I just played.
I was a lot better at Bowling, I had a couple of pro grade mentors that helped me with the physical part (equipment and technique) and I had/have the mental makeup to compete and flourish.
Writing. I have written for fun (and oh so rarely for profit) for most of my life. By reading this example you would probably have a hard time believing that I have studied and improved my craft for at least 50 years. I do take it relatively seriously.
So now I ask you. What constitutes a hobby? I’m seriously interested in knowing.
All words and photos in this post are mine. For better or worse.
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Interesting stuff. Why did you have to give some of them up? I took a fly tying class one time a while ago. It was really interesting. I don't know as though I was very good at it. I have always wanted to get my own rod, but I just can't justify the cost for as much as I go fishing.
Narcolepsy-I have the variety with a condition called cateplexy and that can result in muscles tightening and weakening uncontrollably for a couple of seconds. Sometimes you go down. I just near drowned in my favorite trout stream out of it, I went down in a bowling alley and on a golf course. It was just best for me to walk away.
I took a class from a real master tier named Everett Caryl. It was a wonderful class and I just loved tying flies in the off season. Something pretty satisfying when you catch a fish on a fly you tied.
Sorry to hear that. I knew you had the former, I just didn't realize it had the other issues tied to it. That sounds awesome about the fly!
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.I think those studies you mention are definitely classed as a hobby. They might be some deep-seated need from within also, but anything you enjoy doing could be deemed a hobby. I mean things that are not work-related as I feel a distinct line needs to be drawn between work/job/vocation and one's true life. They may intermingle, but we are not our jobs.
Good post Tom.
(That desert road...Looks awesome.)
That desert road is EPIC. It's a really spiritual place for me. In the far haze you are peering into the back side of Monument Valley. Just off frame to the left is Valley of the Gods. Top of the bluff that road is hung on is a camping area called Muley Point (as in Mule Deer) and down near the bottom is Goosnecks State Park. All of those places are special, which makes the Moki Dugway (name of the area and road) really special. It's as near to God as anyplace I know.
Yep. My studies were definitely hobby grade stuff. Which only means I couldn't figure out a way to monetize them because I got in pretty deep.
It's good to have places around that mean more to us for whatever reason. I have a few.
!ENGAGE
ENGAGEtokens.You're a soul after my own heart. I, too, have a "hobby of the month," some of which have lasted longer, some of which are on-again-off-again, and some I haven't engaged with in awhile, and miss.
And yeah, I ride for the love of it, too, but my two wheeler is leg powered.
That camping picture is with 5 'long riders'. It's a fairly big group for that society.
We have a couple of guys that go both ways. Long distance motorcycle riding and long distance bicycle riding. Two of them have ridden bicycles over 100 miles to camp out with us. They are heroes in the community.
I know several really passionate bicycle riders. It's the same only different:)
!ENGAGE
ENGAGEtokens.Your reference to fly fishing made me remember Norman Maclean's A River Runs through it. I read it in grad school and made me see fishing with different eyes.
I did my fair share of river fishing as I grew up, but we used worms or other small fish as bait, nets, or just bare hands for certain kinds of fish. It was just about catching meat for breakfast or lunch.
Maclean turns it into a philosophical exploration of life and our place in it.
I think that a hobby is an activity we pursue with passion and dedication even if far from being paid for it we spend considerable amounts of time and money on it.
A River Runs Through It was pretty good on the fishing part and excellent overall. They used silk lines and cane poles. My mentor made me use a silk line and cane rod once in a while just so I'd know where it came from. That was really hard to do well.
I think that is a really good definition. Thank you for it.
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.I’ve had a lot of hobbies over the years. I think we all go through these phrases and they round out our character.
What an interesting read. You have great hobbies Tom with riding and writing.
I agree absolutely. Some of my hobbies come and go, but riding and writing has stayed pretty consistent.
So. My friend @jangle saw a reply from you on another post. She said (in discord) "You have another friend from PEI? I'm jealous!".
It's true! I did say that! :D
!ENGAGE 20
Thanks so much for the engage tokens Tom.
ENGAGEtokens.Anything I enjoy can be a hobby. I have so many of them, I have stopped counting, but, there are few that rival my love for crocheting or knitting. My daughters also do it, from a the age of being able to hold needles in their hands without poking an eye out... or somebody elses.
I volunteered at a homeless shelter for the very first time when I was in my 20s and found out that most homeless would rather live on the streets as some of the shelters were worse than the streets. I am not judging, that is awesome that they have these places... this is what many who have been in them say. So when it gets cold or a fron is coming in, we put a ribbon on gloves, hats and sometimes scarves and pass them out around town.I have never been turned down. Hobbies really draw you out, to places that you didn't even know you wanted to go.
I love all of yours, your insight, the way you present something. It is like having a cup of coffee with you. Thanks for the beauty too. I miss it out there in ways I never thought possible.
Remember! I am a New Englander always!! Have a great day, Tom!!! Love sent your way!
That just makes my heart happy. That it's like having a cup of coffee. I actually know how to write more formally but want to personally write to my friends. That includes you. Thanks Denise!
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.An pandemic course wow that is indeed more than a hobby and more than most of us know I think. But you must have a conclusion for us and tips
Yeah. The pandemic is much more than a hobby, it's gotten to be a way of life. To the point that I think we'll never get back to exactly to where we were before. Just think: In 2100 there will be people saying "I survived the CV pandemic, this is nothing" :)
Thanks for stopping by. Always appreciated.
!ENGAGE 20
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