Recently, I was thinking about the benefits of having a hobby. Frankly, the idea has never appealed to me before. Maybe it’s just the word hobby. My only association with it is hobby horse, which also did not sound very
desirable. Maybe it’s because no one in my immediate family had a hobby. Or maybe it’s because activities like quilting or airplane model-making didn’t get me very excited.
This morning, I consulted a dictionary to try to change my attitude. A hobby is “an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation.” Then I realized why I need a hobby. It would be good for me to engage in an activity that provides pleasure and/or relaxation that’s not work-related.
Yesterday, I worked on a photo album to give our kids, I started on it and when I next looked at the clock, three hours had gone by and I hadn’t even noticed. I got so involved with choosing the right photographs, sorting them, trimming the corners to fit into the album, etc., that I wasn’t at all aware of the time going by. I realized when my husband walked into the room that I was thirsty and hungry, but I hadn’t even noticed. I looked around me and discovered little bits of paper and photos all over the place and I hadn’t noticed them either. It suddenly dawned on me that this little project had given me energy. I had enjoyed working on it to such a degree that I totally lost
track of time and place.
This is part of what hobbies are all about: Doing something with our leisure time that gives us energy. Finding a hobby we can do on our own, that gives us enjoyment, satisfaction and a sense of renewal, seems to be essential
to achieving better balance in life.
My grandfather loved caring for his roses in the spring and summer. Each day he would go out to the backyard and study the beautiful bushes that lined the back of the house. I can still see him sitting in his canvas
garden chair, dressed in his work clothes and weather-beaten straw hat, admiring his roses, their color and shape, checking how much sun they were getting or whether he had pruned them right a few weeks back. Then,
he would take his clippers and his watering can and approach them with great care. He put on his gloves, carefully snipped here and there, and gathered the faded blossoms in a basket. Then he removed his gloves and got on his hands and knees to feel how moist the soil was or to spread it where it had become uneven.
He did these things with surgical precision. Sometimes he would spray for bugs or add extra fertilizer to the soil. Then he would sit again, sipping on iced tea my grandmother had brought him, and admire his roses. Before he was finished for the day, he would cut the flowers that he wanted to bring into the house. He created a small
bouquet in his gloved hand, eventually putting them into a basket to deliver to my grandmother. It brought him great satisfaction.
In the winter months, he continued his research about roses, looking through the many catalogs that came in the mail and choosing just the right specimens to replace or add to his collection.
I often wondered why this retired attorney had turned to growing roses as a hobby. When I asked my father about it, he replied, “Well, he loved the finished product. Nothing made him happier than to see a bouquet of fresh roses on the dining room table that he had picked for your grandmother that day. He felt as though he had accomplished somethings special for both of them.”
Do you have a hobby that you really enjoy? Perhaps you want to create something artistic or make something that can be used everyday. Maybe you decide to learn to draw or to knit. Perhaps you’re interested in learning how to make beer or to build small wooden toys for your kids or grandkids.
My husband’s hobby is playing keyboard on Wednesday nights with other musicians. My sister lives in Hawaii and creates gorgeous pastels of the surrounding landscape and ocean. My friend Kate rides her horse Indigo for pleasure and relaxation.
So what will mine be? I’m not sure yet, but I’m going spend some time finding it.
As Dale Carnegie advised, “Today is life–the only life you are sure of.
Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself
awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you.
Live today with gusto.”
Kathleen