What happened to hobbies? My impression is that it used to be that people had a day job and on the weekends or after work, they would work on their hobby. The John Deere Tractor engineer would build wooden hand-made games. There was a distinct line between the hobby and work. Let's see what wikipedia says about this activity.
Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include collecting, creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. However, personal fulfillment is the aim.
What are hobbies for some people are professions for others: a game tester may enjoy cooking as a hobby, while a professional chef might enjoy playing (and helping to debug) computer games. Generally speaking, the person who does something for fun, not remuneration, is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct from a professional.
An important determinant of what is considered a hobby, as distinct from a profession (beyond the lack of remuneration), is probably how easy it is to make a living at the activity. Almost no one can make a living at cigarette card or stamp collecting, but many people find it enjoyable; so it is commonly regarded as a hobby.
That made me wonder - do I have any hobbies? In one view you could see most of my activities as a hobby: passion about LA, enlightenment, desert camping/survivalist skills, spy/superhero skills, art or LA technology community. The difference btwn a hobbyist (ie amateur) and a professional is the ability to make money doing the work. According to Steven Pressfield, the different between the amateur and professional is your decision to be professional. However making that decision is not the biggest battle - it's consistentally sitting down to do it. (Allow me to tangent on Pressfield - he is one of the top 3 heathervescent gurus)
Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.
Have you ever brought home a treadmill and let it gather dust in the attic? Ever resolved on a diet, a course of yoga, a meditation practice? Have you ever felt a call to embark upon a spiritual practice, dedicate yourself to a humanitarian calling, commit your life to the service of others? Have you ever wanted to be a mother, a doctor, an advocate for the weak and helpless; to run for office, crusade for the planet, campaign for world peace or to preserve the environment? Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is. (Read more)
What is it about the hobbiest? Is it they are following their passion while they keep their day job? I remember my own turning point from putting my dreams on hold to living the life. In doing that, I was energized, em-powered, and more fulfilled. (Pss. that's why I wrote how to get your heart's desire.)
Have you heard this story: woman learns she has cancer, six months to live. Within days she quits her job, resumes the dream of writing Tex-Mex songs she gave up to raise a family (or starts studying Classical Greek, or moves to the inner city and devotes herself to tending babies with AIDS.) Woman's friends think she's crazy; she herself has never been happier. There's a postscript. Woman's cancer goes into remission. (From Mr. Pressfield again.)
Of course, I also got addicted to following my dreams and making them happen - a game I played with myself. (I tend to not be very competitive with other people, however I am extremely competitive with myself. I am my own worthy opponent.)
But back to hobbies, and the work life that I used to think was the norm. It's not any more. The work world is all bets off too. The 9 to 5 day job is going the way of the factory - being performed by machines. What is left of our humanity? What is left of our livelihood? What can never be replicated by machines (or any other human for that matter)? Our passion. Our passion for the things we love. The things we do regardless of renumeration. Work no longer includes the "=$$$". (Ok, let's be serious Heather, well yes, work does = $$$, it has too.) Well the passion does = $$$ too.
Don't expect to change careers and make the same amount you've always made. (Then again, you might!) Ask yourself "how long have I been following my passion?" Are you a black belt in it? (Ask yourself via Steve Pavlina.) If you're a black belt in anything, you will kick ass. And if you kick ass in your hobby, is it really your hobby anymore?
Last week I was visiting with our facility manager when he mentioned that he will participate in a Renaissance Faire in full custom with his musket. As he talked about his annual trek his eyes twinkled, he smiled, and his whole body became more animated. He said he was going to use several vacation days so he could be there more.
A few days earlier I had attended Comic-Con for the first time. Over 110,000 sci-fi and fantasy fans gathered for several days to see their favorite authors, artists, and stars. For many of the fans this was important enough to take time off from work and travel hundreds - or thousands - of miles to pursue this passion.
In both cases, people felt strongly enough about their hobbies to take time off from work and pay their expenses to have an excellent experience.
In some ways it's like being an entrepreneur.
Posted by: Cliff Allen | August 20, 2007 at 09:13 PM
I have to wonder if the increasing reckless franticness of some parts of our work-world (or the numbing futility of other parts) is simply distracting/draining/depressing many of us to the point that the idea of "hobbies" has come to seem like some luxurious idyllic escape that we either don't have the time or energy for, or simply can't afford.
OTOH, these very hobbies may be the cure for the hardening Resistance that makes them so difficult...
"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."
--Dale Carnegie
Posted by: Thogek | August 30, 2007 at 10:23 AM