Nov 16 2008
Why Didn’t I Develop a Real Hobby?
Why Didn’t I Develop a Real Hobby?
I am concerned that I may end up like my Father, who never developed any passion for any hobby at all, other than taking Polaroid pictures and putting them in albums. He was so bored with most activities that he was just bored with life in general. When he couldn’t work in construction any longer, and then his marriage ended, he had nothing to do. He had absolutely nothing to do. I have to make sure that is not my fate.
I often list several interests when I complete “profile” blocks on various social networking sites, but none of these interests represent a true hobby.
First of all, it seems like a true “hobby” emerges from one’s passions and brings joy to our days. I feel no passion about any of my interests, and none really bring great joy to my days. Hobbies often, though not always, represent a significant investment in both time and money. An expense that we are willing to bear because it adds to our quality of life.
So…in listing my “interests” I include photography, writing, flyfishing, gardening, golf, camping, hiking, and pets. Our only significant investment in money is the small, used motor home that we purchased this year for $11,000. It is 17 years old. We purchased it because sleeping in tents and crawling around on the ground has become difficult in my 60’s. I haven’t golfed in two years, primarily due to lower back problems, my garden doesn’t get planted, my flyfishing this summer amounted to getting my line wet twice. I take pictures but don’t do anything with them. My writing consists of this blog and three others. I hike only when my wife insists we take a walk while out camping, and the pets….? I tolerate them and mostly my time involved with pets consists of feeding them and picking up poop in the yard.
So it is time to investigate some other activities. Any suggestions?
Tomorrow: Why Didn’t I Become a Librarian?
Yesterday: Why Didn’t I Think Before I Acted?
I have developed a passion for photography very recently, mainly as a result of blogging. I like to have an image in posts, decided it was easier for the most part to provide my own, and it grew from there. It’s never too late to try something new.
I personally think it’s more difficult for men to develop passions than women. We have been retired for a few years now and I’m perfectly happy jumping from one thing to another but husband is beginning to feel boredom creeping in.
For me, I spent too many years never being able to do anything that interested me, I didn’t have time to even explore subjects that I thought might be interesting enough to delve into but I do now and I have more to do than when I was working and love everyday.
I hope you find something that lights your fire.
As you wrote that you had done some acting, I would highly recommend that you try out for a show at a local community theatre. Community theatres are in dire need of older men to play parts–and parts for men your age are fairly plentiful in many productions–so your chance of getting cast is very good! From my experience in working with community theater, I can tell you that you will probably quickly become a part of a very welcoming group of great people! And as for a hobby that can totally take up lots of your time–this is a great one!
First, think about what brings you joy. For me, it was sharing my family photos and documents with cousins and immediate family. I became the caretaker of them when my parents died. I was already interested in my family genealogy, and this became another way to enhance that by putting photos with names. People think genealogy is an expensive hobby, but it isn’t. There are tons of places to find free information online like Rootsweb, USGenWeb, and many others. Even Ancestry.com has free records. This is just one suggestion, and obviously something I am interested in personally, but you might want to consider it too. Let me know if you would like to investigate doing genealogy. I would be happy to help you get started.