The title of this post is pretty self-explanatory, but it's a question I often find myself pondering.
In this digital age of 2023 it almost feels like the whole idea of having a hobby has become somewhat old-fashioned. I've even overheard conversations among younger individuals (that would be late teens and early twenties) commenting that "hobbies are for old people."
Seriously?
That makes me wonder whether the problem here is just that one of semantics and that it's the word "Hobbies" that's the problem, not what the word actually means... which is basically to have a pastime of sorts that keeps you enjoyably occupied during your ostensible free time.
Phrased a little differently, I would come back to those 19-year-olds who said hobbies for old people and ask "So what do you call your gaming?"
Well, it's gaming. Not a hobby.
But is it really?
Granted I'm old older, but I'm not ashamed to say that I have a number of hobbies, and I pursue them with a fair degree of enthusiasm!
For example, I'm a stamp collector which I have been since I was about six or seven years old, and I never stopped. Once upon a time stamp collecting was actually very popular, but here in the digital age its popularity has waned a fair bit. However it has actually been making a bit of a comeback in recent years in part helped by Covid lockdowns and people being shut in, but also because of a growing fascination with things nostalgic and retro.
I would also consider gardening to be a hobby. I mean sure, the objective is that we like to grow our own food, and that's both healthy and it saves money at the grocery but it's also a peaceful pastime and I'm sure that's a hobby.
And if it weren't for the fact that I have subsequently turned it into a business, my painting mandalas on beach stones would definitely be considered a hobby. As it has turned out people quite like them, and we discovered that when we go and set up as vendors at arts and crafts shows, festivals and other events we can sell a fair number of them. Even so, for the most part, it's still a hobby.
Of course, I also submit that my writing blog posts on Hive is a hobby! I mean, let's face it — I don't get paid enough to do this to consider it a job — not even a part-time job — so therefore it must be a hobby.
Granted, it's a hobby that allows me to gradually build a nice "savings account," but writing has pretty much always been a hobby for me. I say that in the sense that I haven't done it professionally, except for a brief stint as a technical writer in the IT industry.
Sometimes, it just seems like hobbies are getting a bad rap... perhaps because they sound old-fashioned. And I don't think they deserve that. I don't even think they're necessarily old fashioned, but maybe that's just a matter of semantics and use of language. Regardless, I sure hope that hobbies as "a thing" stay around for a long long time!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!
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Created at 2023-11-08 00:42 PDT
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