I've long felt that hobbies and interests are very important things to have in life.
Maybe it's because I'm an introvert by nature — and I grew up in a relatively solitary environment as a child — but one of the benefits I've always felt was central to hobbies is that they gives you something to do at times when there basically may be nothing else to do. For me it is a way to keep myself busy, occupied and interested without getting cabin fever.
Stamp collecting has been a hobby of mine since I was 5-6 years old!
I realize there there might be some who consider hobbies — at least in the way they think about them, perhaps informed by watching their grandparents — to be a rather nerdy thing to have. I have to strongly disagree with that because something like creating chainsaw art, gaming, scuba diving, bungee jumping and a few other things could very easily be considered a "hobby" as well!
Over the years, I've had many hobbies and most of them have actually been lifelong.
For example, I started collecting postage stamps when I was only 5 or 6 years old, at the suggestion of my dad who would bring home envelopes from his office mail. He taught me how to get the stamps off the corners of the envelopes and how to put them in an album so they looked neat and tidy, and were organized by country or "theme," like — for example — my collection of cats depicted on stamps.
The beauty of nature has gotten my attention since I got my first "serious" camera for my 16th birthday!
My love of nature photography has also been a lifelong hobby, made a lot easier and more affordable by the advent of the digital camera, of course! I have always been a little bit of a nature nerd and having a camera in hand somehow ”normalizes” the business of laying on your stomach in the grass intently studying some tiny plant or insect moving around... or sitting perfectly still for hours to get a shot of a family of sea otters.
I suppose you could call gardening a hobby as well and it's also something I have enjoyed since I was a little kid when I helped my parents with their vegetable garden. Similarly, beachcombing and finding interesting things on the beach was something I started in on when I was five years old and I've continued to do and even turned into a business often in the guise of doing a walking meditation!
Along the way, I also collected coins but I ended up having to sell most of my coin collection when we fell on financial hard times, and whereas I still find coins very interesting it's one of those hobbies that I really can't afford to pursue anymore.
The same holds true for my love of art and handmade things — they are lovely and fascinating, but not really something you can get into unless you have a good source of funding!
For many people a "hobby" is something you tinker with by yourself and I can certainly appreciate that most of my hobbies are solitary pursuits as well. However there is also a good deal of enjoyment and fun to be found in sharing your hobbies with others, and in connecting with those who have similar interests to yours.
So what actually got me to thinking about this — aside from the fact that I'm about to spend some time with one of my hobbies — is that with a venue like Hive it is a great way to incorporate and promote whatever your hobbies might be, while also keeping a sort of journal of what you're working on. For me, the latter is of some interest because I am viewing many of my musings and ramblings here on Hive as a sort of repository of life and information that might one day the of interest to our grandkids.
Meanwhile — getting back to Hive and hobbies, I was reminded a bit of wanting to make a post(s) a few weeks ago when I stumbled upon one of @daveks Sunday posts about stamps and coins. As mentioned, I happen to be a stamp collector myself and whereas my grandkids know that I "look at little pieces of paper" from time to time, I've never really sat down and explained exactly what it is that keeps me interested, and what specific things about the hobby I enjoy.
I am also feeling some fresh inspiration from learning that not only does Hive have its own Hive Collectors Community, but the February ”topic of the month” there is, in fact, stamps!
Photographing butterflies and moths is also an interest of mine!
But to bring things around, the importance of sharing your hobbies with the world is that it's the way those particular interests end up getting passed along, and thus can not only be sustained over the years but also have a chance to grow. After all, in order to become interested in something, you first have to hear about it, right?
Oh yeah, while I remember, writing and blogging can definitely also be considered a hobby! I guess a lot of us have that one...!
Thanks for stopping by, and have fun with your hobbies!
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Created at 2025.02.01 15:05 PST
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