It's a Hobby

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

I was re-reading my Sand County Almanac with essays from Round River and re-discovered many very true observations. This in particular I felt should be posted for us all to reflect on what we do:

On hobbies..."You do not annex a hobby, the hobby annexes you. To prescribe a hobby would be akin to prescribing a wife--with about the same probabilityof a happy outcome.

Let it be understood then, that this is merely an exchange of reflections among those already obsessed--for better or for worse--with the need of doing something queer. Let others listen if they will, and profit from our behavior if they can...

...A hobby is a defiance of the contemporary. It is an assertion of those permanent values which the momentary eddies of social evolution have contravened or overlooked.If this is true then we may also say that every hobbyist is a radical, and that his tribe is inherently a minority.

This however, is serious, becoming serious is a grievous fault in hobbyists. It is an axiom that no hobby should either seek or need rational justification. To wish to do it is reason enough. To find reasons why it is useful or beneficial converts it at once from an avocation into an industry-- lowers it at once to the ignomonius category of an 'exercise' undertaken for health, power, or profit. Lifting dumbells is not a hobby. It is a confession of subservience, not an assertion of liberty."

Enjoy... Bo

[MadL]

No matter the 'hobby' there are always those who wish to challenge, dismiss, or even attack those who partake. Odd, for those same individuals will usually become very vicious if their own 'hobby' is uncovered and then challenged.

Often I find that when two people with different hobbies both take time to examine each other's interest, they both walk away with something that benefits their own hobby, or at the least discover that their 'hobbies' actually have something in common.

[Misson]

Let it be understood then, that this is merely an exchange of reflections among those already obsessed--for better or for worse--with the need of doing something queer. 

In my case, I disagree with him about rational justification. Almost everything I apply myself seriously to must have a rational justification to make it worth the doing. I was just talking with Blackjohn about something closely related to this via email. Some of the happiest people turn their hobbies into businesses...do what you love and all that. In fact, most intentional hobbies I undertake intertwine multiple threads of need, reason and/or learning.

[Mary Diamond]

Thank you, Bo!

I must pull my copy off the shelf and give it another read ~ it has been 4 years or so since I last did. And, this is the perfect time to do so ~

Happy Spring to All!

[lady snow]

not sure if i have a hobby other than faires and fests and stuff like that and it turned into something that is on my mind the majority of the time. acting at faires, preparing for faires - stuff like that. i usaully have some faire related activity most months. though i also act in community theater. i am looking for a venue to profit from my photography. i just got word that a second photo of mine is being pubblished. and doing my graphic art/design work on the side.

[Sjöröveren]

Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac is one of those books that stays with a person forever. If you value the natural world and your place in it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's like a long pleasant road trip with that college professor that you always wished you could have spent more time with. I particularly remember the chapter about getting up way before dawn, walking deep into the woods, sitting down with your thermos of coffee, and watching the woodcock dance their mating dance as the sun is about to rise. If you can't be sitting in a forest, this is the next best thing to being there.

[Silkie McDonough]

In my case, I disagree with him about rational justification. Almost everything  I apply myself seriously to must have a rational justification to make it worth  the doing.

Is the enjoyment alone not enough to justify it Mission? Do you not listen to music simply for the enjoyment of it? Have you not stopped to watch a sunset simply for the enjoyment of it? (I was there I saw that you did at PiP) Yes, I know that these things alone are not considered hobby's and I know also that you said ALMOST everything but ...perhaps the "rational justification" is simply part of the enjoyment like the good feeling of giving is the reward of the gift given?

We all have our reasons. I for one have ended up making money at almost every hobby that I have had. Now, making a business of it ...that is a different problem.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Sjoroveren... Amen. The only thing better is having a copy with you in the woods.

Bo

[blackjohn]

I was just talking with Blackjohn about something closely related to this via email. Some of the happiest people turn their hobbies into businesses...do what you love and all that. In fact, most intentional hobbies I undertake intertwine multiple threads of need, reason and/or learning.

I had an EEO training class the other day, and the speaker, an ex-federal judge, asked the question "how many people here... like their job... tolerate their job... hate their job?" He then went on to say to the people who hate their job (which I number myself among) "quit it, and do something you love."

At that point I think I came to the conclusion that this whole notion of quitting a job you hate to do something you love is... selling people a pack of lies. You can't just quit your job! That's ludicrous! It's... insane! While on the outside it seems all golden, on the inside the advice is rotten.

There are people who depend on me. I can't just up and quit my job to do something I love. Reality just doesn't work that way.

[Red Cat Jenny]

Ok I'm coming into this discussion late..

But I agree with BlackJohn. One has responsibilities and can't just go larking off unless one is P' Diddy or has a family compound the size of Nebraska...

That said.... you KNEW there'd be a however.."

I've had jobs I hated and jobs I Loved er...mostly. I have been fortunate in that. I have considered this question many times though, because there are always things I'd rather be doing than "payin the bills"

I think if you have satisfaction in your life outside work, then a job you don't feature that much can be tolerable. If your particular job becomes or is the larger part of your life, then it must be something you at least enjoy an interest in, or it would be completely detrimental to your quality in life. One balances out the other hopefully.

Lastly, if you have a dream..always dream it..strive to do it.. because you never know when the opportunity to kiss the mundane life goodbye can actually take place. Then lark away all you like

I know I will