Hobbies

As regards hobbies, I find I always tend to end up with them. I guess it's a tendency I've built up over the years, and I suppose especially in my formative teenage years where I had more social anxiety: if I'm ever bored, I reach for one of my hobbies. Currently that's music (mandolin, but also trying my hand at writing it a bit), but in the past it's been language-learning, or programming, or gardening and horticulture, or studying, or writing on this here website. Even small things, like flashing the ROM on my phone, or installing Linux, could count as hobbies I suppose. I guess for people without so many hobbies, they reach first-and-foremost out to friends in the case of boredom. A friend of mine told me recently (well, six months ago) that he doesn't feel like he has any hobbies, and instead just socialises.

I guess the question is, what exactly is a hobby? We all have 24 hours in the day, and necessarily something must happen in those hours. We may say we're doing nothing, but it's not possible to actually do nothing. We all have preoccupations; which of these are hobbies?

I reckon it's fair to say that essential items of life are not hobbies. I don't think sleeping can be hobby. Neither can eating per se: if a person has that as a hobby, what they'd usually mean is they like to go to good restaurants, try new food, etc. all of which is 'additional' over and above the raw necessity of eating. Likewise few would list sex amongst their hobbies, maybe unless they're a part of some sex club or something. (Do those even exist?)

There are also many necessary preoccupations beyond the bodily urges, like washing-up, laundry, cooking (though, cf. eating) that wouldn't be classed as a hobby.

Seeing friends I think generally would be classed a hobby; odd, as it is arguably a human need, though in the same class as sex, where you won't die without it, but life may be less pleasant without it.

I think somewhat of a criterion to separate the rest into hobby v. nonhobby is that a hobby is rewarding, edifying. I guess the modern lexicon for this is that it releases serotonin more than dopamine. Serotonergic not dopaminergic, or something. There should be something to show for it after a while.

This explains somewhat why watching television (passively), like just sitting about to watch Place in the Sun, doesn't feel like a hobby, but watching television (or Netflix et al) to have seen the shows that you can discuss with others, or movies likewise, does seem to be a hobby.

I think in common perception there's also somewhat of an idea that the weirder, more specific preoccupations, are somehow truer hobbies, and the people therefore more hobbyistic. For example, many people might dabble a bit on Duolingo and pick up a little Spanish, but few would take the up learning Yoruba, or Ainu or something like that. I suppose the implication is that if you do, you are perhaps more focused on it, and more likely to make progress in it. Maybe this is just something I've thunk up, but if it's true, it would be somewhat of a shame.

Alright, that's all I've got. Until next time, godspeed, and happy blogging.