Death by Hobbying
In discussion with a friend recently, the topic of hobbies came up. The conversation was on how depressing a prospect it is that once a person has set up a nice life for himself (house, car, young family etc.) he/she usually spends the next 25 years working 40-50 hours a week at a job he wouldn't be doing if he didn't have to pay the mortgage & car payments & buy diapers.
What he does in his spare time is a hobby, which keeps him sane through the drudgery of 9-5 work. The catch-22 of this situation is that if he took the 10-15 hours a week that he spends on his hobby & directed that time & energy towards his dream, he might actually be able to live that dream that he spends his hobby-time imagining.
The question is: is the hobby an inherently evil thing, that keeps us from achieving our potential? I say yes it is.
A hobby is defined as 'an auxiliary activity'. Hobbies are unnecessary. Hobbies are distractions. I know from my personal experience that whenever I find myself doing very well with my hobbies, then I am always letting things slip elsewhere in my life. I now use that as a kind of alarm that goes off whenever I'm spending too much time enjoying activities in which there's no criteria for success or failure, or when I'm doing mostly things that are very comfortable and familiar to me.
However, without consciously examining the situation, it probably seems like choosing to spend time at a hobby is the better choice. It is the safer choice. If you spend your spare time trying to start a small business, you run a huge risk of failure. There is a lot on the line, not the least of which is a person's dignity and self-worth. However if building model trains is your activity of choice, while you have very little opportunity to succeed, there is equally little risk of failure, and most people find the comprimise offered by hobby activity to be perfectly satisfactory.
But just imagine for a minute what power over your destiny you could have if you spent your time working with focus towards your dreams? I'm willing to bet that 50 years from now, no matter how hard, and with what focus I work, I will look back and say 'I could have done more, I could have spent my time more wisely'.
I realize the irony in using a medium (my blog) that is textbook hobby material, to sound off on how hobbies will evaporate our dreams. I am okay with that irony. I think it's pretty difficult to go through life distraction-free. However, I also know that we only get one go at life, and that trying to keep myself focused on my true goals and beliefs as much as I possibly can, is a worthwhile goal.
A good rule of thumb is that: "Not wanting to do something is an indication that it's exactly the thing you should be doing". If it seems difficult, then you will have no choice but to learn something you don't yet know. If it seems scary, then you must be afraid to fail, and that's a good indication that whatever's on the line is actually important to you.
If any activity seems easy, and you're not afraid to fail, then that's a good indication that it's a waste of your time. Hobbies epitomize this idea, and in my opinion are life-sucking distractions that should be avoided like the plague whenever possible.
What he does in his spare time is a hobby, which keeps him sane through the drudgery of 9-5 work. The catch-22 of this situation is that if he took the 10-15 hours a week that he spends on his hobby & directed that time & energy towards his dream, he might actually be able to live that dream that he spends his hobby-time imagining.
The question is: is the hobby an inherently evil thing, that keeps us from achieving our potential? I say yes it is.
A hobby is defined as 'an auxiliary activity'. Hobbies are unnecessary. Hobbies are distractions. I know from my personal experience that whenever I find myself doing very well with my hobbies, then I am always letting things slip elsewhere in my life. I now use that as a kind of alarm that goes off whenever I'm spending too much time enjoying activities in which there's no criteria for success or failure, or when I'm doing mostly things that are very comfortable and familiar to me.
However, without consciously examining the situation, it probably seems like choosing to spend time at a hobby is the better choice. It is the safer choice. If you spend your spare time trying to start a small business, you run a huge risk of failure. There is a lot on the line, not the least of which is a person's dignity and self-worth. However if building model trains is your activity of choice, while you have very little opportunity to succeed, there is equally little risk of failure, and most people find the comprimise offered by hobby activity to be perfectly satisfactory.
But just imagine for a minute what power over your destiny you could have if you spent your time working with focus towards your dreams? I'm willing to bet that 50 years from now, no matter how hard, and with what focus I work, I will look back and say 'I could have done more, I could have spent my time more wisely'.
I realize the irony in using a medium (my blog) that is textbook hobby material, to sound off on how hobbies will evaporate our dreams. I am okay with that irony. I think it's pretty difficult to go through life distraction-free. However, I also know that we only get one go at life, and that trying to keep myself focused on my true goals and beliefs as much as I possibly can, is a worthwhile goal.
A good rule of thumb is that: "Not wanting to do something is an indication that it's exactly the thing you should be doing". If it seems difficult, then you will have no choice but to learn something you don't yet know. If it seems scary, then you must be afraid to fail, and that's a good indication that whatever's on the line is actually important to you.
If any activity seems easy, and you're not afraid to fail, then that's a good indication that it's a waste of your time. Hobbies epitomize this idea, and in my opinion are life-sucking distractions that should be avoided like the plague whenever possible.
