Why Hobbies?

A hobby is defined as an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation. I can range from anything to collecting something to blogging.

I think having hobbies play vital roles in our lives. They give us an escape to something that we enjoy. Something that we chose to do rather than have to do. It gives us pleasure and an escape.

If you are lucky your hobby can even become your job as has happened with Problogger Darren Rowse, and more recent Jonathan Acuff of Stuff Christians Like. These kinds of things do not happen over night though. Both of these individual have put countless hours into their work and have been rewarded for doing so. Your should not set out on a hobby as something that will make you lots of money and give you the ability to leave your real job behind. Instead you should just think of it as “your time”, a time to get away from the normal everyday work you are used to doing. If it turns out that you can one day make a living out of doing it then good for you. That should not be the main focus though.

All that said, I am not saying that you should not have set goals for your hobbies as you would for your real job. I believe you definitely should. They should just be attainable and not far-fetched. The following are a list of my hobbies and why I do each of them.

• Web Design -  I am a weekend web designer and just enjoy the challenge of it. I have a pretty good knowledge of HTML and am working on getting a better grasp of CSS. I have created websites for friends and family members as well as set up blogs. I just find the challenge of learning web design addicting. I enjoy helping out whomever I can with the skills I have learned, and if I make some money on doing it every now and then that’s just a bonus.
• Reading – I love reading. I will read anything I can get my hands on. Reading allows for the imaginative thought, and opens the door to vast amounts of knowledge. Now with programs like Booksneeze out there by Thomas Nelson book publishers I have new fresh content at my fingertips constantly.
• Movies – There is nothing I love more than going out to the movies or cuddling up on the couch with my wife to watch a movie. I enjoy the stories that each one tells.
• Blogging – I began blogging about eight months ago as a way to get my thoughts out in the open. All of the three things I enjoy doing above have been incorporated into my blog. It is here where I review books and movies along with putting down whatever is currently on my mind. I also am able to tweak blog themes and work on web design as well. Blogging has really become something that I really enjoy, as well as something that has helped me explore thoughts and improve my writing. Right now my goal with blogging is to gain readers and share with them my thoughts on various topics. Also, I would like to eventually make enough money off of the blog to pay the hosting for the site each month.
• Baseball – Baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I played it growing up year round and was fortunate enough to play in college. I have recently felt the pull to get back involved in some way to give back all of the knowledge and skills that I gained over the years to those wanting to learn. I am now looking into doing hitting lessons for kids in the area. Since I enjoy web design I was able to design a website to get the work of it out there. We will just see where this new venture goes.

It is funny how often one hobby leads into another like mine has. It is like they all complement the other to make each stronger.

Anyway, enjoy your hobbies. They give you the much needed break from the hustle and bustle of your daily work life.

What are your hobbies?