HOBBIES ARE WONDERFUL

Let's face it--hobbies are wonderful!  Those times in our lives when we've been too busy or too tired for our hobbies we've lost out, haven't we?  It's like being too busy or tired to have friends. Hobbies absorb us.  Some things that qualify in my mind don't even sound like hobbies--yard work, container gardening, even pulling weeds.  That's something I attack with gusto and when it's done, I feel pride.  My stress is gone.  Some of my friends run even in a chilling rain.  Punishment to me but not to them.  Hobbies are ways to follow our hearts and when we spend an hour doing that our minds are clear, our spirits light.  We can't wait for more time to do it again. 

Exercise hobbies, indoor or outdoor hobbies, intellectual hobbies.  Following the stock market was my dad's hobby.  Not investing, following.  Blogging can be a hobby, both the writing and the reading.  I love that blogs reach people all over the world.  When I check audience stats and see a new reader from Peru or Turkmenistan, Portugal or Brazil it makes me happy.  The Ukraine, S. Korea, Germany, Australia, Russia, the UK, the US, Canada. . . . I wish we all could meet.  I would learn so much!

I think hobbies are by definition worthwhile.  They're never a waste of time.  Doing something for ourselves, getting to know ourselves better and the people with whom we share an interest.  Forgetting our day-to-day concerns.  This is good for our hearts and minds.  Things that take concentration.  Using hammer and nails. Repairing our run-down houses. What a useful hobby! Up-fitting and re-purposing.  Collecting, crafting, creating.  Completing a difficult puzzle, playing the ukulele, swimming or running or canoeing.  

Pine Knoll Shores, NC, Loblolly Dr.

I collect sea glass (and seashells, of course).  So, I'm outside, bending and stooping, in all kinds of weather.  After a storm is best. The place I've found with the most sea glass is on the shore at Atlantic Highlands, NJ, a small Victorian town on the New York Bay.  Luckily, we have relatives there.  Can you imagine how many decades of tumbled broken glass wash up from Manhattan? This is the stash I collected in just one hour's foraging with a 4-year-old nephew this week. We picked through the trash and the seaweed.  I don't find this much glass in a year on our beach in North Carolina. Look at that cobalt blue, such a rare find for me. 
 

Sea Glass from Atlantic Highlands, NJ

Some people like a hobby that completely absorbs the mind but doesn't exhaust the body.  So running is out but writing is in.  Or weight training is out but learning a language is in.  Hobbies help us find our inner rhythm, don't they? When we're in the middle of something that we enjoy we don't worry about the future or ruminate about the past.  We stay right here, in the present.  Centered, not frazzled.  That's healthy, all the experts say. 

I'm taking part in a free Mindful Living Week (www.mindfullivingweek.com), a series of podcasts with presentations, dialogues and guided practices.  Although it requires way more time than I think I can give (who has a spare hour a day ever?), I'm giving it a try.  Today was good.  We're supposed to set an intention and create an inspirational space.  I skipped creating the space and went straight outside and sat under a tree.  But the intention was easy.  I chose one word--release. I can go any direction with that. Release from worry, release from fear, release from self-absorption, release from any negative thing I can think of.  Seems to me all that's left then are the positives.  I'll see where that takes me.   

What's your hobby?  Do you find that worries and regrets haven't a chance when you're absorbed in your hobby? I'm committing to finding new ones and making more time for the old. That's my well-being commitment.  Want to share this goal?  Let's see how we do. Nina Naomi