HOBBIES AND INTERESTS

Hobbies provides us the oasis like experience in the deserts of our life as well as nourishing facts of knowledge along with an escape from a mundane and monotonous life. A lot of people have many different hobbies and interests, sometimes you get time and are able to fulfill your wishes and dreams to complete or take part in your favourite hobbies and interests. Sometimes life comes up with things and your unable to do any of the hobbies or interests you like. The increasing competition in every sphere of life has further fuelled the elements of stress and anxiety. People are finding it hard to indulge in their favourite hobbies. But all of us have a breaking point. At that point, we need to stop for a while and think what is causing stress and how to make life a wonderful experience all over again. Hobbies come into picture at this crucial juncture. Hobbies allow us to relax and pursue our long lost passions. Hobby is an essentially activity that someone likes to indulge in during their spare time. It all depends upon particular likes and interests of a person. Hobbies bring mental satisfaction and a sense of rejuvenation. It allows individual to break free from their reality. They can stop worrying about daily chores, office work, family responsibilities etc and just please themselves by doing something that gives them immense satisfaction. Time well spent on pursuing your hobby will lead to a fresh mind and consequently increased focus back on the work.

Worldwide, experts are emphasising on including hobby in stress management techniques. Stressed people are encouraged to pursue their favourite activities. There are plenty of such activities that one can choose from depending upon their features, interests, characteristics and personality. Someone would like to go for indoor activities or some others are more excited about outdoor ventures. Those with artistic bend of mind can always go for painting, sculpting or writing. Those who seek adrenaline rush can opt for scuba diving, sky diving, bungee jumping etc. Similarly, some people can have several hobbies depending upon their moods. But the crucial aspect is to have a hobby that can play a significant role in removing stress. No matter, what hobby you pursue, the end result is same, i.e. gaining great pleasure and satisfaction. A favourable thing about practising a hobby is that, it has no deadlines, no rules and no pressure to perform. Spend as much time as you want. No one is going to talk about the end result. All you have to do is to please yourself.

One can develop new skills and discover unknown talents. Individuals can expand their horizons, make new contacts, develop relationships etc and get the most out of life. Hobbies depend on factors like age, sex, region, family background, education and on personality as well. A choleric person could never take up a hobby like making models, as he or she would not have the necessary patience. Life would be very boring without hobbies; we would appear like robots, without feelings, like color blind creatures, like aliens on our own planet. Hobbies give sense to our existence. Since early childhood we have a daily routine, since our first nursery school day. Therefore, in order to keep a balance between busy moments and free time we take up hobbies.

When we are children, our hobbies may be playing computer games (there are kids who don’t go to the kitchen for eating, they ask for their food to be taken in front of the computer, and they are terribly angry if somebody disturbs them when they play a game). A lot of kids watch cartoons so that they learn their replicas by heart. Now-a-days may people opt for fields like animation and toy making industries due to their childhood interests. Children fond of sports take different sports: football, handball, basketball, gymnastics, volleyball. Playing a musical instrument like piano, guitar, violin, drum kit, etc may lead to creating an orchestra! Looking after a pet: cat, dog, hamster, fish, parrot, bird watching, which means getting ready with binoculars and lots of patience and climbing mountains in order to watch eagles, horse riding are signs of children interested in animals.

Hobby ideas include collecting things: stamps, badges, postcards, pens, body painting, underwater photography, rice sculpture, exploring extra sensorial capacities, through different methods like hypnosis, aerobics in the water, animal communication, making stunts, cooking unusual recipies, making robots, stars watching, taming wild animals, exploring volcanoes and underwater caves, hobbies related to the religions of the world, traveling and exploring exotic countries. An unusual hobby is to make garden decorations from stone and cement, with glass patterns. They are easy to be made and they are not very expensive, as when we take up a hobby, we must also take into account whether it is expensive or affordable. There can be different shapes, which can be found in shops, or you may use food containers. You can create models from glass, ceramics, metal or any other material which may look good in your garden.

Bungee jumping, hang gliding, parachuting, windsurfing, hot air ballooning, river rafting and other such action- adventure related sports are taken up by extreme sport lovers. If you live in a mountain area, you may have hobbies like mountain climbing or bouldering, you may be interested in different species of plants, animals, birds or insects which have the habitat in your area, or you may have as hobby painting landscapes, or taking photos. If you have a nice voice, you may start singing and even making a band.

According to sex, women are interested in fashion, cosmetics, astrology, yoga, cooking, child care, diets, natural remedies, knitting, sewing, modeling, dancing, jewels. While men enjoy different sports, driving cars, riding motorbikes, mountain climbing, photography – there is much more than just clicking. There are various types like still photography, digital photography and various techniques like adjusting range, light and shadow, printing techniques, playing cards (which may even lead to gambling and addiction), hunting, fishing, especially in the case of extremely calm people, playing chess or backgammon.

Family background is also important in taking up a hobby. For example, in a family where one of the members is an artist, it is very likely that their children or sportsperson have the same hobbies or interests. Some hobbies can be taken up by both men and women. Music, dancing, disco (they have usually a model in life from the showbiz and they collect everything about them), sport, even extreme sports (indoor sports and out door sports), fitness, especially those girls or women who are afraid of putting on weight, cars and scooters – not just the driving but gaining detailed knowledge about their parts, different specifications of different models, their functions etc. computers, not necessarily games : they are interested in chatting with friends, sometimes with friends from other countries made on the internet as well as movies, actors and actresses.

If you have a passion to give something to the society a good hobby can be seen in social work. Social work is also a good time to connect, spread cheer and yet earn something rewarding in return. The reward here is appreciation and expresses your concern in spreading awareness or participating in educating others. Actually, life is great and you can make a hobby out of the most insignificant thing, with a little imagination, and it will help you have a positive thinking, and you even might consider youself as a happy and content person, even if from philosophical point of view, happiness can be reached very rarely and only by a few people.