On The Importance of Hobbies
Recently my partner was offered a full-time, permanent teaching position at a High School, which of course she excitedly accepted. After a few years of short 6 or 12 month contract work at various high schools it was an exciting step up to a permanent position, and a good move for her career. The downside of this is that we would have to move 6 hours out of the city to a regional town with very high unemployment and few opportunities for someone in my field of marketing/advertising/public relations. So that is the story of how I came to be unemployed these last few months (Although thanks to an absolutely divine application of the principles of lesser magic I may have landed a lucrative position with the local newspaper and will hear back from them on Monday).
The battle to stay productive when your life has becalmed is one which many of us will have to fight at some point in our lives, either through a period of unemployment, or through an injury or incident that leaves you unable to work for any period of time. The temptation is there to waste the days away with distractions like video games, or Netflix or endlessly scrolling through social media and it is a strong tempation to overcome. It is such a powerful force purely because it is the easy way out. It requires zero effort on your part and can be quite enjoyable to do, until you realise that you have wasted an entire day on the couch achieving nothing.
This is where the importance of hobbies comes in. A good hobby like woodworking, whittling, gardening, writing, painting etc. provides an enjoyable way to channel your energies into something productive, rather than something wasteful. While you may enjoy spending the whole day shooting people on the PS4, you end the day without having actually achieved something tangible, and often miss good opportunities. Compare this to a day spent in the garden tending to vegetables and herbs which you will use to feed your loved ones, or a day spent in the shed nailing together a new shelf - enjoyable, productive tasks that create a meaningful and tangible impact on your world. Some people enjoy nature walks or hiking - which is an incredibly good hobby to pick up as it allows you to take in the beauty of the natural world while maintaining your health and vanity through exercise.
Recently I have taken up candlemaking, as my partner loves candles just about as much as a person can love something. So while I continue to find a place to earn my bread, I can spend my days crafting tealights and candles in the back shed, thanks in part to readily available (and very cheap) equipment and supplies available on sites such as eBay. And when my partner comes home, she is greeted by beautiful scents, handcrafted candles (even if they are sometimes still a bit wonky due to inexperience) and something tangible to hold and enjoy. Each wax figure is an expression of love and gratitude and very much appreciated - which leaves us both feeling happier and ultimately lets our own flame burn brighter. One can get similar satisfaction from any hobby - because they are by their nature enjoyable and productive. Perhaps one day when my candles are not so wonky I will take them to the local markets and sell them, earning money for my productivity and allowing me to purchase more supplies. Such is the power of a good hobby.
And every so often you can still treat yourself to a day on the couch - because videogames, movies and books provide an important portal to escape to a total environment of our choice, a sort of virtual decompression chamber. And with recent advances in technology, and the desire of studios to tell captivating stories it has never been a better time to be a gamer or a movie fan, though it must always be tempered with productive work to ensure you are still leaving your mark on the world.
