It's early Monday evening and I'm so profoundly bored I can hardly stand to stay awake. In fact, I would probably go to sleep right now if I knew I wouldn't be wide awake by 3am. It's no secret that I need a hobby. I hate the word "hobby" because it reminds me of being hunched over a model train set in a musty basement at 2am with a miniature tree pressed between rusted tweezers but it is the most appropriate word for what I am seeking.
"Passion" sounds much sexier but isn't really accurate. I'm passionate about a lot of things, although I may not always show it (was a comma the correct punctuation for this sentence? Grammar is NOT one of my passions). But passion is different. Dictionary.com (I'm not linking that because I'm a tad anti-web2.0 at the moment) defines a hobby as "an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation." Yes, a hobby is just what I need. The fact that a hobby can't technically be a main occupation doesn't really concern me as an online media planner (there’s a reason you don’t know what that is).
So let’s recap: I know I need a hobby. I know I have interests. I know what a hobby entails. My occupation cannot, thankfully, qualify as a hobby. Now what? How does one find a hobby? I’ve tried many things in my 25 years of “life” but nothing has really stuck for one reason or another. Just to put things into context, I will bore you with a list of things off the top of my head that I have seriously attempted and/or took serious interest in:
Baseball
Football
Soccer
Volleyball
Gymnastics
Water Colours
Cross Stitch
Christianity
Anarchism
Army Cadets
Jazz Dance
Yoga
Ceramics
Basketball
Swimming
Piano
Organ
Electric Guitar
Acoustic Guitar
Bass Guitar
Classical Guitar
Trumpet
Baritone
Percussion
Electrical Engineering
HTML
Graphic Design
Swing Dancing
Warez
Hacking
Drug Dealing
Song Writing
Poetry
Painting
Creative Writing
Gemology
Recording Arts
Screenwriting
Model Building
Singing
DJing
Acting
Directing
Day Trading
Gambling
Track and Field
Remixing
Break Dancing
Public Speaking
Tennis
Weight Lifting
Jogging
Squash
Fashion Design
Collecting
Photography
Mould Making
Sky Diving
Politics
Blogging?
So, where do I go from here? I have tried just about everything I’ve ever had even the faintest interest in and yet I’m still not a hobbyist. I’m not even sure why I’m writing about this but it seemed like the only way to temporary cure my boredom, even if for just an hour. Maybe it’s perfectly natural and even healthy to try a bunch of different things without ever finding that one thing that sticks but I can’t help feeling like a bit of a quitter or eclectic at best. Maybe everybody has a similar list and our only purpose on earth is to experience as much as possible? If this is the case, I obviously have a lot more to do and better stop writing immediately and volunteer for the local taxidermist (do we even have a local taxidermist?)
I guess my point is that it might be satisfying to be able to focus on one or two things that really get me going… Something that makes me want to rush straight home after work and continue where I left off the night before. Yes, it’s fun and interesting to experience new things but what about mastering something, anything? That is something I’ve never been able to do and would really like try it. I’m not talking about mastering the art of the Jedi or even seduction for that matter; I just want to be really, really good at one thing… I’ll leave you on that note and go back to staring at the wall and smoking cigarettes. Is sleeping a hobby? I don’t really do that as an occupation…
Update: It seems I'm not the only one thinking about this.
