Hobbies - Have them to evade insecurity and burst stress

 According to Wikipedia (one of favorite online encyclopedia though partially biased at times), and here I quote verbatim - 

A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other amusements. Participation in hobbies encourages acquiring substantial skills and knowledge in that area. A list of hobbies changes with renewed interests and developing fashions, making it diverse and lengthy. Hobbies tend to follow trends in society.

The last line is bit disturbing for an esoteric-approach-lover like me because I seldom follow anything that is trend. It brings the non-originality in me. Being a techie for my bread-butter (that's all I can afford  at ease, apparently) I googled the failed promises of technology of the yore in the lure of current promises of AI becoming the future (and I have heard many things giving such promises in my last two decades of tax-paying before-activity but 99% being hogwash) and found out that Blogging has been sliding down and was a promise made as future but did not take off. Well, I beg to differ. 

But this post after a year almost is not about blogging but blogging or writing as a hobby and hobbies in general. So, ergo Wikipedia, hobby is supposed to be a regular activity. Huh! Regular? Does the surprise sounds odd? Well, the first line itself has taken the spoke and dug into the wheel. In this era of economy where only two things prevail "regularly", insecurity and  stress. The economy is a monster which has settled in our thoughts, our mindset and thus our routine. It does not reside in the talks of economic conclave conducted by news agencies. Neither does it in the annual budget announcements of governments. Nor is it part of some column in a financial news column or the daily itself. Economy is very much real. It is no longer stupid as quote by James Carville,  a strategist in Bill Clinton's successful 1992 U.S. presidential election against incumbent George H. W. Bush. His phrase was directed at the campaign's workers and intended as one of three messages for them to focus on. So given that this intelligent economy devours our time and keeps us busy for something or the other, what else do we do to remove the two fruits that we bear due to economy, insecurity and stress? 

In my reckoning, I feel, there is no escape from economy. You have to work to get paid so that you can also pay. More you work, more you should (you might, you must I agree but that is debatable from the payer's perspective) get paid and the more you can spend which means the more you can pay too. You need to pay for things that you can reap benefits later, they call it saving, investments etc. and then you need to pay for your leisure and liability along with your needs for routine. You may choose any type of job you like but you will be encircling these aspects only. Because then is what you will remain uncomfortable so that they can sell you tours and trips or apartments that will give you comfort. Isn't it a perfect form of carrot for the __________________ (fill it for your own deserving respect for the education you took). 

Now how do we sail through these uncomfortable journey in the aim of comfort to be sought? I am supporter of this economy and not a communist so I'd say, something I keep doing often but at times there is long standing gap. Hobbies. Nothing is more important than unwinding yourself. Am I giving gyaan that people did not ask for? Well, economy has told us not to think deep or philosophical so no one will ask anyway. Ergo, hobbies. Hobbies are important for today's life. You are simply wound day-in-day-out. You are stressed. You are alone in a crowd or a rush. You keep being the rat-race with no time-out. If you are into essential services, then you are a figment of imagination for yourself. Your job is to be there and do it as long as the service seeker needs you. In this array of burden, we hardly take timeout to standstill. To question. To wonder. To relish. To look through. To be with our loved ones. To truly admire our kids or our spouse or even our own living room or bedroom. Sunday was meant for that, but it has now turned into an economy contribution for white-collar sitting ducks (pun intended) like me to malls, transportations and restaurants. Not contributing to them is a sin even thought by your family. It is not occasional it is now a ritual. So leave alone the time-out fundamental. 

Having said all the above, living life is not about survival but also living it till end. But to touch the endline, which inevitable is like a race, is really a hallucination. In a race, one who touches the endline first is winner but in the economic race, its the one who can buy more & more quickly and maybe die sooner, is the winner. There are courses marketed which showcase young kids with no knowledge of life or work or culture to pursue it so that they can get higher salaries at younger age. Is making money the only way to be happy? Up until last week, I though the same. I worked hard enough to ignore my health and it happened so that my health has deteriorated to a state where I did not even consume the food I bought with me for work. Work gives you so many jitters that at times, we do not even enjoy the taste of the food we eat. We hardly feel like eating. That day, I gave my lunchbox to a homeless beggar and he happily devoured it. I kept wondering about the state of life. What he has, I don't have. He has health to eat leftovers and I cannot savor fresh food? Does the economy tells you to buy and not to use? Whether you use or not the aim of economy is fulfilled the moment you shell out money. I think I am digressing...

Ergo, hobbies. Now you know how this state keeps you distracting from even having a hobby. Apparently, having a hobby is like you having time to do it, which means you are enjoying luxuries. Well, I would say, there could be different types of hobbies. Some need time, space and even money to be spent. Some don't. Maybe you never had one before but now you can actually use the technology to build or pursue hobbies that you never could. Like I loved writing. Blogging is one such good thing for me to vent out my opinions. Why did I stop? Why do I give yearly gaps to it? I am the culprit not the economy. 

Hobbies were pursued in free-time in the past but I'd say, in this economy, hobbies are our only savior from becoming senile. I do not encourage hobbies to be commercialized like they do with Video Blogging or as it is popularly called VLOGGING. Not all VLOGS get commercialized but the aim is to. Hobby need not be as such that you need an audience for it. Today, people think about it like that. I have seen Nouveau riche, new rich or new money, putting their kids into summer vacation and hobby classes in the pursuit of making their kid famous. My son goes to drawing class and often the parents who have come to pick-up or drop their kids, keep chatting about the same that they did not get chance to make career in it, hope their kids do. I am literally like Phew! The antithesis of hobby is competition. Hobbies are to unwind and not to compete. Competition adds stress and no stress can be unwinding. Hobbies are for you to be yourself within your own diaspora. They need not be shown to anyone. They are for your mental health. It is the time you can actually talk to yourself. Is it necessary to talk to yourself? Well, we all do it knowingly or unknowingly. Economy gives us the lines and the cues and we are set into the conveyor belt of dream manufacturing where self-talk begins. I need this type of car, that type of house, vacation at certain places, lot of money blah blah. And thus we step out every morning to chase and grab these. And come home with those two fruits. Hobbies let you ignore these fruits and yes, help you restart to chase because that is inevitable.

What will be cringing is trying to find a hobby as an adult if you never had one. Trying to figure out what to do during your days off or your evenings could be some tough stuff. It can feel a little cheesy trying to find a hobby as an adult, especially when one doesn’t include drinking or happy hours. When you don’t know what to choose, all the options seem kind of lame: Knitting is for old ladies, sports have never been your thing, and if you pick up something like biking or gaming, you’ll feel like a little kid. But having a hobby doesn’t just have to be a time filler you do in between friend hangouts and work. It can morph into a passion that gets you excited, helps you recover from a long day, or gets your mind working. It helps you boost the quality of your life, and that’s why they’re so important to have. If you’re not into the idea of picking up a hobby just to occupy your downtime, try to think of something that makes you forget about the stresses and worries of your day. It should be something that helps you unwind and slip back into balance. If crocheting or learning a language feels like it would be work, then that’s not the hobby for you. When you find something that gives you a sense of me-time and answers to your personality and interests, you’ll find something that’s more than just an activity: It’ll help enhance your life. Or maybe buying guilty pleasures, something like art hanging on your wall and admiring it with your coffee is your thing. What was the last thing you did in your life that made the time completely fly by? When did you have one of those moments where you checked the clock and were shocked you missed lunch or dinner because you were so absorbed in your work? Remember it, and then go after it, of pick apart the core ideas of what made it so special for you and see if you can find them in a different activity. Any of these such as Music, Pets, Writing, Gardening etc which keeps your mind occupied other than your mundane mind killer is supposed to be hobby.

As much as gyaan I gave, I am guilty of not following up my hobbies of writing (blogging such as this). There is no need to feel guilty, since blogging is not cheating.