Hobbies HubMob: Why don't I have a hobby?

I want a hobby. Hobbies seem to be really good for folks. People derive joy and happiness from their hobbies, and as Teresa McGurk recently reminded us, we all need to play, not just now and then, but as much as possible!

My mother, DonnaCSmith, turned her equestrian hobby into a business a long time ago. My grandfather collected coins. My daughter has loved to draw and paint since she was tiny. My grandmother loved to fish. (I share the fishing passion, but I don't think I can qualify fishing as my hobby - it's more of a vacation activity...come to think of it, fishing probably did not qualify as a hobby for my grandmother until after my grandparents retired.)

Would my dad or my husband have ever considered golf as their hobby? I don't know. I suspect it is similarly confined for them as fishing is to me - by time, location and money. But my husband has recently started playing guitar again, and my dad plays a variety of instruments, as does my sister. I love hearing them all play together every year at the Preddyfest Bluegrass Festival.

But I think of a hobby as something one can enjoy daily.

My Past Hobbies

In grade school, one of my teachers gave our class an assignment to share a "collection." Some students were already "collectors" of shells, rocks, insects or stamps. I didn't have a collection. Those of us starting from scratch were permitted some amount of time...I don't remember how much time, but I do remember that I solicited help from all of my parents' and grandparents' out-of-state friends. I put together a collection of post cards, based largely around an old set my grandmother had saved from her WWII Army days.

I don't remember if my grandmother required me to return her post cards after my assignment, but I no longer have the collection.

At different times in my life, I've completed a few cross-stitch projects. I crocheted a baby blanket once, as well as a slew of smaller items like hats, mittens, and a couple of Christmas stockings.

As a young adult, I collected autographed copies of various works of fiction by contemporary Southern writers. Once I divorced and down-sized, however, I started letting go of my space-consuming, dust-collecting, seldom re-read books.

I still read. A lot. Though I admit that in the last year or so, more and more of my reading occurs online. Who has the money for books, or the time to go to the library?

Money and time are probably the easiest excuses to use for my lack of consistency in the hobby arena, but the truth is, I think I'm just easily bored. And I like variety. I typically order the Appetizer Sampler when we eat in a restaurant, because I can't settle for just one main entree.

Maybe that is why writing is really the only hobby I've enjoyed consistently as long as I can remember. Writing allows me to engage in a variety of different activities, sometimes recalling my own participation, other times exploring the experience of others.

But is writing really my "hobby"? Even when my official title has not been "writer", writing (or at least editing) has played a large role in the work responsibilities of my primary "jobs". Here on hubpages, I'm counting my pennies anxiously as I write. There are plenty of articles out there in internet land about "Turning your Hobby into a Business", but the truth is, I write for myself, often, whether I think it will be profitable or not. In that respect, writing meets the definition of hobby for me.

I almost skipped this hubmob, and when I finally started putting it together, I did so from a negatvie and frustrated perspective. I felt unfocused, undisciplined somehow, that I have never "stuck" with a hobby. Even my writing has been all over the place - periods as a newspaper reporter, a magazine feature writer, a wanna-be novelist or poet.

But as I've written this, as often happens for me, I've realized again the value of putting together words and finding satisfaction with the end result. Thanks, HubPages!