“Get a hobby.” That’s what experts in aging tell us. They say that we should develop hobbies before we retire as a means of promoting longevity. Longevity? They aren’t kidding, but why don’t they tell it like it is? What they mean to say is : If you don’t have a hobby when you retire, you and your spouse will be at each others throats! After years of going off to their respective jobs each day, retired couples sometimes experience too much togetherness!
Down at the coffee shop each morning, I see a bevy of older men sitting on the benches shooting the breeze. I imagine that it’s in self defense — their wives probably want them out from under foot and kicked them out of the house! I wonder if they have hobbies?
I’ve read that having a hobby is a way to reduce stress and provide a sense of accomplishment. That’s true, I think, unless you are a perfectionist diverted by Attention Deficit Disorder. That would make it difficult to enjoy a hobby. Sometimes we can have so many hobbies that it’s difficult to pick which one to indulge!
I’ve got an entire room devoted to storing the materials for the different hobbies I enjoy. In fact, I need to determine which ones I want to continue and which ones need to fall by the wayside. There is only a fixed amount of time in a day, and I’ve finally gotten smart enough to realize that I have to pick and choose. But, I do believe that everyone should find at least one hobby they enjoy.
Perhaps hobbies can, indeed, promote longevity? I’m sure you couldn’t help but see the marionette at the top of the post. That was hand-carved by my late father-in-law, Don Tucker, as he underwent chemotherapy. It was his way of occupying his mind so he could stay focused on the positive. His positive attitude kept him alive for a very long time as he dealt with his cancer. After seeing this puppet, Don’s friend Jerry Juhl (who was the head writer for The Muppets and Fraggle Rock) had Don inducted into a puppeteer’s guild! Don’s workshop was filled with projects, and he kept working until he could no longer stand.
Don’s attitude has been one of my inspirations for my Only The Good series on Fridays. He taught me the importance of optimism for well-being, and that it is easier to stay optimistic when you have a pleasurable hobby.
The experts say that having a social network is another way to promote longevity. I guess that means that if you don’t have a hobby and get kicked out of the house, that group at the coffee shop is the next best thing?
So, tell me about your hobbies. Do you have any? Or, will I be seeing you on the bench at the coffee shop in a few years?
Other posts you might enjoy:
- Spinning Out Of Control
- Life Balance, Part Two: It’s A Jigsaw Puzzle
- Thursday Thirteen #1
- Long Gone
- Jelly Vendor
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I’ve got plenty – photography (somewhere between a professional sideline and a very serious hobby), blogging, travel, cooking, reading, collecting cookbooks… Hobbies are one of the things that make life worth living
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Indeed hobbies do make life worth living. Sometimes the problem is choosing among them!
Hobbies. Huh. I used to have hobbies, but beginning a new business takes a lot of time. And so does blogging, as I’ve learned over the past six months. I suppose that blogging counts as a hobby, even though spending more time on the www and laptop is hardly much of a diversion. The subject, however, is wonderfully distracting. I don’t even miss my tv.
After a haitus from cooking, I’ve resumed it because it’s suspicious to blog about cooking when you’re not doing it. I’ve reconnected to bringing joy to my kitchen in a very real, and committed, way.
The seriousness of the food situation today has me as as involved in writing about it as with its preparation. Cooking I can do in my sleep; commenting on food issues is much more time-consuming, but I find myself devoted to it. That one word tells me that the writing is also a joy. If I didn’t love it, I would stop. I just have to learn how to do it in less time. Despite being somewhat slow and stubborn, I am learning.
Having hobbies is a commitment. Obviously, you do enjoy the cooking (it shows in your writing). As long as there is joy in it, those hobbies are a healthful thing!
It may not sound like a hobby, but lately I’ve taken up Pilotes and Yoga. After years of being almost totally sedentary both for work and pleasure (typing at work, reading at home), I decided that I had to start movie or turn to cement. It’s only a half hour a day, but the improvement in breathing and moving in just a short time is amazing. Once I sit down, I can go back to the blogging, knitting, embroidery and reading.
It sounds like a hobby to me! Some people walk as a hobby. Others golf or bowl. Pilates and Yoga both work.
Well, there’s photography. More of an obsession than a hobby I suppose. Birding (birdwatching) is something my wife and I both enjoy. I’m a history buff, so I do lots of reading, and we travel around central Texas logging all the state historical markers. And finally, I used to be an amateur astronomer, and owned one of the largest amateur telescopes in New Mexico. The telescope is gone now, but my interest remains, and may rekindle into something more serious once I have the time and money to devote to it again. Oh, I love to eat. Is that a hobby?
Eating can be a hobby … but then you have to take up running or aerobic exercise to get rid of the pounds.
I’m so glad “there’s photography” for you. Yours makes me smile.
I think it boils down to interest. If you are interested in something you have more reason to get up in the morning.
I have seen this play out first hand. My mother had interests that were centered around her children. No hobbies or interests of her own. It shows now that she is older. She doesn’t have much interest in life.
Now my sister on the other hand lives all alone. She has outside interests in her church. But she also loves to crochet and do counted cross stitch. Her work is beautiful and many have been the beneficiary of her work. Recently she gave me a stitchery that I am anxious to frame and put in my new addition.
I imagine the day my sister leaves this planet she will have just finished another piece of art.
I am lucky that my sweetie pie and I enjoy some of the same hobbies. We love gardening and fishing. Going fishing is the best. We leave everything else at home. No computers and no cell phones are the rule. This way we really relax and enjoy each other.
I think, Sheila, that those cell phones, computers, and televisions can be a bane. Relaxing to enjoy one another’s company is the best hobby there is
Hobbies are important because when one retires, one gets LOTS of free time. Free time + nothing to do – work for a living = depression, health problems, etc. Lots of people retire where I work and the big scare is that like this guy or that woman, when we retire we’re going to get sick, divorce and die. Yep. It happens very often. It is a big scare.
So my mom retired and is so busy that we have to take an appointment to chat with her or see her. She’s happy this way.
My hobbies are blogging, reading, go to the gym, take pictures, go to the beach in summer, cooking, painting.
When I retire my hobbies will be to play bingo, sit at the mall for hours with friends (imaginary or real ones), breeding plastic pink flamingos, making my kids sick of me, blog, read, go to the gym, walking club, eating, cooking, painting, being a pain in the wahoo, ride the bus and metro for hours…
I want to see the baby plastic flamingoes
. I’ll go with you to bingo!
I think you are exactly right that boredom leads to depression. I don’t intend to go out that way.
I am looking forward to retirement! More books to read, time to knit/crochet through my yarn stash and kayaking/golf with my husband. I might even drive one of those bar golf carts around the golf course if I get bored. You do need to have something when you retire besides the endless rounds of doctor visits which some folks seem to enjoy in a perverse way. (It’s like old home day at the eye doctors!)
Retirement is probably not in my future, but I know what you mean. Golf is not in my future, either, but I think I’ll find plenty to do
I’ve had creative hobbies my whole life – crochet, knitting, sewing. I’ve been a voracious reader since I cracked the code at 4 years old, and still pursue my childhood interests of hiking and cycling. In most of these activities I’ve had my mother as my example – at 82 still “messing around”. My kids have not quite got the concept though, in spite of my example and I must admit to a certain amount of nagging. Those men in the coffee shop are getting something as valuable as hobby time – keeping up friendships and connections.
Friendships (real life as well as virtual) are as important as any hobby … but I hope I’m “still messing around.” at 82. Your mother is a great example. Let’s hope your kids come around
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