A hobby a day keeps the doldrums away. ~ Phyllis McGinley
Wired writes about a man who spent twenty five years creating a 9 foot tall, 20 pound universe of San Francisco with 100,000 toothpicks. Scott Weaver began in 1977 replicating the Golden Gate Bridge but that was only the beginning. He wanted also to include other landmarks of the city including his own neighbourhood.
A feature of his microcosmic city includes winding paths to allow ping pong balls to travel across the bridge and through the city. He said he has spent 3,000 hours on the project and has refused to sell it to Ripley's Believe It or Not for $40,000.
“Other than my wife and my son, this is the most important thing in my life,” he says. “I just regret that my mother wasn’t able to see it while she was alive.”
Scott's story encourages us to think about our own hobbies which help to energize our free time. Of course, most of us have more that one hobby, and we can flit from one to the other like a ball in a pinball machine. Then there are the people whose hobby is making money which affords greater possibilities when the time comes, if ever. Indeed, hobbies can be expensive or cost next to nothing. The main requirement is that it provides a welcome engagement.
A hobby can:
- test your emotional or physical limits
- engage your mind
- empower creativity, problem solving
- enable you to socialize with others
- find personal peace
- help others
- expand your knowledge and skills
- work toward a goal
- other?
One of my hobbies the last couple of years is blogging. I consider it my online journal and I value those who follow my humble observations and who comment on occasion. I value the global acquaintances I have gained. My online journal certainly fulfills a number of the requirements as listed above.
Care to reflect on the role hobbies play in your life?
