The Importance of Hobbies

Hobbies.  It's a frivolous word.  And a frivolous thing, perhaps, but I think having a hobby - or several - is really important.  But isn't making jewellery your hobby, I hear you ask?  Well, yes - it certainly started out that way.  And it still is, in many ways - I've lost count of the number of times my hubby has said to me 'You're working?  Again?' as I'm sneaking out the wire to fiddle with in front of the telly.  It is, of course, my job, and a lot of my working hours are spent completing work for customers, (something I love doing) but finding myself inspired by something fresh and turning it into a piece of jewellery - just because - is the icing on the cake.

It's not my only hobby, though.  As you know if you follow this blog, I have always been a voracious reader.  This dates right back to when I first learned to read, and my Mum and I used to get the bus into town so that she could treat us both to a book from the secondhand bookshop in the square.  Then we'd spend the bus journey home reading - terribly sociable, I know!  Books have ALWAYS been my means of escape from a real life that occasionally sucks.

Similarly, when you're not reading someone else's story, why not write it?  I love words - the way a carefully chosen phrase can convey an emotion, something that hits you right - well, wherever it is you feel things most.  Is there anything quite like finishing a book that makes you similarly sigh with satisfaction and almost weep that the journey is over?  Writing is the flip side of that coin, but it's no less satisfying when the final word is written, and the characters still exist in your imagination, somewhere far outside of the pages.

So why do I think having a hobby is important?  I cannot comprehend the concept of boredom.  If ever I hear someone say they're bored, I'm amazed.  How does anyone have time to be bored?  As long as I have a blank page and a pen or pencil, I'm able to occupy myself.  There are so many things you could be doing with your hands or your mind, why would you relinquish a second of your precious time to ennui?  To me, hobbies - interests, passions, whatever you want to call them - are so important because if you have nothing else to fill your time, they give you purpose, and if you're only able to fit them around jobs/illness/less than fulfilling lives, they provide an escape and a route to personal joy.  And there is always room for more joy in this world.

So tell me, what hobbies bring you joy?