Things that are (still) NOT hobbies

So.  I had a great idea for a blog four years ago that was going to help me find new interests outside of work, and then, well, work took over most of my time.  Lesson learned.  Let’s try this again… (December 2018)

When I was a kid, I had a bunch of hobbies. I was in swimming squad, played netball, basketball and racquetball.  I was debating captain, read about 200 books a year and loved writing short stories.

Somewhere, in the midst of turning into a grown up, these stopped being a regular part of my life.

The challenges of becoming independent, paying for your own stuff and being responsible for getting yourself to and from things seem to lead lots of us to change our interests and stumble awkwardly during conversations when someone asks “So, tell me about your hobbies…”

My husband has hobbies, proper ones like music and photography and learning how to fly airplanes (apparently proper hobbies are expensive and come with a lot of equipment)

At a lunch with some friends last year, the topic of hobbies came up and most of us were bereft (because shopping and reality-tv do not count) but one of my friends was brilliant.  She listed running, learning the guitar, speaking spanish and a bunch of other well rounded and interesting sounding pursuits.  If she was ever looking to apply to a prestigious US college (or preschool) she would be snapped up.

So far, I have ascertained, or been explicitly told that the following activities and interests are not hobbies:

• Judging
• Thinking about being Amy Poehler’s best friend
• Looking at fancy pants real-estate listings
• Owning (but never using) a drawer full of nail polish/lipstick
• Writing lists
• Writing lists of all the wrists I need to write
• Being on a first name basis with the staff of every cafe I frequent
• Sending bear memes to friends at 1am
• Being sarcastic on twitter
• Listening to talk back radio
• Online shopping

This leaves me with, um….. a list of stuff I’ve always thought that I would like to do, but never gotten around to, or have tried once or twice but never gotten into the groove of, like:

• Yoga: Hated it, intimidated by skinny girls in tight shorts, afraid of breaking my back, slightly annoyed by the instructors soothing voice
• Tae Kwon Do: Went as far as winning a free pass to a class when I was 15.
• Radio Presenting: Actually something I love – have dabbled occasionally, but never actually signed up for a course
• Cupcake decorating: Of Course, because it was 2010 after all. Fun.  Probably should attempt to apply the skills I learned at some point
• Cooking:  I learned how to not hate cooking about 8 years ago.  I do enjoy it, I’ve even had classes with Tonia Todman, but nothing beyond an occasional weekend dabble.
• Speaking another language – I know a speckle of french and a few other phrases in German, Swedish and Dutch, but its like saying you’re an oceanographer because you saw Finding Nemo
• Writing a blog (and posting on it more than twice) Always planned to, but felt I needed a topic or a theme…

So here we are.  I need a blog topic and a I need a hobby.

Join me as I road test all the weird and wonderful hobbies a self absorbed, accident prone 30 something woman could ever hope to try.  Stay tuned for the list and a rundown of how I’m going to make this thing work…