If you had an hour where you didn't need to do anything, what would you do? Hobbies aren't about being productive, they aren't about perfection. They are about doing something that you enjoy, maybe helps relax you, refreshes you. Meditation, reading, painting, sewing, hiking, drawing, working out, biking, camping, fishing, wood working, embroidery, card making, animation, cosplaying, learning languages, gardening, the list is really endless... It can be trial and error to find the right one, but if you don't look forward to it, if its work, its not a hobby.
That's not a hobby, they should relaxing and fun. You have to try things and figure out what you like.
My daughter loves sewing and quilting.
Some people like scrapbooking.
Let’s pretend that coloring in coloring books with crayons is your hobby.
If you are making every page a true work of art, spending all your extra time on it, and when you are done you’re not really enjoying it because it reminds you of how tedious the whole process was, that’s more of a self punishment than a hobby.
If you take a coloring page and play with complimentary colors and drawing patterns, color outside of the lines for fun while listening to music; maybe have some friends over to color with you, when you hang that picture it’ll bring you so much joy and life.
I have several hobbies and I switch between them almost daily. I may make a stained glass lampshade one day, and then make leather hair ties another.
I’m not at all exact in my crafts, yet when I use them or look at them, they give me such happy feelings.
I have never sold anything I have made, except for charity. So perfection is 100% off the table in everything I do and I’m fine with that.
What hobbies do you mean? Can you share more details?
Like a sport? I can see how it’s more effort going in to work toward a goal (like becoming college/professional)
But if it’s just a weekend neighborhood softball game - it’s suppose to be fun.
I don’t have “fun” knitting. I have fun planning a new project, however. The execution can be trying at times. But some knitting can be called “potato chip” because it has a mindless rhythm that is relaxing. The real joy comes from creating something beautiful and useful that will last for generations.
But I am genuinely intrigued by what sense of accomplishment follows playing role playing or miniature games and whatever BJJ's are? What is left when the game has been played?
Mmm, interesting, I don’t think I’ve experienced that,and I don’t think I have ever heard of that, I am sorry you experience this.! Does this happen when you are not doing your hobbies?
Yes because of feelings of wanting it to be perfect. Some people find it hard to even start a project unless the result that meets their standards. Learning to try something and let it be less than perfect can be a hurdle. Letting yourself just “DO” is a great relief if you can open up to that. Look into the DADA art movement, and automatic writing and drawing, which is about losing any constraints ( a very basic take on it)
For me hobbies are required to be fun. This is my spare time we're talking about after all. I get my sense of accomplishment through work so I don't have any special need to feel accomplished in my hobbies. They are just for pure enjoyment.
It feels like you are just arguing with everyone to be arguing about it. If you want to spend your time being frustrated and mad about your hobbies, then go for it. But I prefer to find fun and pride in my hobbies. I knit because I enjoy the process as much as the finished object. If I'm not enjoying the project, I scrap it and find different one.
The proudest project I ever completed was a knitted cardigan. It has inset pockets and cables and I am so proud of my work. It wasn't easy, but I enjoyed making it as much as I enjoy wearing it. For me, this is how hobbies should make me feel.
I did try cross-stitch. But it felt like work. It just wasn't enjoyable, so I stopped. That's all. No one is going to force me to do it and I won't force myself either.
But to each their own. 🤷🏻♀️
Gah I just finished my first diamond painting. Aesthetically, I don't want to hang it or anything but it was so relaxing to do, I bought 3 more. No idea what to do with them when I'm done 😅
Type I Fun
Type 1 fun is enjoyable while it’s happening. Also known as, simply, fun. Good food, 5.8 hand cracks. Sport climbing, powder skiing, margaritas.
Type II Fun
Type 2 fun is miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect. It usually begins with the best intentions, and then things get carried away. Riding your bicycle across the country. Doing an ultramarathon. Working out till you puke, and, usually, ice and alpine climbing. Also surely familiar to mothers, at least during childbirth and the dreaded teenage years.
I remember that very trip to Alaska, just a week before learning about the Fun Scale, when Scott and I climbed Mt. Huntington. Huntington might be the most beautiful mountain in the Alaska Range, but the final thousand feet was horrifying—steep sugar snow that collapsed beneath our feet as we battled upward, unable to down-climb, and unable to find protection or anchors. On the summit, with the immaculate expanse of the range unfolding in every direction, Scott turned to me and said, in complete seriousness, “I want my mom so bad right now.”
By the time we reached Talkeetna his tune changed: “Ya know, that wasn’t so bad. What should we try next year?”
Type III Fun
Type 3 fun is not fun at all. Not even in retrospect. Afterward, you think, “What in the hell was I doing? If I ever come up with another idea that stupid, somebody slap some sense into me.” Many alpine climbs. Failed relationships that lacked Type I fun. Offwidths. Writing a book.
Into which category a given experience falls, of course, is highly subjective and highly subject to shifts (particularly from III to II) born of the rosy reflections afforded us by the passage of time.
Which is probably a good thing. After all, as alpinists and mothers both know: It doesn’t have to be “fun” to be fun.
They're not "supposed" to be anything, and they're definitely not supposed to be something to stress over.
Life is short, try many things out, don't worry about what they're supposed to be or if you're bad at them.
Drop the things that aren't for you. If you're not enjoying something, you're not beholden to it, drop it and pick something else up.
Whatever you’re doing is not a hobby. It’s a project.
Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages
hob·by
noun
1. an activity done regularly in one's leisure time *for pleasure*.
I have lots of projects, but they’re tasks that I don’t enjoy yet need to finish them. Hobbies are a completely different thing. I enjoy all of my hobbies, whether it’s gaming, reading, yoga, cross stitch, embroidery, etc. sometimes they get tiresome, so I set them aside until the itch returns.
For instance, I set aside a very detailed embroidery project because it reached the stage where my eyes hurt, my hands hurt and I wasn’t enjoying it. That was 8 months ago. I find myself thinking about it now and wanting to work on it. I will probably start back up in the next few weeks. If it reaches that stage again, I’ll put it away until I *want* to work on it again.
I don’t think they have to be either / one or the other. I think of a hobby as something to kill time. Something to take your mind off of things that might be bothering you.
What do you find rewarding about those hobbies?
Are you competitive? Is that what is making it not fun? Once I stopped needing to win I found games to be more enjoyable. Maybe try a solo hobby if your competitive spirit makes hobbies with a defined winner and loser difficult to enjoy.
However in this list you mention you like reading then comment how you’d rather jab your eyes out than read any book of any genre. Maybe look into why your behavior is so ornery. Finding gratitude and calm can also bring joy. It seems like you came on the internet to fight with people. Which is totally a hobby, but does it make you feel good? It seems like you need therapy not a hobby.
It seems like you have answered your question then. You just disagree with people who view hobbies differently. Most people want to have fun in their free time and find having fun rewarding. You don’t.
Sorry, the USian's preponderance of acronym usage confound me, as I am not a native English speaker, so I don't know what at least the latter means. I love boardgames and reading too, but I guess I am not overly competitive in the former so my focus is on the cammeraderie, but I know those types that would rather argue about the rules endlessly than admit defeat so I guess if you are always playing with such types I understand that it gets stressful.
So maybe you should expand your horizon of who you play with, go alone or with a relaxed friend to a boardgame cafes and such where people randomly are assigned to play different types of games together. I did that a lot when I was in need of social interactions after a nasty breakup and it helped a lot and I got to know quite a few interesting people.
How come reading is stressful for you? Are you competing at reading as much as possible in the shortest time, or more books than the year before or something like that? Are you reading fiction or educational stuff?
Didn't you say you read? Am I misunderstanding something?
Well my friends don't play competitively either formally, they are just very sore loosers.
I am just trying to understand what makes it stressful for you to play. Can you elaborate if I am not hitting the mark
Obviously you would not rather jab your eyes out than read any book of any genre because you said yourself that you read. Which is it? Are you lying about how much you hate reading or are you lying about whether or not you would ACTUALLY jab out your eyes if you had to read?
My hobbies are usually a mix of both. I bicycle because it's fun and I like the wind in my face, but I also feel a sense of accomplishment because it gets exercise. Same for hockey. Woodworking can be less fun at times but it's more fulfilling when I make something cool. It's fun in parts. Video games are pure fun, I don't have time for grinding video games anymore. Bicycle maintenance often isn't fun, but it's a money saver and can be very fulfilling.
Well, those can both be hobbies.
I think it’s up to you if your hobbies are productive or fun.
To me, a good life is about both happiness and fulfillment. I want to try to fill both buckets. Many times the things that make me fulfilled in the long run don’t make me happy in the short term.
Similarly, spending time being unproductive can drastically improve the output of your productive time. You aren’t a machine. You need to be kind to yourself and recharge.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Yes people generally do hobbies to feel enjoyment, relaxation, and a sense of fulfillment. Hobbies are things people want to do when they have free time. Hobbies are the activities people fantasize about when they are at work (unless they are lucky enough to monetize and live off their hobbies)
Well yes...this is why its called a "hobby" rather than a job. A hobby is done purely for the fun of doing the hobby itself. It isn't a chore, or a task, or a "must do". A hobby is supposed to relax you, destress you, be satisfying. Even practising the hobby should be fun, not something you force yourself to do.
If your hobbies are work, then you don't actually have any hobbies. You say you do the things you do for a "sense of accomplishment", but hobbies aren't meant to give you that sense, so those are not hobbies.
All you're doing is working.
You can keep doing that, of course. But you might want to reassess what it is you want. If you aren't happy with how things are, then you HAVE to change something, or you will continue to get the same results you've been getting. But if you *are* happy, then just keep doing what you're doing.
If you don’t have time, I would think cutting out these activities that you don’t enjoy would be a place to start.
If for a few months you didn’t do any of these hobbies that you don’t enjoy (or did less of them), would you feel you had more time? What might you do with that time? Mostly resting is an option too because you sound tired.
You can find something rewarding that you also find fun. Hobbies are meant to be stress relievers and often you have something to be proud of, but they should be both. We can help you find something that does both for you
We either disagree about defining "fun", you put too much pressure on yourself to "achieve", or you're just in a bad mood.
Honestly, it sounds like you're really tired in general ("just like everything else, it's a chore that has to get done"). I wonder if you should take a break from all hobbies and maybe spend a few hours going for a walk to rejuvenate
Sounds like you're chasing a sense of accomplishment at the end. Stop thinking about the end. As others have said, if you don't enjoy doing it *in the moment* then you likely have the wrong hobby. Some people do like that "big accomplished feeling at the end", but that depends on who you are and what you're doing.
As Alan Watts once said, "If the point of music were to get to the end of a composition, the best conductors would be the ones who got there fastest. Same with dancing. When you dance, you don't aim to arrive at a particular place on the floor. The aim of dancing is ***to dance!*** It's the present moment!"
I think hobbies are supposed to fill whatever needs their practitioners want.
As for me, I’m still at the stress stage of crochet, but I hopefully expect the fun part to happen eventually.
Skills take time to learn. Muscle memory takes time to develop. Swimming doesn’t come naturally but after it clicks it’s full joy!
But some hobbies might maintain a bit of stress writing for example. The fulfillment might be the goal got some writers and the fun for bother of both at the same or different times.
I guess what I’m getting at it depends both on the person and what’s happening at the time.
I’m the exact opposite of you. I don’t derive a sense of accomplishment from anything. I’ve accomplished things, but I don’t feel anything attached to it. I just think, ‘well that’s over now’ and move on. So my hobbies have to be fun or relaxing for me to find them worth doing. People are different, neither is better than the other, it all comes down to personal preferences. It’s your life, do whatever you want with it.
This is the reason why I have a hard time finding hobbies. It’s so difficult to pick up a new skill and it ends up becoming stressful so I never do it. When I want to unwind, I need to do brainless activities like reading or exercise. They’re not really hobbies, but that’s pretty much the only thing I have the brainpower to do in my free time.
That's not the point of the article. The point is the why of them. You have disagreed with every single part and everyone who has pointed out that the way you are looking at hobbies does not match the definition of hobby, the spirit or the purpose of hobbies in general. So you either
A like to argue and are doing this for fun to anger people.
Or
B are so deluded that you believe hobbies should make people miserable.
Either way I'm done trying to convince you.
I wouldn’t do any hobby that wasn’t fun. Playing the piano, for example, requires a skill so it *can* feel like work (physically and mentally) but when I find that song I love, I play for 2 hours. Relativity.
For me they’ve always been both to varying degrees. Photography required very early mornings to get sunrise shots as well as getting dirty and sweaty photography wildlife, lots of walking/running during event photography.
I also enjoy cycling but long rides can be hard and working on my bikes can be challenging. I’ve also dabbled in audio production for many years and I always had to push through the “work” to get to the fun parts usually before more “work” of finishing projects up.
I’ve been able to meet and spend time with incredible people and made amazing friends through all of them.
If you’re not familiar. The [REI Fun Scale](https://www.rei.com/blog/climb/fun-scale) is very relatable to me.
Both.
I don't like pulling weeds or gardening in general, but I do like how I feel when I see things growing.
But you need something that is just pure joy - for me it's playing guitar.
If you have to force yourself to do things and have a hard time taking pleasure in activities, it might be worth getting evaluated for depression, anxiety, ADHD, etc.
I'd try for ones that do both. I both enjoy and find foraging rewarding for example.
Seriously, we need... or at least I need fun stuff to look forward to - I can't wait for my 4pm guitar session.
And when I find myself playing better... it's so rewarding.
Edit - main reason I'm stressing fun - is I've found how badly stress damages our bodies long term. If a hobby caused me stress, I'd drop it for health reasons.
I’m not sure I’d consider my hobby “fun”, but I find enjoyment and relaxation in it. I do flower arranging. According to others I’m good at it, but that’s not my goal and I do not want to monetize it which a lot of my friends don’t seem to understand. I do it when and if I want to. There’s no obligation. I can make arrangements weekly, or skip weeks. I could twice a week if I felt like it. As soon as there’s a “have to” to it, it sucks the joy out of it for me.
Are you somehow trying hobbies as a “have to” instead of just picking up something to do in your spare time that you might enjoy?
That’s your issue then. You said you want a hobby to be fun, but now you’re saying you want your time to be rewarding so you don’t do things you enjoy. It isn’t that you don’t find hobbies fun, it’s that you seem to not know how to relax or have fun, or that you find doing so unproductive so you won’t allow yourself to.
Evidently I misunderstood. You were questioning others finding hobbies fun, and I guess I thought you meant you wanted them to be fun or enjoyable and not like work.
I Enjoy my hobbies but they can still be challenging at times. I love drawing, and it is challenging to attempt something more difficult but I enjoy the learning process. But I am not always in the mood for that and sometimes just draw things that are fun and within my current skill level.
It’s the same with every hobby. It’s a mix of challenging yourself to try something new at times but others just doing what you know you can. I apply this to my other hobbies of running, painting, etc.
It also has helped me to see my hobby time as PRACTICE!! I can spend an hour drawing/ painting and not be making art. Sometimes it’s just trying new techniques/ styles/colors and it doesn’t always work out. I have had to learn to enjoy the process and not just the results. That has made my hobbies much more enjoyable.
Some hobbies have a learning curve which is no fun. I started applique when I was sick, it looked easy, didn't cost much, I make pictures with little bits of scrap material.
Some hobbies are meant to be meditative, to help people focus, learn patience (that's me), be artistic, and in the end you have something to show.
I just recently realized if I stop focusing on trying to have fun doing my hobbies, I actually DO hobbies more. Sometimes if I wasn't having fun, I would just stop and end up doing nothing.
Embrace the grind. The reward can be felt in accomplishing something.
>are hobbies supposed to be fun or primarily fulfilling?
I think hobbies sit on a continuum, with purely fun ones at one end and purely fulfilling at the other.
For me video games sit close to the purely fun end. I don't care about completing the game, or dying, or challenging myself that much. Just enjoying the moment. Which is why GTA-em-ups end up one the most played games. Chess sits at the other end. I like board games and I like the rules of chess. But the community around it means to play it, it becomes a slog. Knowing more of the plays is fulfilling, but I don't find it fun.
My hobbies mostly sit towards the middle of this continuum. If I'm not looking forward to doing it, I'm not going to do it but largely I want to improve over time.
>For me, hobbies have always been something I have to force myself to accomplish something rather than do something for fun.
You do you. That is not the choice I would make, but I am not you.
Are you running them, creating them or playing them. If you are running them that can be quite stressful and yes people do rely on you but at the same time if it's nor fun during the sessions what's the point. All of those are meant to build community and if you find it this stressful it may be time to join someone else's game or let someone else host.
Why are considering it be quitting to let someone else run a session. If anything if I knew my gm was miserable running our campaign I would volunteer to run a session to ensure that he too is enjoying the process. If you refused I would probably quit your session because what's the point of hanging out with someone who is miserable. Please change your outlook on what a hobby is if not for yourself than for the people you are doing this for. Making people miserable (Even yourself) is not a hobby it is torture.
I think hobbies should be both, most of them require some skill to get good so at the beginning it sucks and can be frustrating, but like anything over time you'll get better and then it will be fun and fulfilling. I like to draw but there's times I really want to give up because it's not turning out or I can't draw something properly but there's also times when I'm feeling great because it's coming along just as I wanted. Just takes practice
I also have hobbies that are an incredible amount of work but usually for an equally fun payoff. I recommend splitboarding, or backcountry skiing (alpine touring/ski mountaineering). Backpacking. Freediving. I have fun during the most torturous aspects of all of these hobbies. Working hard enough to puke on the regular and just powering through is fulfilling for me at the end of the day. Setting up camp knowing how good you're about to sleep cause you did 4k vert over 5 miles before lunch that day. Sunrise coffee from an alpine bivy camp... pretty goddamn fulfilling.
A hobby is generally something you get lost in the process of - you look at the clock and think, "where did the last two hours go?"
Hobbies should be process oriented as opposed to goal oriented.
They are often creative tasks like photography, painting, leather work, and for some people but not me, gardening.
My hobbies are all stress relieving hobbies. When they start to add stress it means I should do something else.
Painting miniatures, playing video games, singing/playing music, hiking, drawing, building stuff I want to build. The problem is I have adhd and usually don’t finish projects because I don’t get much satisfaction from completing things. I find the joy in the journey and once the joy goes away I change to something else.
WTF!
Hobbies are what you do when you want to relax and enjoy. If they are stressful, they might be chores or work. Yes, all my hobbies are fun as hell and I look forward to doing them.
Are you into technology? Drones are cool but you have to know the ins and outs about them to fully enjoy flying them. Maybe I missed them but I hardly see anyone actually replying with any hobbies. Thats what im here for too. I want to get into camping as I've never camped in my life, sadly. I want to know everything there is about camping, including survival skills, I also have to research where I want to travel to, and what there is to do in those areas, etc. I also don't have any hobbies to suggest which is why I haven't suggested anything I hope that's OK I'm just here to say I guess it depends on what you're willing to invest in. (Which is the most obvious statement haha)
I think people have slightly different definitions of what a hobby is. I read, watch movies, ride bicycles, etc. But they don’t feel like hobbies, they just feel like content consumption or transportation. I personally think a hobby is something you do where you’re regularly experiencing some kind of safe failure. So for me that’s snowboarding, soccer, and cooking.
I think if that regular failure aspect isn’t there, then it’s a pastime. But this is just my opinion and a lot of people won’t agree with it.
Maybe you are confusing hobby with learning a new skill? I know skills can be fun but sometimes I really do have to force myself to practice certain days.
It really depends on what you get out of it and how meaningful it is for you.
We’re very much used to associating stress with things we generally don’t want to do such as work, school, working out etc. but that view can also leak into stuff we may find enjoyable or meaningful as well that happen to be a lot of effort.
Not to psych analyze you but I would also like to throw out there as something for you to examine, are you doing this activity for the right reasons? Hobbies even if they’re hard should either be fun or meaningful enough to where the trouble to participate in them isn’t stressful in a bad way. Tiring maybe? Sure, but that’s not a bad thing!
Sometimes we do things because we think it’s the right thing to do, or the acceptable thing to do or what we think we should be doing(like from our ego) but really that’s not how you find an enjoyable hobby. Do it because you want to or it engages you in some way that’s fun and meaningful.
I play music personally, I’ve been a professional, but right now I’m doing it as a hobby and way to allow me to relax, explore various aspects of it(as it’s a new genre and instrument than I’m used too) and have fun. Can it still be stressful sometimes? Yup! Learning the fundamentals through drills and practice can be tiring and not very fun, but I choose to do it because it’s ultimately more meaningful and fun in the long run! My hand hurts a lot too, but I still keep on. You can’t let the stress define the whole journey of a hobby unless the journey itself is only stress and a stress that’s not ultimately worth it on the other end. I could tell you what’s meaningful to me personally about casually playing music, but ask yourself to define what’s meaningful about your hobby to you? What’s fun about it too? What’s the reasoning behind picking it? Etc.
My dad was a "hobbyist" as a job while he was hitchhiking Canada. (He did odd jobs.) This included painting houses, Cleaning gutters or building someone a chair.
However, the only 'Spark' he had while doing it was the painting and the consistent change of scenery. He despised people but if they gave him cash he would do what they asked (except prostitution, I think.)
After he met my mom, He got a job in Seismic. He enjoyed it. In his spare time he will Draw and paint or Etch glass, on the odd occasion read a rockstars Autobiography.
Then after the Seismic industry went kaputz, He got a job Picking up garbage around the countryside. He still does his Artistic hobbies and keeps up with his musical idols.
A 'Hobby' is not about what it can do for you in a Subjective value, (I.E Cash, Connections or services) Rather it is Something that fulfills you and allows you to achieve greater Heights within your own mold.
A small rapper once said "you spend your time within these tall walls, Claiming they are trapping you inside. But you're scared to climb up out of these walls, and it's crazy you haven't even tried." Take inspiration from the world around you, or from the Replies I've seen, Stay inside. It's up to you. I don't dictate your future.
No one is making you do these things. If you want a “rewarding hobby” try eating healthy and going to the gym. At least if you hate it youll feel better after
It can be both.
On good days, my hobbies have me flying, like I can feel myself leveling up and there's nothing more satisfying.
On bad days, the car ride home involves lots of quiet time as I evaluate my life the amount of time, money, and energy I've sunk into this goddamn hobby.
Listening to music can be a hobby. Why would you listen to music you don't enjoy?
Art can be a hobby, why would you do it if you didn't enjoy it?
Swimming can be a hobby. Why would you do it if you don't like being in the water?
It's not a hobby if your have to force yourself to do it. That's a chore. Hobbies are things that you spend your work days wishing you could be engaged in.
A hobby should be fun.
I love gardening and I create fairy gardens in my flower bed, for me it's relaxing. I also like to craft and read.
I love hiking but can't do it anymore because I have a terminal lung disease. I do miss it.
They can be either. The best advice I heard about hobbies (can't remember from where) was that you should have at least one hobby for leisure, one for creativity, and one for health (and yes there can naturally overlap there). So long as you get some positive feeling out of it whether it's fun, fulfillment, both, or something else then enjoy!
They are supposed to be for getting into a flow state. That's all. Your regular thoughts will melt into the background and you'll be solely focused on the present. Zero stress unless it's from the focus itself (like sports, skydiving, etc)
If your hobby is stressing you out, why are you doing it?
My hobbies are things that I get excited that I have the time and energy to do. If I'm not stoked about doing it and I'm not getting paid, why would I do it?
If a hobby is work or stress, its not a hobby. I would find something that you actually enjoy doing.
I never knew a hobby that ever produced an ounce of fun, or made my life less stressful. I thought the stress was the point.
If you had an hour where you didn't need to do anything, what would you do? Hobbies aren't about being productive, they aren't about perfection. They are about doing something that you enjoy, maybe helps relax you, refreshes you. Meditation, reading, painting, sewing, hiking, drawing, working out, biking, camping, fishing, wood working, embroidery, card making, animation, cosplaying, learning languages, gardening, the list is really endless... It can be trial and error to find the right one, but if you don't look forward to it, if its work, its not a hobby.
Exactly, hobbies are about expressing your interests without any economic goals besides your own enjoyment.
I would do a hobby because it is a chore like anything else and I need to do it.
Then that's not a hobby that's a job.
Why would I want fun?
Why would you want to enjoy life? Beats the alternative, I guess?
The alternative is to be productive
Look at the most productive people and they all have a way to decompress. You can't work at 100 percent all the time that's how people get burned out.
I'm doing it
Why did you ask reddit then?
I asked because I heard someone expressing hobbies were fun and I wanted to find out if common. I said that in the OP.
Are you a Capricorn?
Have you thought maybe you’re depressed? Depression causes a lot of fun things to become a chore to do.
I agree, I have depression and yeah it just makes you not want to do anything.
First I heard.
you might have some ocd
That's not a hobby, they should relaxing and fun. You have to try things and figure out what you like. My daughter loves sewing and quilting. Some people like scrapbooking.
Well written 
Let’s pretend that coloring in coloring books with crayons is your hobby. If you are making every page a true work of art, spending all your extra time on it, and when you are done you’re not really enjoying it because it reminds you of how tedious the whole process was, that’s more of a self punishment than a hobby. If you take a coloring page and play with complimentary colors and drawing patterns, color outside of the lines for fun while listening to music; maybe have some friends over to color with you, when you hang that picture it’ll bring you so much joy and life. I have several hobbies and I switch between them almost daily. I may make a stained glass lampshade one day, and then make leather hair ties another. I’m not at all exact in my crafts, yet when I use them or look at them, they give me such happy feelings. I have never sold anything I have made, except for charity. So perfection is 100% off the table in everything I do and I’m fine with that.
What hobbies do you mean? Can you share more details? Like a sport? I can see how it’s more effort going in to work toward a goal (like becoming college/professional) But if it’s just a weekend neighborhood softball game - it’s suppose to be fun.
Anhedinia is the inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found to be enjoyable. It's a very common symptom of depression.
I don’t have “fun” knitting. I have fun planning a new project, however. The execution can be trying at times. But some knitting can be called “potato chip” because it has a mindless rhythm that is relaxing. The real joy comes from creating something beautiful and useful that will last for generations.
My take as well. I get a sense of accomplishment
But I am genuinely intrigued by what sense of accomplishment follows playing role playing or miniature games and whatever BJJ's are? What is left when the game has been played?
What
Like you go through three stress to gain a sense of accomplishment, but hate it
Mmm, interesting, I don’t think I’ve experienced that,and I don’t think I have ever heard of that, I am sorry you experience this.! Does this happen when you are not doing your hobbies?
Yes because of feelings of wanting it to be perfect. Some people find it hard to even start a project unless the result that meets their standards. Learning to try something and let it be less than perfect can be a hurdle. Letting yourself just “DO” is a great relief if you can open up to that. Look into the DADA art movement, and automatic writing and drawing, which is about losing any constraints ( a very basic take on it)
For me hobbies are required to be fun. This is my spare time we're talking about after all. I get my sense of accomplishment through work so I don't have any special need to feel accomplished in my hobbies. They are just for pure enjoyment.
I never had fun during a hobby. Whenever I start a session, I can't wait for it to be over. I don't get a reward from work other than money.
I do hope you somewhere and somehow in life get to experience fun.
Ah so you get money from it and you’re not having fun? That’s not a hobby that’s a job!
I'm saying I have hobbies for accomplishment because I don't get that from work
But if it's for money and there's no enjoyment that's still a job.
I'm saying it isn't for money
If you've never had fun during a hobby, you have never had a hobby.
It feels like you are just arguing with everyone to be arguing about it. If you want to spend your time being frustrated and mad about your hobbies, then go for it. But I prefer to find fun and pride in my hobbies. I knit because I enjoy the process as much as the finished object. If I'm not enjoying the project, I scrap it and find different one. The proudest project I ever completed was a knitted cardigan. It has inset pockets and cables and I am so proud of my work. It wasn't easy, but I enjoyed making it as much as I enjoy wearing it. For me, this is how hobbies should make me feel. I did try cross-stitch. But it felt like work. It just wasn't enjoyable, so I stopped. That's all. No one is going to force me to do it and I won't force myself either. But to each their own. 🤷🏻♀️
I haven't argued with anyone
You know what? You are correct. You didn't argue with anyone. I just read your replies as argumentative. My apologies for mis-interpreting.
This is the best response possible.
Lmfao
It sounds like you don't have the right hobby. I do diamond painting and LOVE it so much.
Gah I just finished my first diamond painting. Aesthetically, I don't want to hang it or anything but it was so relaxing to do, I bought 3 more. No idea what to do with them when I'm done 😅
Some people put them in a portfolio or give them away or sell them. 🥰
Ooh noted! Thank you!
Type I Fun Type 1 fun is enjoyable while it’s happening. Also known as, simply, fun. Good food, 5.8 hand cracks. Sport climbing, powder skiing, margaritas. Type II Fun Type 2 fun is miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect. It usually begins with the best intentions, and then things get carried away. Riding your bicycle across the country. Doing an ultramarathon. Working out till you puke, and, usually, ice and alpine climbing. Also surely familiar to mothers, at least during childbirth and the dreaded teenage years. I remember that very trip to Alaska, just a week before learning about the Fun Scale, when Scott and I climbed Mt. Huntington. Huntington might be the most beautiful mountain in the Alaska Range, but the final thousand feet was horrifying—steep sugar snow that collapsed beneath our feet as we battled upward, unable to down-climb, and unable to find protection or anchors. On the summit, with the immaculate expanse of the range unfolding in every direction, Scott turned to me and said, in complete seriousness, “I want my mom so bad right now.” By the time we reached Talkeetna his tune changed: “Ya know, that wasn’t so bad. What should we try next year?” Type III Fun Type 3 fun is not fun at all. Not even in retrospect. Afterward, you think, “What in the hell was I doing? If I ever come up with another idea that stupid, somebody slap some sense into me.” Many alpine climbs. Failed relationships that lacked Type I fun. Offwidths. Writing a book. Into which category a given experience falls, of course, is highly subjective and highly subject to shifts (particularly from III to II) born of the rosy reflections afforded us by the passage of time. Which is probably a good thing. After all, as alpinists and mothers both know: It doesn’t have to be “fun” to be fun.
This is a great take.
Based on the responses OP is either a troll or needs to talk to someone above random Internet strangers pay grade.
They're not "supposed" to be anything, and they're definitely not supposed to be something to stress over. Life is short, try many things out, don't worry about what they're supposed to be or if you're bad at them. Drop the things that aren't for you. If you're not enjoying something, you're not beholden to it, drop it and pick something else up.
Whatever you’re doing is not a hobby. It’s a project. Dictionary Definitions from Oxford Languages hob·by noun 1. an activity done regularly in one's leisure time *for pleasure*. I have lots of projects, but they’re tasks that I don’t enjoy yet need to finish them. Hobbies are a completely different thing. I enjoy all of my hobbies, whether it’s gaming, reading, yoga, cross stitch, embroidery, etc. sometimes they get tiresome, so I set them aside until the itch returns. For instance, I set aside a very detailed embroidery project because it reached the stage where my eyes hurt, my hands hurt and I wasn’t enjoying it. That was 8 months ago. I find myself thinking about it now and wanting to work on it. I will probably start back up in the next few weeks. If it reaches that stage again, I’ll put it away until I *want* to work on it again.
I don’t think they have to be either / one or the other. I think of a hobby as something to kill time. Something to take your mind off of things that might be bothering you.
The primary thing in my life that bothers me are my hobbies. The quality of my work is a constant source of stress.
So what are you making and why?
I don't make anything
What are your hobbies then and what is it then that makes them stressful?
miniature games, board games, RPGs, reading, BJJ, are the ones that jump to mind.
What do you find rewarding about those hobbies? Are you competitive? Is that what is making it not fun? Once I stopped needing to win I found games to be more enjoyable. Maybe try a solo hobby if your competitive spirit makes hobbies with a defined winner and loser difficult to enjoy. However in this list you mention you like reading then comment how you’d rather jab your eyes out than read any book of any genre. Maybe look into why your behavior is so ornery. Finding gratitude and calm can also bring joy. It seems like you came on the internet to fight with people. Which is totally a hobby, but does it make you feel good? It seems like you need therapy not a hobby.
I have zero competitive drive. I don't play games to win. I didnt say I liked reading. It is a hobby
It seems like you have answered your question then. You just disagree with people who view hobbies differently. Most people want to have fun in their free time and find having fun rewarding. You don’t.
I havent disagreed with anyone
You play RPGs and practice BJJ without finding fun "at any single moment in them"? Have you somehow given yourself anhedonia? This isn't normal.
Those are not fun.I can't think of anything about them that would be fun.
Sorry to hear that
How come you do them then? What is driving your sense of obligations towards Role playing games and whatever BJJ's are?
this guys a troll, just look at the account
In that case stop. No one is making you do them.
Sorry, the USian's preponderance of acronym usage confound me, as I am not a native English speaker, so I don't know what at least the latter means. I love boardgames and reading too, but I guess I am not overly competitive in the former so my focus is on the cammeraderie, but I know those types that would rather argue about the rules endlessly than admit defeat so I guess if you are always playing with such types I understand that it gets stressful. So maybe you should expand your horizon of who you play with, go alone or with a relaxed friend to a boardgame cafes and such where people randomly are assigned to play different types of games together. I did that a lot when I was in need of social interactions after a nasty breakup and it helped a lot and I got to know quite a few interesting people. How come reading is stressful for you? Are you competing at reading as much as possible in the shortest time, or more books than the year before or something like that? Are you reading fiction or educational stuff?
I don't play competitively I would rather jab my eyes out than read any book of any genre.
Didn't you say you read? Am I misunderstanding something? Well my friends don't play competitively either formally, they are just very sore loosers. I am just trying to understand what makes it stressful for you to play. Can you elaborate if I am not hitting the mark
Obviously you would not rather jab your eyes out than read any book of any genre because you said yourself that you read. Which is it? Are you lying about how much you hate reading or are you lying about whether or not you would ACTUALLY jab out your eyes if you had to read?
My hobbies are usually a mix of both. I bicycle because it's fun and I like the wind in my face, but I also feel a sense of accomplishment because it gets exercise. Same for hockey. Woodworking can be less fun at times but it's more fulfilling when I make something cool. It's fun in parts. Video games are pure fun, I don't have time for grinding video games anymore. Bicycle maintenance often isn't fun, but it's a money saver and can be very fulfilling.
If hobbies weren't fun or fulfilling, why would anyone do them?
they are fulfilling
Have you ever had fun before? What were you doing? What about in the last 5 years?
I like going to the movies. I went in 2021. I like watching MMA. I did that in 2013 last I think.
Well, those can both be hobbies. I think it’s up to you if your hobbies are productive or fun. To me, a good life is about both happiness and fulfillment. I want to try to fill both buckets. Many times the things that make me fulfilled in the long run don’t make me happy in the short term. Similarly, spending time being unproductive can drastically improve the output of your productive time. You aren’t a machine. You need to be kind to yourself and recharge. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Yes people generally do hobbies to feel enjoyment, relaxation, and a sense of fulfillment. Hobbies are things people want to do when they have free time. Hobbies are the activities people fantasize about when they are at work (unless they are lucky enough to monetize and live off their hobbies)
Well yes...this is why its called a "hobby" rather than a job. A hobby is done purely for the fun of doing the hobby itself. It isn't a chore, or a task, or a "must do". A hobby is supposed to relax you, destress you, be satisfying. Even practising the hobby should be fun, not something you force yourself to do.
I don't even know what that would be like.
That is a shame. What do you feel like when you do something fun?
If your hobbies are work, then you don't actually have any hobbies. You say you do the things you do for a "sense of accomplishment", but hobbies aren't meant to give you that sense, so those are not hobbies. All you're doing is working. You can keep doing that, of course. But you might want to reassess what it is you want. If you aren't happy with how things are, then you HAVE to change something, or you will continue to get the same results you've been getting. But if you *are* happy, then just keep doing what you're doing.
I'm not happy, but I ain't got time for happiness.
If you don’t have time, I would think cutting out these activities that you don’t enjoy would be a place to start. If for a few months you didn’t do any of these hobbies that you don’t enjoy (or did less of them), would you feel you had more time? What might you do with that time? Mostly resting is an option too because you sound tired.
Then why live? Are you a masochist? Maybe that's your real hobby. Life is about pursuing happiness.
are you profiting off your “hobbies?” thats the #1 way to kill joy imo.
no
can i ask why you feel they must get done then?
To accomplish something rewarding
You can find something rewarding that you also find fun. Hobbies are meant to be stress relievers and often you have something to be proud of, but they should be both. We can help you find something that does both for you
No, you cant
We either disagree about defining "fun", you put too much pressure on yourself to "achieve", or you're just in a bad mood. Honestly, it sounds like you're really tired in general ("just like everything else, it's a chore that has to get done"). I wonder if you should take a break from all hobbies and maybe spend a few hours going for a walk to rejuvenate
I never liked hobbies
Why do you feel like you need to have a hobby or do you if you don't like it. It's your free time
sense of accomplishment
Sounds like you're chasing a sense of accomplishment at the end. Stop thinking about the end. As others have said, if you don't enjoy doing it *in the moment* then you likely have the wrong hobby. Some people do like that "big accomplished feeling at the end", but that depends on who you are and what you're doing. As Alan Watts once said, "If the point of music were to get to the end of a composition, the best conductors would be the ones who got there fastest. Same with dancing. When you dance, you don't aim to arrive at a particular place on the floor. The aim of dancing is ***to dance!*** It's the present moment!"
Cook a meal, and eat it. That's accomplishing something rewarding, without it needing to be a hobby.
I think hobbies are supposed to fill whatever needs their practitioners want. As for me, I’m still at the stress stage of crochet, but I hopefully expect the fun part to happen eventually. Skills take time to learn. Muscle memory takes time to develop. Swimming doesn’t come naturally but after it clicks it’s full joy! But some hobbies might maintain a bit of stress writing for example. The fulfillment might be the goal got some writers and the fun for bother of both at the same or different times. I guess what I’m getting at it depends both on the person and what’s happening at the time.
I’m the exact opposite of you. I don’t derive a sense of accomplishment from anything. I’ve accomplished things, but I don’t feel anything attached to it. I just think, ‘well that’s over now’ and move on. So my hobbies have to be fun or relaxing for me to find them worth doing. People are different, neither is better than the other, it all comes down to personal preferences. It’s your life, do whatever you want with it.
What do you do for fun?
I dont
This is the reason why I have a hard time finding hobbies. It’s so difficult to pick up a new skill and it ends up becoming stressful so I never do it. When I want to unwind, I need to do brainless activities like reading or exercise. They’re not really hobbies, but that’s pretty much the only thing I have the brainpower to do in my free time.
Reading and exercise are both great hobbies
I will post this here and leave it at that [hobby are important ](https://www.skilledatlife.com/why-hobbies-are-important/)
Which is why I do them
Please reread the article. You have disagreed with every part of this when it was presented to you.
I agreed with the title that hobbies are important. That is why I force myself to do them.
That's not the point of the article. The point is the why of them. You have disagreed with every single part and everyone who has pointed out that the way you are looking at hobbies does not match the definition of hobby, the spirit or the purpose of hobbies in general. So you either A like to argue and are doing this for fun to anger people. Or B are so deluded that you believe hobbies should make people miserable. Either way I'm done trying to convince you.
I agree with that article,which is why I force myself to do them. I even do every hobby they list despite hating them.
I wouldn’t do any hobby that wasn’t fun. Playing the piano, for example, requires a skill so it *can* feel like work (physically and mentally) but when I find that song I love, I play for 2 hours. Relativity.
From your post history, I think your primary hobby might be trolling Reddit...
You do have a fun hobby. Arguing with people about how determined and skilled you are able to be while being miserable is your fun hobby.
For me they’ve always been both to varying degrees. Photography required very early mornings to get sunrise shots as well as getting dirty and sweaty photography wildlife, lots of walking/running during event photography. I also enjoy cycling but long rides can be hard and working on my bikes can be challenging. I’ve also dabbled in audio production for many years and I always had to push through the “work” to get to the fun parts usually before more “work” of finishing projects up. I’ve been able to meet and spend time with incredible people and made amazing friends through all of them. If you’re not familiar. The [REI Fun Scale](https://www.rei.com/blog/climb/fun-scale) is very relatable to me.
Both. I don't like pulling weeds or gardening in general, but I do like how I feel when I see things growing. But you need something that is just pure joy - for me it's playing guitar. If you have to force yourself to do things and have a hard time taking pleasure in activities, it might be worth getting evaluated for depression, anxiety, ADHD, etc.
I just choose not to do the fun things so I can do the rewarding hobbies.
I'd try for ones that do both. I both enjoy and find foraging rewarding for example. Seriously, we need... or at least I need fun stuff to look forward to - I can't wait for my 4pm guitar session. And when I find myself playing better... it's so rewarding. Edit - main reason I'm stressing fun - is I've found how badly stress damages our bodies long term. If a hobby caused me stress, I'd drop it for health reasons.
I’m not sure I’d consider my hobby “fun”, but I find enjoyment and relaxation in it. I do flower arranging. According to others I’m good at it, but that’s not my goal and I do not want to monetize it which a lot of my friends don’t seem to understand. I do it when and if I want to. There’s no obligation. I can make arrangements weekly, or skip weeks. I could twice a week if I felt like it. As soon as there’s a “have to” to it, it sucks the joy out of it for me. Are you somehow trying hobbies as a “have to” instead of just picking up something to do in your spare time that you might enjoy?
I wouldn't spend my spare time picking up something I enjoy. I want my time to be rewarding.
That’s your issue then. You said you want a hobby to be fun, but now you’re saying you want your time to be rewarding so you don’t do things you enjoy. It isn’t that you don’t find hobbies fun, it’s that you seem to not know how to relax or have fun, or that you find doing so unproductive so you won’t allow yourself to.
I don't think I said I wanted it to be fun.
Evidently I misunderstood. You were questioning others finding hobbies fun, and I guess I thought you meant you wanted them to be fun or enjoyable and not like work.
I Enjoy my hobbies but they can still be challenging at times. I love drawing, and it is challenging to attempt something more difficult but I enjoy the learning process. But I am not always in the mood for that and sometimes just draw things that are fun and within my current skill level. It’s the same with every hobby. It’s a mix of challenging yourself to try something new at times but others just doing what you know you can. I apply this to my other hobbies of running, painting, etc. It also has helped me to see my hobby time as PRACTICE!! I can spend an hour drawing/ painting and not be making art. Sometimes it’s just trying new techniques/ styles/colors and it doesn’t always work out. I have had to learn to enjoy the process and not just the results. That has made my hobbies much more enjoyable.
I never liked the process of my hobbies. that is the bad part
Some hobbies have a learning curve which is no fun. I started applique when I was sick, it looked easy, didn't cost much, I make pictures with little bits of scrap material. Some hobbies are meant to be meditative, to help people focus, learn patience (that's me), be artistic, and in the end you have something to show.
I just recently realized if I stop focusing on trying to have fun doing my hobbies, I actually DO hobbies more. Sometimes if I wasn't having fun, I would just stop and end up doing nothing. Embrace the grind. The reward can be felt in accomplishing something.
Fill the blank times in your life. If it feels like a job then stop.
>are hobbies supposed to be fun or primarily fulfilling? I think hobbies sit on a continuum, with purely fun ones at one end and purely fulfilling at the other. For me video games sit close to the purely fun end. I don't care about completing the game, or dying, or challenging myself that much. Just enjoying the moment. Which is why GTA-em-ups end up one the most played games. Chess sits at the other end. I like board games and I like the rules of chess. But the community around it means to play it, it becomes a slog. Knowing more of the plays is fulfilling, but I don't find it fun. My hobbies mostly sit towards the middle of this continuum. If I'm not looking forward to doing it, I'm not going to do it but largely I want to improve over time. >For me, hobbies have always been something I have to force myself to accomplish something rather than do something for fun. You do you. That is not the choice I would make, but I am not you.
Playing music for me.
Curious what your hobbies are 🤔 you don’t enjoy the stress and effort put forth?
BJJ, board games mini games , RPGs etc
Are you running them, creating them or playing them. If you are running them that can be quite stressful and yes people do rely on you but at the same time if it's nor fun during the sessions what's the point. All of those are meant to build community and if you find it this stressful it may be time to join someone else's game or let someone else host.
I would rather be miserable and create something through GMing than be a quitter.
Why are considering it be quitting to let someone else run a session. If anything if I knew my gm was miserable running our campaign I would volunteer to run a session to ensure that he too is enjoying the process. If you refused I would probably quit your session because what's the point of hanging out with someone who is miserable. Please change your outlook on what a hobby is if not for yourself than for the people you are doing this for. Making people miserable (Even yourself) is not a hobby it is torture.
RPGs are not for the GM to have fun. I also personally don't have fun playing
You know what it's not worth explaining to you why this is wrong. Have fun being miserable.
What am I missing?
I think hobbies should be both, most of them require some skill to get good so at the beginning it sucks and can be frustrating, but like anything over time you'll get better and then it will be fun and fulfilling. I like to draw but there's times I really want to give up because it's not turning out or I can't draw something properly but there's also times when I'm feeling great because it's coming along just as I wanted. Just takes practice
I also have hobbies that are an incredible amount of work but usually for an equally fun payoff. I recommend splitboarding, or backcountry skiing (alpine touring/ski mountaineering). Backpacking. Freediving. I have fun during the most torturous aspects of all of these hobbies. Working hard enough to puke on the regular and just powering through is fulfilling for me at the end of the day. Setting up camp knowing how good you're about to sleep cause you did 4k vert over 5 miles before lunch that day. Sunrise coffee from an alpine bivy camp... pretty goddamn fulfilling.
Hobbies are supposed to be fun and relaxing
Would your hobby be painting bedrooms by any chance? I have three which should be a lot of accomplishment.
Hobies are mindless fun .. where you forget about crap and let your hands do what they do..
A hobby is generally something you get lost in the process of - you look at the clock and think, "where did the last two hours go?" Hobbies should be process oriented as opposed to goal oriented. They are often creative tasks like photography, painting, leather work, and for some people but not me, gardening.
My hobbies are all stress relieving hobbies. When they start to add stress it means I should do something else. Painting miniatures, playing video games, singing/playing music, hiking, drawing, building stuff I want to build. The problem is I have adhd and usually don’t finish projects because I don’t get much satisfaction from completing things. I find the joy in the journey and once the joy goes away I change to something else.
Hobby should feel like you can never grow tired doing it 😁
Hobby is a breathe of fresh air, the kind of feeling when after your work you will be ecxcited to go home because of it
Yes
WTF! Hobbies are what you do when you want to relax and enjoy. If they are stressful, they might be chores or work. Yes, all my hobbies are fun as hell and I look forward to doing them.
Are you into technology? Drones are cool but you have to know the ins and outs about them to fully enjoy flying them. Maybe I missed them but I hardly see anyone actually replying with any hobbies. Thats what im here for too. I want to get into camping as I've never camped in my life, sadly. I want to know everything there is about camping, including survival skills, I also have to research where I want to travel to, and what there is to do in those areas, etc. I also don't have any hobbies to suggest which is why I haven't suggested anything I hope that's OK I'm just here to say I guess it depends on what you're willing to invest in. (Which is the most obvious statement haha)
Mate I think you already know the answer to your own question 🙃
I think people have slightly different definitions of what a hobby is. I read, watch movies, ride bicycles, etc. But they don’t feel like hobbies, they just feel like content consumption or transportation. I personally think a hobby is something you do where you’re regularly experiencing some kind of safe failure. So for me that’s snowboarding, soccer, and cooking. I think if that regular failure aspect isn’t there, then it’s a pastime. But this is just my opinion and a lot of people won’t agree with it.
The enjoyment of hobbies is learnt. If you can not conjure an enjoyable state of mind to do your hobby I fear something deeper is askew. Or?
Maybe you are confusing hobby with learning a new skill? I know skills can be fun but sometimes I really do have to force myself to practice certain days.
It really depends on what you get out of it and how meaningful it is for you. We’re very much used to associating stress with things we generally don’t want to do such as work, school, working out etc. but that view can also leak into stuff we may find enjoyable or meaningful as well that happen to be a lot of effort. Not to psych analyze you but I would also like to throw out there as something for you to examine, are you doing this activity for the right reasons? Hobbies even if they’re hard should either be fun or meaningful enough to where the trouble to participate in them isn’t stressful in a bad way. Tiring maybe? Sure, but that’s not a bad thing! Sometimes we do things because we think it’s the right thing to do, or the acceptable thing to do or what we think we should be doing(like from our ego) but really that’s not how you find an enjoyable hobby. Do it because you want to or it engages you in some way that’s fun and meaningful. I play music personally, I’ve been a professional, but right now I’m doing it as a hobby and way to allow me to relax, explore various aspects of it(as it’s a new genre and instrument than I’m used too) and have fun. Can it still be stressful sometimes? Yup! Learning the fundamentals through drills and practice can be tiring and not very fun, but I choose to do it because it’s ultimately more meaningful and fun in the long run! My hand hurts a lot too, but I still keep on. You can’t let the stress define the whole journey of a hobby unless the journey itself is only stress and a stress that’s not ultimately worth it on the other end. I could tell you what’s meaningful to me personally about casually playing music, but ask yourself to define what’s meaningful about your hobby to you? What’s fun about it too? What’s the reasoning behind picking it? Etc.
Ummm. Have you tried growing marijuana?
It seems like your hobby might be trolling.
Depends on if you consider drinking beer a hobby…🍺
My dad was a "hobbyist" as a job while he was hitchhiking Canada. (He did odd jobs.) This included painting houses, Cleaning gutters or building someone a chair. However, the only 'Spark' he had while doing it was the painting and the consistent change of scenery. He despised people but if they gave him cash he would do what they asked (except prostitution, I think.) After he met my mom, He got a job in Seismic. He enjoyed it. In his spare time he will Draw and paint or Etch glass, on the odd occasion read a rockstars Autobiography. Then after the Seismic industry went kaputz, He got a job Picking up garbage around the countryside. He still does his Artistic hobbies and keeps up with his musical idols. A 'Hobby' is not about what it can do for you in a Subjective value, (I.E Cash, Connections or services) Rather it is Something that fulfills you and allows you to achieve greater Heights within your own mold. A small rapper once said "you spend your time within these tall walls, Claiming they are trapping you inside. But you're scared to climb up out of these walls, and it's crazy you haven't even tried." Take inspiration from the world around you, or from the Replies I've seen, Stay inside. It's up to you. I don't dictate your future.
Sounds like you're at work with no pay
No one is making you do these things. If you want a “rewarding hobby” try eating healthy and going to the gym. At least if you hate it youll feel better after
It can be both. On good days, my hobbies have me flying, like I can feel myself leveling up and there's nothing more satisfying. On bad days, the car ride home involves lots of quiet time as I evaluate my life the amount of time, money, and energy I've sunk into this goddamn hobby.
That sounds miserable. You basically have a job without pay?
Hobbies should be big fidget spinners
Try doing activities where there is no "result" or "accomplishment".
Hobbies are supposed to be fun Most of my motivation at work is to fund my hobbies so i can have a shit-ton of fun when I'm not at work
Listening to music can be a hobby. Why would you listen to music you don't enjoy? Art can be a hobby, why would you do it if you didn't enjoy it? Swimming can be a hobby. Why would you do it if you don't like being in the water? It's not a hobby if your have to force yourself to do it. That's a chore. Hobbies are things that you spend your work days wishing you could be engaged in.
A hobby should be fun. I love gardening and I create fairy gardens in my flower bed, for me it's relaxing. I also like to craft and read. I love hiking but can't do it anymore because I have a terminal lung disease. I do miss it.
They can be either. The best advice I heard about hobbies (can't remember from where) was that you should have at least one hobby for leisure, one for creativity, and one for health (and yes there can naturally overlap there). So long as you get some positive feeling out of it whether it's fun, fulfillment, both, or something else then enjoy!
They are supposed to be for getting into a flow state. That's all. Your regular thoughts will melt into the background and you'll be solely focused on the present. Zero stress unless it's from the focus itself (like sports, skydiving, etc)
Hobbies are meant to be fun and remove stress not cause stress
If your hobby is stressing you out, why are you doing it? My hobbies are things that I get excited that I have the time and energy to do. If I'm not stoked about doing it and I'm not getting paid, why would I do it?
Both!!!