Bluebottle's blog

Re: re: go fail at some hobbies

I drafted this post on 2024-09-02 - I'm currently aiming to post drafts I started writing and never finished. This one was written nearly a year ago...

A response to some recent hobby posting from bruce and ava.

Asking people what their hobbies are is one of my favourite questions, and I agree it's important to find out what you enjoy doing. Last time I asked people about this, we also discussed my theory that's it's impossible to have more than two hobbies - well, active hobbies. I would define an active vs passive hobby in terms of a passive hobby is a hobby is something it takes less effort to do (for you, people's mileage may vary). I count reading as passive, because I mainly do it on public transport or down time, whereas hobbies where I have to make an effort to schedule them or go somewhere are active.

I cycle to work - that gets exercise in while doing something I would have done anyway. Passive! Also I'm not sure I'd count cycling as a hobby - it's useful, but I don't do it for leisure (although coasting along on a bike on a hot day listening to some dance classics is one of life's pleasures). I read before bed and on the train - passive?

I like to do crosswords and socialise - these things tend to happen organically. Passive? I like cryptic crosswords especially, which can be hard to get into but I do them every lunchtime at work so I've gradually gotten good.

I enjoy drawing and painting - I count this as active because it takes effort to set up the tools and make myself draw something "real" - but I doodle all the time constantly while I'm in meetings or bored. Is doodling a hobby? I'm group photography in as a hobby, albeit one I'm bad at because I treat it as a passive hobby. I just snap things while I'm out with my rubbish point and shoot, when if I treated it as a more active hobby by researching cameras, learning things about photo composition and camera settings, I would probably get better results.

I climb - this takes effort to fit into my schedule. I watch a lot of films - often in the cinema - this also takes effort to fit into my schedule. Active!

One thing I find with having a hobby like climbing, which is frequently scary and difficult, is we tend to joke a lot about choosing to do this with our leisure time -especially climbing outdoors. One of the things that keeps me going - or at least I find ironic - when I'm stuck on a route outdoors too scared to make the next move is that I've chosen to be there.

It took me awhile to find climbing as my physical hobby of choice - I didn't play sports during my teens or university years, and tried a bunch as a child I didn't like - netball, karate, table tennis, tennis (I hated tennis lessons although I should have been grateful to have them 😭). I'm glad I did, and the social aspect of climbing really helped me stick with it - if you're rope climbing you need a belayer (and you're literally trusting then with your life!). I've met some really great people and good friends through climbing.

My friends climbing outdoors

More outdoors climbing

Some photos of my friends climbing outdoors

So is my theory right?

Active hobbies

Passive hobbies

#blog