A few days ago, I came across a post on LinkedIn by Comedian Rahul Subramaniam, wherein he had asked the question, Who Killed Hobby ?
The answers to the said post were hilarious but most of the answers were blaming the corporate lifestyle, but does corporate lifestyle really kill your Hobby or is it you yourself. Let us go through a few killers of your hobby.
Log Kya Kahenge
The biggest dream killer in our society is Log Kya Kahenge. The few judgmental people who have always been playing an important role in our society. These people are neither related to us directly nor are they one of the first people to help us when we are in trouble. Yet, these Chaar Log play a major role in running our lives. We are somehow concerned with what the society will think about our decisions, rather than focusing on ourselves.
For Example: Love Dancing, Always wanted to learn dancing since childhood, you have always been a dancer.
Today you are a working professional, a mother or a Senior VP in a bank with 2 children.
What will people say about a woman who in her 30’s wants to dance ?
She has gone hay wire. Unmarried girls these days have no shame. Girls when grown up should be shy and humble. Oh She is married, is her husband aware that she is doing the same.
What will the society say about a man in his 40’s who is a senior VP in a bank and wants to pursue dancing ?
Men are supposed to be Macho. When a man is 40 he should first see if he is able to buy a new car next year. What non sense is it learning dance at this age.
Peer Pressure
My friends have started hanging out at the club over the weekend. Youngsters socialise in the pubs and malls. Adults do not pursue hobbies. Hobbies are meant for school going kids. What am I ? 8 or 28 ?
A lot of times, we are under the false influence that grown ups are not supposed to have a hobby to grow. Hobbies are pursued only by children or those who have absolutely excess money. Well partly it is true, some hobbies can be expensive but if you select an inexpensive path, then you can definitely find a hobby to suit your budget. Instead of telling your children later on that you always wanted to learn a guitar but could not do so, just go ahead and show your children that you had a dream and you fulfilled it independently.
Hobby is a habit that you develop. It is something that you like to do to relax your mind and to take away your stress. So how does it really matter, if someone thinks that your hobby is childish ? Hobby is something that you do for yourself and not to please the society. Love Cricket. Grab the Cricket bat and head to the nearest cricket ground to play with like minded people.
Financial Responsibility
Hobbies can be expensive it is a fact. Pursuing something like Photography is expensive because the equipment’s are expensive, the courses are expensive but then you can also learn the same alternatively. Instead of buying the equipment, you can rent the equipment. Today mobile photography is also considered as an Art.
As we grow our financial responsibilities increase, it barely leaves us with any time and money for ourselves. But there are simpler and cheaper ways also to pursue new hobbies. You like gardening, you do not need a huge space and expensive plants, you can manage the same within the limited space of your house and without fancy equipment’s. Check Youtube videos for ideas. If you like to dance, follow dance instructors on YouTube and Instagram, learn from them. The only thing is that when you pursue your hobby through YouTube you have to be more consistent. That is something entirely upon you. Think of creative ways to use your limited available resources.
Self Care is Selfish
In India, when a person thinks about themself even for a minute then they are selfish. They need to understand that taking care of your body is a basic requirement and not selfishness. If spending an hour a day knitting a sweater makes you calm, then it is not being selfish. Taking care of your mental health will only make you more stronger. When you pursue a hobby, you are taking a step towards the betterment of yourself. Sometimes, it is important to be a little selfish and spend time doing that one thing that you have always loved doing it. At any given point of time, it is always better to spend some time on pursuing your hobby relaxing instead of taking treatment for stress at a later stage in life.
My hobby is reading and writing. I also love going out on small walks in the evenings. I ensure to take out atleast 10 minutes in a day to walk.
Do let me know what you feel about the above topic.
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
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In the year 2021, we wrote about 1000 Inspirational Women In India, in the year 2022, we would be featuring 5000 Start Up Stories.