In The Quiet Morning…

The Water Is Wide…

10.000 Miles…

All My Trials…

Queen of Hearts…

Silver Shadows…

My Choice…

About Hobby…

Etymology…

In the 18th-century novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, the characters’ hobby-horses, or particular obsessions, are discussed in detail. Here, Uncle Toby’s obsession with the military leads to him and Trim – who gets caught up in Toby’s enthusiasm – to begin acting out military actions. Illustration by George Cruikshank.

A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse (which was sometimes called a “Hobby”). From this came the expression “to ride one’s hobby-horse”, meaning “to follow a favorite pastime”, and in turn, hobby in the modern sense of recreation.

Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include collecting, creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge and experience. However, personal fulfillment is the aim.

What are hobbies for some people are professions for others: a chef may enjoy playing computer games as a hobby, while a professional game tester might enjoy cooking. Generally speaking, the person who does something for fun, not remuneration, is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct from a professional.

An important determinant of what is considered a hobby, as distinct from a profession (beyond the lack of remuneration), is probably how easy it is to make a living at the activity. Almost no one can make a living at cigarette card or stamp collecting, but many people find it enjoyable; so it is commonly regarded as a hobby.

Amateur astronomers often make meaningful contributions to the professionals. It is not entirely uncommon for a hobbyist to be the first to discover a celestial body or event.

In the UK, the pejorative noun anorak (similar to the Japanese “otaku”, meaning a geek or enthusiast) is often applied to people who obsessively pursue a particular hobby that is otherwise considered boring, such as train spotting or stamp collecting.

Development of hobbies into other ventures…

Whilst some hobbies strike many people as trivial or boring, hobbyists have found something compelling and entertaining about them. Much early scientific research was, in effect, a hobby of the wealthy; more recently, Linux began as a student’s hobby. A hobby may not be as trivial as it appears at a time when it has relatively few followers. Thus a British conservationist recalls that when seen wearing field glasses at a London station in the 1930s he was asked if he was going to the (horse) races. The anecdote indicates that at the time an interest in nature was not widely perceived as a credible hobby. Practitioners of that hobby went on to become the germs of the conservation movement that flourished in Britain from 1965 onwards and became a global political movement within a generation. Conversely, the hobby of aircraft spotting probably originated as part of a serious activity designed to detect arriving waves of enemy aircraft entering English airspace during World War II. In peacetime it usually has no such practical or social purpose.

Developing a Hobby Into Hobby Business…

It can be easy to turn a Hobby Business into a money making opportunity because the driver is passion and to some degree obsession. Turning your passion into a business say for example in arts and crafts, a home studio is all you need; a space to be creative. Gift shops, specialty stores, galleries and arts cafes are good avenues to exhibit and sell artworks, pottery, woodcraft, sewing craft.

Another example of Hobby Business is a hobby farm. Breeding alpacas is very popular among early retirees as is the old fashioned hobby of preserving and pickling. Homemade, specialty foods, such as, puddings, preserves and sauces are taking over in popularity over the more mainstream commercial varieties, because of the trending attitude to buy organic especially if they are homemade produce grown from the manufacturer’s own farm. Scrapbooking is a modern profitable hobby. Known as scrappers, these hobbyists have created a new industry from their passion. Scrapbooking websites are growing and thriving worldwide.

Train Wreck…

Full of Grace…

I’m Ready…

I Will Remember You…