What's your least creative hobby?

[skip.knox]

As others have noted, writing tends to blow up other things, if not everything. I think all genuinely creative endeavors do, be it painting or making music or whatever.

That's different from a hobby, which one is content to fit in around other activities in life. Even writing. I've mentioned before that I'm unable to find a satisfactory noun for what writing (or other "genuinely creative endeavors") is. Avocation comes close but still feels weak and incomplete.

But hobbies? I'm not sure I ever had one. I had recreations (e.g., running or playing D&D). I never built models.

I suppose creating electronic music could count, but honestly once I got into it, I'd spend endless hours listening to loops, layering up tracks. I was required by the family to get headphones because the repetition drove then nutty. Downright hostile, in memory. Once I got serious about writing, that faded. Getting tinnitus and arthritis didn't help.

As things stand now, I begrudge most anything that takes me away from writing. Not because it's so wonderful but because it's so consuming. I make time for other things because I've let writing consume me before and that's a dark road with few rewards. Now it has its place and its hours, and it had bloody well stay there.

No, no hobbies, creative or otherwise. Just life.

 

[Ban]

That's different from a hobby, which one is content to fit in around other activities in life. .

I wouldn't agree with that definition of a hobby. To me a hobby, which at least Dutch definitions seem to agree with, is an activity which one practices regularly, takes seriously to an extent, which serves as a form of recreation and which one doesn't view as a potential source of revenue. I think that last point is especially important. It's good to have a regular activity which one takes seriously, but does not engage in simply to produce monetary value. At least, that's how I'm privileged to think about it. Fiction writing lies on the fringes of hobbyism for me, as I do see it as a possible source of income, even if that isn't my primary aim. Running on the other hand? Running races requires serious preparation, but the registrations only cost money.

 

[skip.knox]

Yeah, I shouldn't have put it that way because I didn't want to divert the thread into a definitions thread.

But it does bring up what is for me a lifelong fascination with how other cultures view and portray aspects of life that are so familiar we take them for granted. What is a "hobby"? is a good example. Does it have the same connotations in France as in Peru as in India? Where are the lines between recreation, hobby, diversion, vocation? These things change over time as well (vocation literally means "calling" - a term that used to have real cultural resonance).

Anyway, sorry for the diversion. <g>

 

[Ban]

It is an interesting tangent. To me the word "vocation" evokes monetary aims, but I don't know why or where I picked up that association. The Dutch equivalent "vocatie" is also a synonym of a "calling" ("roeping"). I didn't think to consider whether "hobby" might carry different meanings for different people. I generally see "hobbies" referred to as those activities one engages in regularly, voluntarily and with a sense of joy outside of their work. Something as simple as going for walks can be a fine hobby.

 

[skip.knox]

Yeah, except I see the word as being tied to class. In a society of poor farmers, there's still time for other activities. We have plenty of indirect evidence of how peasants spent their time during the long winter hours. Some of it was in production--weaving, repairs--but there was also carving and whittling, telling stories, etc. I'm not sure if we would call those hobbies, but I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't have used that word.

The etymology of the word gives clues. In its modern meaning it doesn't appear until 1816; earlier it was just a diminutive of hobbyhorse. The date is significant to me, because it falls at the end of the dual revolution (French and Industrial) described by Eric Hobsbawm. IOW, it supports the idea that we don't really get hobbies until we get the time-locked jobs of modern employment. Which in turn would imply that we won't find a similar word in other pre-modern cultures either.

Which, to bring the topic back to the forum if not to the thread, leads me to say dwarves and elves wouldn't have hobbies. They might do things that we would call hobbies, but in the actual novel I would search out another term. Shoot, now I'm curious about what hobbies an elf would have. Or a sorcerer.

 

[RiserBurn]

I love running. Just got to look ahead and let your legs do the work. Most creative part of it is figuring out whether to take a left, a right or a forward. Usually the road or trail decides even that for you.

So how about you? What's your least creative hobby?

Lifting. Weight go up, weight come down (or vice versa). Doesn't require much thought - just the coaching cues and commitment to making it happen.

There's something truly enjoyable about getting between a massive stack of plates and the force of gravity.

 

[Ban]

The etymology of the word gives clues. In its modern meaning it doesn't appear until 1816; earlier it was just a diminutive of hobbyhorse. The date is significant to me, because it falls at the end of the dual revolution (French and Industrial) described by Eric Hobsbawm. IOW, it supports the idea that we don't really get hobbies until we get the time-locked jobs of modern employment. Which in turn would imply that we won't find a similar word in other pre-modern cultures either.

An interesting observation, thank you for sharing. I suppose when we consider pre-industrial activities outside of the work place, there's not a lot that can be considered "not work" for the majority of the common folk. Repairs are necessary after all. Still, even back in medieval times some people would be better storytellers than others, some people would enjoy a swim in a nearby lake whenever they got the chance, some would enjoy whittling figures out of wood just for the fun of it and some would weave creative patterns into their clothing. I recently became aware of some doodles a boy in Novgorod drew back in the 13th century during his classes (Onfim - Wikipedia). I'd say all of those count as hobbies. Of course for the elite we can think of falconry, hunting, book/artifact collecting and I'd say even patronising the arts can count as a hobby.

 

[Lyndis]

My LEAST creative? Possibly cycling? I could ride around on my bike for hours if I let myself. My favorite thing to do when I was younger was to set an intense playlist, and try to pedal along to whatever the bass/drum line was. This worked out super fun until I got into the Metal songs in my library XD

 

[Phietadix]

Similar to the others in this thread, my least creative hobbies are my athletic ones.

Walking is one. Hiking is maybe the more "hobby" version, but I do it far less often. Kayaking is one of my favorites, but I do that way less.

Ultimate frisbee is probably the most important of my non-creative hobbies, though, mostly because of the community aspect of it

 

[Luís Santana]

I'd say is vacation from work.

 

[WritesWithUnicorns]

Giving in and cuddling with my two Toy Manchester Terriers. Not very creative, but they make wonderful emotional support. They are never chintzy with their praise and seem to think I am the most important person in the world. I get all that without being even a bit creative. And yes having dogs is a hobby, of sorts.