Start a journal. Put your thoughts in order on a daily basis, and when you look back at the end of 2020 (or beyond..) you'll have something interesting to read and reflect on.
Find Yourself a Hobby for 2020
71–80 of 99 posts
Re: Find Yourself a Hobby for 2020
#72Do video games count as a hobby? I just realized that nothing else really holds my interest and I'm now very worried.
I would say as long as it's not interfering with the rest of your life, it's perfectly fine. The breadth of quality games available in this era is really remarkable. To be able to explore that universe and have real experiences is perfectly worthwhile.
Where I think it becomes problematic is when the focus is on exactly one game, especially ones with online gameplay with toxic communities. In those cases you should ask yourself if you might be part of the toxicity cycle (not always the case, but worth some introspection).
Re: Find Yourself a Hobby for 2020
#73Help the elderly, visit the lonely, feed the hungry. Maybe it's because I'm in my midlife crisis, but as I think how much time I put into hobbies I wonder how much good I could have done in the same time. But creating music, build scale models, growing cactuses, watching movies is a lot of fun. And people need time to relax and enjoy life.
Jesus would approve [0]. It also seems that you have stumbled upon one of the great treatments for depression [1].
[0] https://www.biblehub.com/james/1-27.htm
[1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-cultures/201... << there are a lot of articles like this...
Re: Find Yourself a Hobby for 2020
#74Visit tiny museums. I stumbled across this hobby a few years ago. Whenever I'm in some place new, I run a search on google maps for "museums" and try to find the smallest, most niche topic possible. It's a pretty small time commitment - a small museum can often be explored in 30-60 minutes - and it's incredibly rewarding. The smaller the museum is, the more likely you'll meet the person who set it up. And that's guar…
Here's a tiny perfume museum in Berkeley!
Re: Find Yourself a Hobby for 2020
#75Start a journal. Put your thoughts in order on a daily basis, and when you look back at the end of 2020 (or beyond..) you'll have something interesting to read and reflect on.
I think I'm going to try this one out this year. I attempted at doing a weekly log but had only had a ~40% completion rate.
Any tips on staying motivated? I mostly would enter it into evernote, and as lazy as it sounds sometimes my biggest barrier of entry would be opening my laptop heh.
Re: Find Yourself a Hobby for 2020
#76Woodworking. What's cool about this is that it can scale with the amount of space/money you have to dedicate. Start building little boxes, you can do it with just a Japanese have saw and some glue, maybe some clamps. Stain it to make the grain really pop.
If you have a garage, start with a work bench build. Design it with 2x4 lumber and carriage bolts, make it your own. Once you're standing at your new workbench, then the inspiration really starts going.
Also YouTube has an endless supply of quality woodworking videos.
Re: Find Yourself a Hobby for 2020
#77Visit tiny museums. I stumbled across this hobby a few years ago. Whenever I'm in some place new, I run a search on google maps for "museums" and try to find the smallest, most niche topic possible. It's a pretty small time commitment - a small museum can often be explored in 30-60 minutes - and it's incredibly rewarding. The smaller the museum is, the more likely you'll meet the person who set it up. And that's guar…
You are on to something! I do this too.
Here's what comes to mind...
* Mutter Museum in Philly (http://muttermuseum.org/) Awesome victorian medical curiosities
* Museum of Questionable medical devices in St Paul (http://www.museumofquackery.com/). Exactly what the name implies. Really interesting for skeptics.
* Wagner Free Institute (http://www.wagnerfreeinstitute.org/), in Philly. This is victorian-era science museum focusing on natural history. Interesting selection of specimens and a magnificently preserved victorian lecture hall.
* Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto (http://batashoemuseum.ca/). Shoes are actually interesting in historical context!
* Johnstown Flood Museum (https://www.jaha.org/attractions/johnstown-flood-museum/) This is in western PA, about 1.5 hours east of Pittsburgh. Dedicated mostly to the flood of 1889 which shaped the history of this town, as well as the flood of 1977.
* National Electronics Museum (https://www.nationalelectronicsmuseum.org/) This is a short distance from the BWI airport.
Re: Find Yourself a Hobby for 2020
#78When nearing your final resting place and contemplating all the rich intricacies of your life, do you want to be one of those people who didn't learn to juggle? No. That would be silly.
So take up juggling!
Aside from obvious things like becoming more coordinated and increasing your spatial awareness, it will teach you a lot about learning. It's fascinating when a challenging new pattern moves from deliberate and entirely conscious effort to straddling the conscious/unconscious divide until it gets bedded in to your nervous system and you can do it without thinking.
Juggling is almost entirely non-competitive and jugglers are overwhelmingly supportive and eager to teach and learn new tricks from each other. It doesn't seem to be possible to get into it without also wanting to teach anyone who wants to learn. There aren't many egos getting in the way, which I find rather pure and beautiful.
Contemporary juggling is hugely varied. You can go from technical and accurate numbers jugging (high number of objects) to flowing improvised moves to something that is as much dance as circus stuff.
Also siteswap[1], a notation for juggling patterns, is cool!
Re: Find Yourself a Hobby for 2020
#79Visit tiny museums. I stumbled across this hobby a few years ago. Whenever I'm in some place new, I run a search on google maps for "museums" and try to find the smallest, most niche topic possible. It's a pretty small time commitment - a small museum can often be explored in 30-60 minutes - and it's incredibly rewarding. The smaller the museum is, the more likely you'll meet the person who set it up. And that's guar…
You are on to something! I do this too. Here's what comes to mind... * Mutter Museum in Philly ( http://muttermuseum.org/ ) Awesome victorian medical curiosities * Museum of Questionable medical devices in St Paul ( http://www.museumofquackery.com/ ). Exactly what the name implies. Really interesting for skeptics. * Wagner Free Institute ( http://www.wagnerfreeinstitute.org/ ), in Philly. This is victorian-era scienc…
Never heard of the National Electronics Museum but I am from the area, I will check that out!
The Cryptography Museum nearby is also great.
Re: Find Yourself a Hobby for 2020
#80Start a journal. Put your thoughts in order on a daily basis, and when you look back at the end of 2020 (or beyond..) you'll have something interesting to read and reflect on.
I think I'm going to try this one out this year. I attempted at doing a weekly log but had only had a ~40% completion rate. Any tips on staying motivated? I mostly would enter it into evernote, and as lazy as it sounds sometimes my biggest barrier of entry would be opening my laptop heh.
Probably not what you’re looking for, but I started writing regularly after getting an iPad and Apple Pencil. There are a number of good apps that let you mix handwriting and typing and a bunch of other media, including OneNote (my current choice), Notability, and GoodNotes.