Hobbies in Iowa

A woman posted her hobbies on a community website to encourage people to contact her to be friends. She was new to the county seat and was having trouble getting to know people, the post said. To encourage people, she listed these hobbies: discovering places/things, thrift stores, garage sales, movies, going out to eat, and museums. I wish her well.

I don’t have consumer-oriented hobbies like shopping or attending events. I’m caught up in living and don’t have time for extras like a hobby. In any case, I view myself as a maker rather than a hobbyist and am consumed with figuring out my world and doing something positive in it. Producing a garden or shopping for books are not hobbies. They are just one more thing I do to keep the operation going.

There is a difference between a hobbyist and a crafter. For example, someone who builds and collects scale model replicas of aircraft spends a lot of time on a kit making it look as professional as possible.The finished product then goes with the rest of their collection. This is a hobbyist. A crafter, on the other hand, sews a shirt with the express purpose of wearing it, and then wearing it out. If I make something, I want to be able to use it and if I wear it out, I’ll make another.

When I attend political meetings, or when I served on a board at the university, invariably someone brought crocheting or knitting to keep their hands busy while the meeting continued. Whatever they were working on was a gift for someone or for some special event. They always found value in even the most tedious meetings. Maybe we all would have felt more productive if we had brought crocheting.

It is fair to redefine how we live our lives. If someone calls my gardening a hobby, that doesn’t bother me. It also doesn’t mean I have to call it one too. Maybe I just don’t want to relate to the person in a hobby-like manner. In fact, for me, it’s not about the craftsmanship that goes into a hobby. It’s the fact I can have a conversation with someone about it. That is more sustainable than building a shelf for the knickknacks collected from countless indistinguishable trips to thrift shops.

The idea that I could get together with strangers who share a hobby is off the charts bad. Why would I want to divert from said hobby unless I hoped to learn something to solve a specific problem? I wouldn’t. Life is short. We spend our time as productively as is possible. If it is hobby-like, well that’s not my concern.