For as long as I can remember, I have always indulged in some hobby or the other to make good use of my time. Having dabbled with so many things, I can only say that I am a jack of all but a master of none. And that's precisely been the point. I never pursued hobbies to excel at them. I had academics for that. But now that life is at a stage where academics don't matter and neither do career achievements, if and when I can afford some time for myself, I would like to use it for something that feels exciting, makes me look forward to the activity and leaves me with an immense sense of satisfaction having indulged in something like that. And so I can always switch gears and stride towards a new leisure pursuit.
If I list out all my hobbies since childhood, I can say that I have been reading (that's a given!), painting (of course!!), building some craft projects, recording cartoons on VHS tapes and creating my own collection, creating my own board games with rules that only I knew, collecting coins and other stuff. That was of course before cable tv and introduction to music and Hollywood movies. Once audio-visual cues started luring me into their world, it was just addiction to the idiot box. I was also subscribed to a DVD library to watch all the latest and greatest movies that were out there. I can't quantify how much Hollywood I have consumed and still do. Just that the cable tv or DVDs have been replaced by OTT content. And the dedicated time for watching TV has been subtly replaced by movie marathons and binge-watching the latest series. Obviously, that wasn't time well spent and it would only be later that I would realize it.
The job would keep me busy on weekdays and weekends would open up for anything that I wished to fill it up with. Poorly chosen things like OTT content, social media, Youtube took no time to fill that void. It took a lot of effort to get back to pursuing things that actually meant something and were not a mere waste of time. Blogging was certainly one of them and something which I would pursue as long as possible.
Two years ago the pandemic hit, bringing the world to a grinding halt. Work didn't stop though, it just shifted from elite office space to a humble corner in my bedroom. But what it did afford, was a world free of the daily commute, wasted time getting to the office and back, unavoidable office parties and so much more. You just have to wake up and sit in front of the computer and Boom! You are in office!! Work from home definitely put things in a different perspective and I started to value the time I found at hand. I could always binge-watch Netflix but instead of mindlessly wasting time away, I could find means to fuel the pursuit of different leisure activities. I started spending my time learning origami, calligraphy, canvas painting with acrylic colors. All new frontiers for me, but none sustainable beyond a certain period. I lost interest too soon and now the bunch of origami papers or the calligraphy book or the painting stationery, all have retired to a shelf waiting to gather more dust.
Perhaps a couple of things that deserve a pat on the back were putting together and framing a thousand-piece jig-saw puzzle of the amazing Santorini Island of Greece and building a Lego set of the Harley Davidson motorcycle. The frame adorns the wall in my drawing room overlooking the shelf on which the Harley sits with pride. It was fun but only lasted for the time of the activity. I was definitely looking for something that would grasp my attention for longer and keep me going.
A new year ushered in and I got myself a new desk calendar. It was the Dilbert calendar for 2021. A comic strip for each day of the year. The color cartoon on the first page showed the pointy-haired boss angrily walking away from Dilbert's desk and saying "I will be back when I figure out how this is all your fault". It was so funny that I pulled that page out and taped it to my fridge door. It is still there surrounded by my collection of fridge magnets. I have always been a Dilbert fan and this daily calendar gave me an opportunity to hand-pick rib-ticklingly funny strips, which I started pasting into an empty notebook bought precisely for that purpose. The pages were just big enough to accommodate three strips per page. Gradually I started pasting the strips as days turned to months and 2021 started inching away. Heck people collect stamps, I might as well collect the most funny, eclectic, sarcastic, relatable stuff I could find in there. I curated it to the best of my liking. It was fun to read it every day, decide if it's worthy enough to be part of my collection, and promptly paste it the next day. I would also take a picture of some strips and share them as my WhatsApp status for my friends and contacts to enjoy. If they are wondering why I don't put them anymore, well 2021 is gone and so are the strips. By the end of the year, I had for myself a mini-comic book with the best Scott Adams has to offer. Something which I can pick up to read and burst into bouts of laughter. There are some real gems in there. You have to see it to believe it.
Another year passed and the pandemic did not really loosen its grip over the world. Inspired by my year-long endeavor with Dilbert comics, I started looking for something which will keep me busy this year as well. Some activity for each day and to remind me that I am committed to the process for the rest of the year. This year is dedicated to reading meaningful books and sure enough, I happened to pick up the "The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living" by Ryan Holiday. Stoicism has caught my fancy off late and I am trying to read anything that gives me more clarity on what it is. Rather than the history of Stoicism, I am interested in imbibing it in my daily life in whatever capacity I can. This book gives me the start I am looking for. It has one page for each day of the year. Each page has a quote by one of the several Stoics who has contributed to the philosophy. And that is followed by Ryan's interpretation and explanation about the topic. No doubt this is a good book, but I wanted a distilled, concise version of what's being said so that when I visit those pages again I don't have to read it all over just to get to the important parts. That's when the idea of writing a précis for that day came to my mind and I started putting together notes for each day of the year. This means not only do I have to read the page for that day but read it over a couple of times to get the crux and distill it into a précis not more than three sentences. If the first sentence were a quote from a Stoic, then I am left with just two more sentences to summarize it all. That's a challenge for me and I take the liberty to either put things verbatim or interpret the ideas across sentences into a handful of words. So far I am doing well. My notes are up to date and I try not to miss a day.
And this is how I am charting my way to newer horizons, chasing the leisure pursuits which make me realize that I have to do something with the spare time I have with me. Either I use it or lose it. Maybe it is these purposeful hobbies that have kept me from going insane. There is a lot to deal with in this world. And when you are done for the day, you just want to unwind, relax, gather yourself before starting all over again the next day. I am hoping such a leisure hobby will help me focus, reclaim some serenity and bring the ever-elusive peace back. I can chase these pursuits at my pace and get something more meaningful in return.
