Too Many Hobbies – so little Time

Something happens to your thought process when you have a conversation with yourself, ……… out loud, …….. talking to yourself as if you have some imaginary friend. This sparkling conversation usually gives you a new perspective on the subject or subjects that are being considered.

When you start asking yourself questions and contemplating answers, it’s not uncommon to uncover knowledge you did not understand that you had.  It’s some kind of super power actually. Although these new bits of brilliant knowledge could have come from the imaginary friend I suppose, but these conversations will often rekindle a quest for more knowledge.

There is a belief by many, that a person should never stop learning new things. It doesn’t matter what the subject is, but knowledge tends to overlap avenues and paths of life, which will cut down on the learning curves when pursuing new ventures. Conversations become more enlightening and wisdom gained becomes the need for even more in depth knowledge, and the conversations become more intense, not only with your imaginary friends, but with real people as well.

Just like the tools and equipment have an overlap in the interesting and creative hobbies we chose, so does the knowledge and capabilities. It’s why we can become successful in careers not remotely related to our college degree(assuming we become successful of course). A college degree is proof of the ability to learn more so than the actual learning itself.

That’s not to say a college degree is any kind of requirement to be successful. It’s definitely not. The first reason this is true is determining if you are “successful” is a personal achievement. What’s successful to you may be different for me. However the college degree is about the learning, and learning can be achieved in many different ways. All it takes is a little desire and discipline. Note however, having the degree often opens doors that would otherwise stay shut, so it becomes another tool in your toolbox to be used on any and all careers.

I envy someone who picks a subject and takes a lifetime to learn everything possible about that one subject. I was never that disciplined and often ventured off on a new subject before the new learning capabilities came close to running out. I don’t believe either way is a right or wrong approach, as long as it meets your goals, makes you happy and gets you to a successful spot in your life.

So in retrospect, my many hobbies over the years have done ok by me. Twice I’ve made a hobby my career. I’m retired now and it’s back to everything being a fun and interesting hobby.

If you’ve read this far, you see my website’s include hunting, fishing, tool collecting and restoration, blacksmithing, blade smithing, writing, publishing, reading, Sawyer, and a host of other wallet draining activities to take up my time.

I like the continuous learning involved in all of this and I like the challenges of using the tools and equipment from one hobby to perform task in another. For instance my kayak can be bass fishing one day, fly fishing the next. It can take me on a hunting expedition or just float down a river enjoying the plenty of sun and nature.

I would have never understood exactly how versatile the 2×72 grinder is if I hand not started blade smithing. I use that piece of wonderful equipment for almost everything. Nothing makes a better rasp than a 2×72 grinder with a 36 grit belt on it. You also be surprised at how quick it can remove your skin from your fingers.

I started many of these hobbies when I was very young. I was building, fixing, and experimenting at a very early age. My dad was so proud of me when I had the lawn mower motor spread out on the garage floor when I was ten. He literally jumped up and down with joy, muttering words and spitting and sputtering. I definitely would have put it back together, but as I explained to home, the dog ran off and buried a bunch of parts.

And I managed to convince my Mom we didn’t need the fire department the first time I tried to heat treat my knives. I was successful in putting out the fire in the barn. Besides, they say fire can actually strengthen wood. It must be true, those charred beams held up just fine over the years.

I was fortunate enough to finish my college degree online later in life. It’s not necessarily the way I would suggest it would work for everyone, but again, I utilized the whole overlap theory. My civil engineering classes rolled right up into the information technology degree. Learning is learning after all.

It’s pretty plain to see the whole idea of life is to use what you have to get where you want to be. Be creative with what’s at hand whenever that’s possible. They make adjustable wretches and multi bit tools for a reason. Eventually you’ll get the Husky chainsaw but remember all of the houses built with trees cut with a good old fashion buck saw and double bitted axe.

So in closing it’s important to just keep moving forward. The excuse of “I need a 1 3/32” chisel to cut this 1 3/32” grove doesn’t cut it. Sharpen the 1” chisel and get on with your life.