We've got a bank holiday weekend in Ireland, so I thought I'd talk about hobbies and the things we like to do when we give ourselves time to just completely chill out and ignore our day to day cares.
I remember going through countless different hobbies as a child. I read cooks on history, dinosaurs, science, model-making, art, the lot. I took classes in martial arts, pottery and drawing. I've even dabbled in archery and horse-riding. For various reasons I let a lot of my hobbies go over the years. I don't have a head for science, so while I find scientific discoveries absolutely fascinating, I get frustrated because I can't get my head to accommodate my own scientific thoughts.
I guess I figured pretty early that I was better at creative things than academic pursuits.
For the last 15 years or so my major hobby has been tabletop roleplaying games and board games. My interest in them is directly responsible for the majority of friends I have. We have regular weekly game nights, and every few weeks I'll host an afternoon-long gaming day at our house on a Saturday. As I see people drift and make changes in their lives due to work, relationships or where they live, it's incredibly reassuring to have this common interest and an easy way to bring a lot of friends together in one place. It's really rewarding to get together and create stories for our mutual fun and entertainment. We might not be able to all go to the cinema together on a Friday night anymore, or hang around drinking coffee for hours on end, but we can take the time to meet up on an evening, have a bit of fun, and remember why we're all still friends.
What about you guys? What pastimes keep drawing you back?