Have you ever had a Hobby Day? A day where you just spend time on a hobby or hobbies? I’m not saying it’s uncommon, I had a coworker who’d spend a weekend brewing beer, I had a neighbor who’d spend the weekend fishing, and I have a friend who’ll spend an entire weekend video gaming. In a way I’m almost jealous of those who have just one hobby they love to partake in. They can concentrate on, and even spend more serious time and dollars on that hobby. 

You see, I have multiple-hobbies. Sometimes I have one I focus on and give more of my time to, and at other times I have several I do simultaneously, usually during the summer. About two months ago I was building a model kit and listening to some records, and it dawned on me that I was practicing two hobbies at once with my love for vinyl record collecting and building models. So I had to ask myself, how many hobbies can someone do at once, or is it even possible to experience every hobby I enjoy within a 24 hour period. This caused me to ask what my hobbies were, and what would count as satisfactorily partaking in that hobby. With that I had to challenge myself on actually taking a day to see just how many hobbies I can do. 

So I have set a challenge for myself in an upcoming weekend to take a 24 hour period in which I must partake in each hobby. It will be interesting to see how it works out, but first some definitions and ground rules. 

Hobby or Interest:

Before I started I had to decide what was just an interest for me, and what was a hobby. This meant I had to really look for a definition as to what each of those terms meant. 

Hobby:

To me a hobby is something you actively participate in by collecting, being involved in hobby communities, keeping abreast of hobby developments, and by doing the hobby. For instance with video gaming I collect the games, go to gaming conventions, listen to gaming podcasts, and play video games. 

Interest:

An interest is, as is pretty obvious, something that interests you. Of course that oversimplifies it, since you can have a million things that “interest’ you but don’t count as an interest in this sense. When it comes to hobby versus interest, what is meant by interest is something that “interest” you enough to research and learn a little more about it, but that you’re not fully engaging in like a hobby.

For instance I’ve always had an interest in Surfing, and have read up on surf culture, and watched Youtube videos on unique surfing events, heck I even have a surfing video game, but I’m not about to buy a wetsuit and hit the beach anytime soon. I also count an interest as that you are a little further along in than my surfing example above, but don’t do enough, or have the passion to make a hobby. For instance I own a kayak, and occasionally go kayaking. I enjoy doing it and it’s fun, to a point, but I don’t consider it a hobby, as it’s something I don’t do regularly or seek out the opportunity to do regularly. 

I guess a key word separating hobby from interest here is “passion”. When you get down to it a hobby is something you’re really driven to do, and that you actually enjoy doing on a regular basis. Of course with that said I must also mention that not all “interests” convert to hobbies do to a lack of passions, sometimes other factors keep interests, as interests. For instance geography (like my surfing example above), money, lack of natural talent (like having an interest in Opera, and wanting to become an Opera singer but lacking the talent), and other factors can keep a person from converting an interest to a hobby. For instance I’ve had a long time interest in aviation, (i.e. becoming a pilot) but a mixture of time and where I’m at in life right now have stopped me from pursuing a pilot’s license at the moment. It’s still something I have a passion for but can’t convert into a hobby right now.

Hobby Types:

The next thing to know is what are hobby types, I think there a two main groups:

Passive Hobbies:

I consider these as hobbies that more or less come to you without much action to get involved in them. Hobbies like watching classic movies, horror movies, or anime, listening to vinyl records, or 8-tracks, or even reading, just to name a few. Think of hobbies that can be done with ease or even as you do something else as everything comes all wrapped up. Of course the hobby is partaking in these by reading, listening, or watching, but while also comparing these with fellow hobbyists, in a community. For instance discussing Harry Potter books with other fans, having bad movie nights with friends, or talking about Johnny Cash’s best album with a record store clerk and patrons on a busy Saturday morning. Passive hobbies are more about the experience of immersing yourself in what is being presented to you.

Active Hobbies:

As the name implies these are hobbies you need to actively partake in, and in my mind there are three sub-categories; Physically Active, Creative, and Involved. 

  • Physically Active as implied means a hobby that requires physical activity, think of Mountain Biking, Surfing, Geocaching, Hiking, or even Fishing. These require you to be up and moving.
  • Creative- Hobbies that create. Think of Painting, Sculpting, Crocheting, or building model kits. These hobbies are about the fruits of your endeavors as well as the journey in getting there.
  • Involved- Hobbies that occupy you but don’t fall into the previous categories. Think traditionally hobbies like Baseball Card, Stamp, or Coin collecting, and add into that playing video games, radio control hobbies, or even action figure collecting. 

Of course you can break everything down even further but this is how I will define hobbies. 

Am I Doing it Right:

The next question for my day challenge is what constitutes actually participating in a hobby. A hobby is an activity one actively participates in via the following possible methods; 

  • Collecting
  • Researching the hobby to know it better and become more well educated in it
  • Visiting shops, museums, trading events or other venues for the hobby
  • Engaging with hobbyist communities either in person or though websites, online videos, or other interactive methods 
  • Actively practicing the hobby (i.e. flying an RC plane, or playing video games)
  • Conducting activities to support one’s hobby (the less fun side of a hobby), i.e cataloging a collection, protectively storing items, making repairs, buying support materials, and etc…

What meets the goal for engaging in a hobby on hobby day:

Any of the above bullet points count. No minimum time requirement is needed but at least 15 minutes is suggested. The overall goal is that you should do something to further yourself in the hobby (through actual participation or support activities), and be a bit further ahead than before. For instance flying a new RC plane, or performing a new maneuver with an existing one. In model building it would be spending enough time on a model to bring it to the next step.  

Can more than one hobby be practiced at a time:

A passive hobby (like record collecting) and an active hobby can be practiced simultaneously as long as enjoyment and furtherment is gained for both. 

What is a hobby day?

I’ve determined its a 24 hour period starting from the time I start the first hobby on July 2nd, 2021 and following the next 24 hours. I was originally going to go from 12AM to 12AM, but I realized I was losing a lot of time doing that. Also, since three of my hobbies are outdoors related, and two very dependent on weather I decided with the first hobby method. Since the weather dependent ones, RC Planes and Rockets only have flight windows in the morning, or late afternoon I figure this method would allow me the best chance at taking advantage three possible windows if needed. 

Determining what hobbies have to be participated in:

The rule I’m placing on myself is that any hobby I’ve practiced in the past calendar year (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021) we’ll have a moment on this day. The only exceptions outside of this would be older hobbies I wish to begin practicing again, using hobby day as a restarting date.  

What are my Hobbies?

  • Electric Trains*
  • Records
  • Video Games
  • Model Kits
  • RC Planes
  • Rockets
  • Anime
  • Geocaching
  • Astronomy**

Electric Trains I won’t be able to participate in as easily, so this may be dropped.

Astronomy is a hobby I’m bringing back

Stay tuned to see how my hobby day turns out.