Why it is so important to have a hobby

Today I would like to tell you about my spare time occupations, and in general to discuss the topic of importance of having hobby. 

Here is what the French writer Frederic Beigbeder thinks about it:

"Every person needs a hobby - for ostensible purpose to"get out of stress"- but you are well aware that in fact people are simply trying to survive and not go crazy."

I really like the way he writes. "99 francs" and "Love lasts three years" have been honestly read by me. He is so cynical, though straightforward! I love reading books! It is such a pleasure - to have a real book in your hands, turn the pages, go back and read again your favourite scenes... It's awful, but sometimes I highlight my favorite moments with a marker. Most of the times I read from the phone application, of course ... The last of the read is "The Slynx" by Tatyana Tolstaya,began reading her new book "Easy worlds". I like her irony going into satire, and, of couse, unlimited erudition of this woman. There is a good TV-show with Tatyana Tolstaya and Avdotya Smirnova - "School for Scandal", its purpose is psychological analysis of the hero's image, the so-called "image psychoanalysis." I think famous people invited to their show may be afraid to go there because they really "dig far down") And if a person has more than one "ego", he/she will be discovered)

I wrote a story!) But it was more like psychotherapy for me ... Just a relief! I will not post it here, it's too depressing ... It would be nice to write a book based on it, but it will take efforts. Maybe sometime later...

Teaching children English! Earlier I used to have even three students, I didn't do it for a long time, but I have been asked and could not refuse. Now I honestly prepare for my Saturday's lesson, trying to make it interesting: a little grammar, reading books and discussing, reading articles, watching movies with subtitles and, of course, communication in English.

Also I like singing! I took piano classes at music school up to the 5th grade (of 7), but my laziness won! Once I fell seriously ill and made my mother promise me to take me out of the music school in case I survived) I like to sing karaoke, I even used to take singing classes on Saturdays. So, if there is an opportunity, I can sing a song) From my favorite music now are Lana Del Rey, Amy Winehouse, Nikki Yanofsky, DJs: Bonobo, Nicolas Jaar, Betoko, more of lounge, jazz style, trip hop and deep house. Fans of the last-mentioned have to visit the island of Ibiza in Spain. This is a topic for another post, though. Maybe I'll write soon)

I love theater and concerts! The last what I watched is one-man show by Alexander Vasiliev - "Secrets of the Dior House" (I wrote about it) and "The Maids" (“Les Bonnes”) performed by Roman Viktyuk’s theatre.  I think of writing about this performance. It is very impressive and caused a lot of questions. I think it can be shocking for the unprepared viewer. On Christmas Day we went to the concert of Kuban Cossack Choir, very beneficial ... Choir sang traditional songs, carols and songs written by contemporary authors of Kuban. Really liked the song "When we were at war" with Viktor Sorokin as soloist. Charisma and talent! And the costumes are just lovely! (I think it deserves a separate post about the ethnic costume).

I like crocheting! And as recently discovered hand-knitting, too) At school at the arts and crafts lessons I was taught how to crochet (thanks to the teacher), my grandmother showed me how to knit. I remember that I was impressed with this new occupation and being in the 5th grade I made a crochet sweater) Then a lot of things were made, but this hat with a pompon is the recent one. Below is the photo where my wonderful colleagues took turns trying it on) I like to knit without pattern schemes. I hate instructions! If I do not like the result , I loosen and knit again)

Felting! My colleague Valentina discovered for us a cool hobby - felting. She is very fond of this thing, and has a lot of orders (scarves, vests, bags, etc.). She often gives master classes in the office. My colleagues and I enjoy visiting them. We made Christmas decorations and bells and pot holders, and even woolen pictures  (which can  be easily turned into a pillow case or bag, if you want). This is a very exciting experience. If the item is small, you spent not so much time on  it, and you get lots of satisfaction both from the process and the outcome. Wool of different colors is uplifting and gives you an opportunity of combining colors to be creative. The recent items created were scarves. Here's mine demonstrated by my cheerful colleagues:

Decoupage! Many people like this ingenuous work, and one of them is me. I decoupage cans, bottles, plates, cutting boards. I'm not an advanced decoupage maker, I make it for myself and as a gift. By Christmas I decided  to present everybody with a decorated bottle of champagne, I bought the whole box) As a result I made only two in a hurry. My idea failed (But champagne itself is always good!) Here below is one of my hand-made items:

I like fashion design! I sketch, choose the fabric, carry it to my dressmaker (we all remember the Mexican series about an adept dressmaker called Maria). My dressmaker’s name is Maria, too, her items are of very high quality! I always get the expected result. Unfortunately I cannot sew myself... Recently colleague has asked me to come up with the costume design of green silk, I drew several options for her, will show tomorrow. I hope she will like them...

Gym! The best way to raise self-esteem and be in a good mood! Over a long period of time I have been searching the best training for me. At the very beginning I practiced at home (Exercise TV), then I went to “Energy Fit” group training (cardio training and strength exercises without machines). There were some breaks in training. This is because of my own disorganization and laziness. When you attend group training no one notices your absence, as a rule. This, of course, does not motivate you in any way) So, I decided to work out with the coach. Over the past two months I do it three times a week. It is very good to have someone who waits for you to come by certain time for training. You will go just because you promised and you don’t want to let the person down. It works very well in my case.

Going back to the quotation of Beigbeder, I want to underline the psychotherapeutic effect of our hobbies. Absolutely true that they help us relieve stress, fight loneliness (hobby clubs still exist), raise self-esteem, to be interesting, and just to be better than yesterday! One can remember Freud and his "sublimation". It is a well-known fact that people who have a hobby are much less exposed to various kinds of disorders, neuroses, hormonal disorders. For example, Professor Torsunov says that women with thyroid problems need to go in for singing. So, choose singing as a hobby and everything will go back to normal!)

They say that the best job is a highly paid hobby. Who knows, probably you can come in such harmony with the world, so you will be so much satisfied with your job which began as a hobby. Is it possible to abandon such a happiness?

Read this article in Russian