Week Six...Understanding Hobbies

There are ALL SORTS of hobbies....

 

Within the readings so far a few notable thoughts have stood out....

Hobbies are as varied as people and often reflect their personalities. What is important is that it be leisurely for and of interest to the individual. A sense of control is important; people have to feel as though they're making their own decisions, says Tinsley. (That's one reason why it's important for children to choose their own hobby). And, Tinsley says, it has to be intrinsically interesting. Howard E.A. Tinsley, professor emeritus of psychology at Southern Illinois University and author of Psychological Benefits of Leisure Participation

You have to have a certain amount of aptitude for it, yet also get some challenge from it. David Schlenoff, a psychologist for the Baltimore County Public Schools

Complete Absorption - "flow." It's a state total absorption in what you're doing. You're free of self-consciousness. Whatever your hobby is becomes an end in itself and when you're in that state of "flow," you're enjoying yourself.   Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

That's what many hobbyists give as the reason they do something, says Tinsley. They all say they enjoy it, get pleasure from it, that it's something they choose to do because they simply like it. Science can't really explain this "like," Peter Price, a professor of internal medicine, physiology and biophysics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences