Hobbies in the Modern World

So I have been thinking a lot about hobbies…let me back this up a bit first. This all started a few weeks ago with a conversation I had with a 19 year old who works here at camp. On his day off he was up in our large main building at work most of the day hanging out and browsing the internet on his phone. I came up to him at one point and asked him what he was doing up at work on his day off. (At work, even if I’m not working is the last place I generally like to spend my time off.) He said just hanging out and using the internet. Jokingly, I told him he should get out of here and asked him if he had any hobbies. “Hobbies?” he answered.

“Yeah”,” I said “like woodworking, fishing, you know, just stuff you do with your free time.”

“No, not really,” he responded, “is Facebook a hobby?”

We both laughed, but I walked away from that conversation wondering if my only hobbies were Pinterest and Facebook.

I used to have hobbies. In high school I played piano, wrote poetry, ran, scrapbooked, crocheted scarves and other things, sewed occasionally, did embroidery projects, and more. Somewhere along the way of college, studying, the invention of Facebook, cleaning the house, fixing dinner, and Netflix I lost most of my hobbies.

I run and workout to stay healthy and fit. I blog. But that’s about it and I’m not sure those even count. So I decided to really seek to engage in some non-screen hobbies. (I suppose video games, blogging, watching movies, football, etc could be considered hobbies, but they aren’t really what I want to spend all my free time doing.)

So I made a list of things I like to do (because I like making lists!), potential “hobbies” if you will: reading, scrapbooking, crafting (various things—décor stuff mostly), crocheting, doing puzzles, playing board or card games, attending musicals, nature walks, bike riding, photography and playing piano.

I’ve decided I really want to spend some of my free time doing 3 or more of these things each week. So I got some books at the library, crafted a cute frame, and ordered pictures to add to my scrapbook.

A good start on my hobby re-creation.

Do you have hobbies? If so, what are they and if not, what gets in the way?

Do you feel like modern life is squeezing out hobbies? 

Would you consider running or other fitness “stuff” a hobby? What about blogging?