Hobby and keenness

1. Historical hobby

In the 16thcentury a favorite toy children of all age was the hobbyhorse. In appearance a hobbyhorse could be as a simple as a stick, or it could have a decorated wooden framework with an imitation horse’s heard attached. When their simple or elaborate, children used them for the games of the time involving war and knighthood, much as children in

the early part of the 20th century played cowboys and Indians. In time the popularity of the hobbyhorse declined, but the pleasure of doing something outside the routine activities of daily life had brought a new word into the language, the word hobby, which is a shortened form of hobbyhorse.

Before the 20thcentury, hobbies were something that only wealthy people had the time and money to enjoy. The present day interest in hobbies throughout the world is the product of more free time for far more people, resulting from shortened working hours and greater prosperity.

Some popular hobbies are old as civilization. Ruler in ancient times often collected valuable objects, rare manuscripts, and art treasures. The monasteries of the Middle Ages maintained libraries to store the valuable documents and art works that they collected and produced. Later, individuals who were well educated and had broad range of interests made field trips and traveled to other countries, bringing back fossils, plants, artefacts, and other objects. Such people also build up extensive personal libraries and collections.

2. Nature and function hobby

2.1 Nature

Hobby is a recreation activity joyously pursued with intense interest over a sustained period of time. It is usually not directly connected with the person’s livelihood or his professional and social ambitions. Hobby is basically an individual recreation pursuit which permits the hobbyist to start and to stop when he chooses. It can and often does lead the hobbyist into group participation. The collector of folk songs associates with others who have the same interests and sings with them.

A hobby offers the individual a deep and continuing interest in an activity which requires little outside stimulation to sustain hat interest. Hobbies are as varied as the field of human interest and experience. They contain the element of exploration which dives the hobbyist a chance to discover himself and his world. The same hobby activity will often satisfy different needs for different people.

2.2 Function

Some of the individual’s social and psychological needs are not met through the pursuit of everyday responsibilities. The function of a hobby is to provide ways in which some of these needs can be met to insure balanced and enriched living. The choice of hobby is determined by unconscious wishes and desires. The choice is conditioned by experience and environmental factors. What a hobby does for the person depends on the foregoing plus the satisfaction obtained through participation. Some of the values of hobby are:

1. Hobbies are the means for relaxation to the person who has limited leisure - like the medical practitioner. His hobby may be the only recreation possible at times when the demands for his professional service leave him with little leisure.

2. The pursuit of hobbies can be an enemy of boredom brought about by too much leisure.

3. Hobbies provide a means for vigorous release of emotions.

4. Hobbies serve as a way of meeting the needs of people in period of frustration.

5. Hobbies offer many opportunities for creative expression.

5. Hobbies serve as a means for compensation, such as excelling in the hobby pursuit compensating for failing to reach desired goals on the job.

6. Pursuing a hobby means acquiring knowledge and leaning skills. It satisfied the desire for leaning.

7. When unwanted leisure creates anxiety the pursuit of a hobby may serve to help restore emotional balance.

8. Hobbies stir the imagination and lead to new experiences.

9. Hobbies can help in meeting the needs for social acceptance and recognition.

10. Hobbies can provide a refuge from people when time for contemplation is needed.

11. For the adolescent hobbies are a good way to try out career interests.

12. For the person retired from earning a livelihood the hobby pursuit becomes a way of adjustment. It can give new meaning and balance to the changed way of life.

13. Hobbies provide a means of satisfying the desire to collect knowledge and objects.

14. For many people a well-chosen hobby growing from innate desires, needs and abilities makes joyful contributions to the art of living. When people’s lives are affected by hobby pursuits the total community life reflects this influence.

3. Modification by community factors

3.1 Cultural

Community life affects the hobby pursuit of the individual. Lack of music interest in the community may tend to discourage the individual from considering music as a hobby.

A community giving a great deal of its attention to the promotion of sports would indirectly be guiding hobby interests into sports and game activities. In towns where dancing is not tolerated, hobby interests in the dance would not be socially approved. Schools that do not reach a wide variety of skills and appreciation in music, arts, crafts, sports, dance, nature education, literature, science and others limit the student’s hobby choice and its development.

3.2 Environmental

The physical environmental factors influence hobby interests. Urban sections without parks or open fields place a handicap on many outdoor hobbies. However, hobbies demanding access to libraries, museums, and educational classes thrive better in urban section. Hobbyists in music, creative writing literature, and similar activities receive greater stimulation in or near larger cities.

Our industrialized economy has created conditions which affect the individual’s life through speed, routine, specialization, and increased leisure. At the same time it has multiplied our resources in terms of tools, implements, and materials for hobbies in some areas like engineering, machines, science, and travel.

The fact that cultural and environmental factors may handicap the pursuit of certain kinds of hobbies does not mean these pursuits become impossible. Such barriers for some hobbyists become challenges for the individuals and the community.

4. Classification of hobbies

The scope of hobbies is as broad as human interests because hobbies are different things to different people.

4.1 Basis for classification

For purposes of convenience the wide scope of hobbies will be classified into four categories: Collecting, Creating, Educational, Performing.

4.2 Collection Hobby.

One of the most natural habits of man is collecting. Collection hobbies can be a real art or an accumulation of odds and ends. Collectors tend to group themselves into a few main classifications. People who collect odd objects are in a small minority. The most popular collection hobby is stamp collecting. Antiques appear to be next in popularity. They include China, glass, period furniture, laces, needlework, quilts, pictures of early fashion old document, books, autographs, firearms, Indian relicts, paintings, and coins. A large group consists of hobbyists with mechanical inclination who collect firearms, model ships, trains, plains, and autos. Memorabilia of great people are objects of hobbyists - their autographs, documents, manuscripts, books objects, furniture, possessions and articles supposed to have been used by the great persons. Items of purely art interest are much sought after such as bronzes, etchings, wood carvings, paintings, and objet d’art. Collecting historic relicts of one’s own part of the country provides fascination for some people. Other collections include:

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