Everyone Needs A Hobby!

I was a very naughty boy. I never sit still, always running around and have a lot of different activities. I love playing soccer, basketball, badminton, table tennis, and you name it. When I was older and at my teenage, I started to enjoy learning photography, model making (mainly the Japanese pre-fabricated plastic models but they are very expensive stuff), and I also enjoyed Chinese Calligraphy. And possibly due to my interests in Chinese Calligraphy, I also enjoyed reading a lot of Chinese history as well as reading a lot of Chinese literature and old poems. (We even entered into competition in who could memorize the most old poems from Tang Dynasty.) It's all fun!

Having a hobby or more than one hobby, in my opinion, is very important! Hobby is a mental regulator and more effective than any medication can achieve for you. I still remember there were time when I was working under very high pressure. I often went home after work, very focused and very concentrated, practicing my Chinese Calligraphy for about 15-20 minutes, possibly with some light music on, and at the end, I would feel very relaxed and almost like refreshed. Most of my work pressure would be released and seldom I would have sleeping issue. A lot of people liked my Chinese Calligraphy, yet a few of them criticize me quite seriously. But for me, to tell the truth, I don't really care how the others are viewing my works. To me, Chinese Calligraphy is my hobby, a very personalized hobby that I can enjoy it on my own. Some people try to compare my works with the established houses of great works, for me, it's my own enjoyment and I am more interested in feeling my own feeling, i.e. when I was doing my works, how would I feel. I try to keep my mind focus and clear and usually I would also feel great inside, the peacefulness, and especially the feeling of me, the brush, the paper, the ink and the works being all together in one place at the same time, which I call it "the unity of the moment"!

 

No matter who you are, I encourage you to develop a hobby for yourself. It really doesn't matter what you do, be it art and craft, or anything else that you enjoy doing. Something that can allow you to focus and concentrate, and again, not something that you are good at and not something that you would like to enter competition with others.

Although I don't have much spare time these days, as I need a lot of time resting and relaxing. I still keep some of my hobbies alive and I really enjoy doing them. Enjoy and have fun!