“Useless” hobbies may be vital for your health and holiness

[Michie]

A recent study shows that hobbies provide many health benefits. The saints already knew that they could also be good for your soul.

For a few years when I was a boy, I was certain that I wanted to be a professional magician. I asked my parents to buy me books about sleight of hand and to give me magic books for Christmas. I practiced palming coins and forcing cards for more hours than I could count. The high point of my magic career was a show I put on for my little sister’s sixth birthday party. It remains (at least in my mind) one of the great unsung entertainment events of the later 20thcentury.

I had lots of other hobbies when I was a kid – I made a Frankenstein head for myself out of paper mâché, briefly collected stamps, performed on stage, found out that I didn’t like tennis that much, and even bought an old typewriter from a secondhand shop for five dollars so that I could play at being a writer.

Only that last hobby ended up eventually paying dividends in my adult life, but that didn’t really matter. A hobby isn’t supposed to provide any practical benefits; in fact, hobbies enrich us by their very uselessness.

The stuff we do for fun​

Continued below.

“Useless” hobbies may be vital for your health and holiness

A recent study shows that hobbies provide many health benefits. The saints already knew that they could also be good for your soul.

aleteia.org

 

[timewerx]

Only that last hobby ended up eventually paying dividends in my adult life, but that didn’t really matter. A hobby isn’t supposed to provide any practical benefits; in fact, hobbies enrich us by their very uselessness.

I desperately wished it made me some money!

I recently took inline skating as hobby couple of months ago and now slowly progressing to figure skating. I never skated my whole life and now in my forties it seemed like a crazy idea because falling is quite frequent, something to be avoided at an older age.

I'm learning entirely from youtube videos, without a coach or trainer so progress is slow and some of the basic moves that would easy on ice with hockey or figure skates takes a lot more effort with inline skates on pavement.

I practice skating up to 2 hrs a day. It's literally good for health because I lost some weight and my ankles and knees are stronger than ever!