And words are all I have …
“Legendary innovators like Franklin, Snow, and Darwin all possess some common intellectual qualities—a certain quickness of mind, unbounded curiosity—but they also share one other defining attribute. They have a lot of hobbies.”
? Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
When I read an article in the last issue about making choices that lead to roads of happiness, I thought I’d take time out to write about my hobbies. As they make me happy whenever I need a dose of pick-me-up. So it set me thinking about what I would submit. Should I write something about ornithology? For I really feel a sense of pride every time I can recognise a bird, of local or exotic variety, by its call or type of flight-laboured or smooth. A hobby I picked up soon after marriage, when my husband quit watching the un-feathered variety. Together we’d try to decipher names of birds around our home first and gradually started making trips to nearby and far off sanctuaries to spot newer varieties.
Then I thought that I could also write about my interest in iconography because I still remember the rush I felt when I could identify a headless sculpture in an ancient temple as Lord Vishnu by the presence of Padma(a lotus )in one of its four arms which were still intact.
However, I settled instead, for my interest in writing.
For me the romance with writing begins even before the actual creation commences. It’s the very thought of using my fountain pen (yes…that’s how hopelessly in love I really am!) the ritual of checking the pen for ink, dipping it into the ink bottle(needless to say, I always buy Quink meant exclusively for Parker pens) Should it have to be refilled…the process of replenishment itself-the drawing of the ink-mostly black for me. Making some small check marks and figures of eight(8) to check the flow, every step of the way exciting me further as I get closer to the actual act of penning down the words.
Then now as my age requires me to wear glasses, I’ve discovered yet another pleasure. That of watching closely how ink spreads and dries out on paper. Then of course the magic of words itself! How absolutely enthralling they are to me… the whole act of writing brings to me a sense of meditation, attention to detail, staying in the moment.
It’s very thrilling for me to observe how every word changes the nuances and meaning of what I mean to express. How I respond to my emotions and how words express them –like those birds in flight-laboured or smooth. How words can be positive or negative. How some long words wait patiently to be used. Like: onomatopoeia, cacophonous, existentialism, comprehensibility.
Yet, some of the smallest words are most loaded with meaning.
Consider ‘but’ - how powerful it is as it follows a thought. How it becomes the via media to get into conditions. “But” negates all the words and thoughts which were stated before it.
What about, “if”?
It presupposes what you may or may not be.
How about the phrase “would/could /should have”?
They draw attention to what never happened.
And “don’t”?
What’s your reaction to ‘don’t’?
Words have great power.
“Don’t drop the ball!” and, “Catch the ball!” probably mean the same ,as they are denoting the same objectives, they both imply retaining the ball. Yet the former command is negative in connotation.
Hobbies can lead one towards their higher purpose or calling. And while engaging with that higher purpose, one of the things facing you is how to develop new ways of being, that translate into feeling aligned with your true self. A hobby is therefore, sometimes the real you- indicating the direction you should be moving toward. A call from the Higher power that you ought to respond to.
I think none of us should ever neglect or ignore our hobbies. In fact, saddest must be those people who haven’t even cultivated any yet. So my unsolicited advice to all my readers is to delve deeper into your inner selves and find something that makes you happy. Find it and turn it into your hobby for keepsake.
Your hobby is what will stay with you when your children have flown the nest to their own destinations in life. When your superannuation strikes. They’ll keep company when no one else will have time for you. Cherish and nourish your hobby today. It’s a capital investment which will feed and nourish and enrich you in many years to come.
Please share your happiness mantra with us at iamwoman@xtra.co.nz and find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/womanunlimited
“Legendary innovators like Franklin, Snow, and Darwin all possess some common intellectual qualities—a certain quickness of mind, unbounded curiosity—but they also share one other defining attribute. They have a lot of hobbies.” ? Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of...
“Legendary innovators like Franklin, Snow, and Darwin all possess some common intellectual qualities—a certain quickness of mind, unbounded curiosity—but they also share one other defining attribute. They have a lot of hobbies.”
? Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
When I read an article in the last issue about making choices that lead to roads of happiness, I thought I’d take time out to write about my hobbies. As they make me happy whenever I need a dose of pick-me-up. So it set me thinking about what I would submit. Should I write something about ornithology? For I really feel a sense of pride every time I can recognise a bird, of local or exotic variety, by its call or type of flight-laboured or smooth. A hobby I picked up soon after marriage, when my husband quit watching the un-feathered variety. Together we’d try to decipher names of birds around our home first and gradually started making trips to nearby and far off sanctuaries to spot newer varieties.
Then I thought that I could also write about my interest in iconography because I still remember the rush I felt when I could identify a headless sculpture in an ancient temple as Lord Vishnu by the presence of Padma(a lotus )in one of its four arms which were still intact.
However, I settled instead, for my interest in writing.
For me the romance with writing begins even before the actual creation commences. It’s the very thought of using my fountain pen (yes…that’s how hopelessly in love I really am!) the ritual of checking the pen for ink, dipping it into the ink bottle(needless to say, I always buy Quink meant exclusively for Parker pens) Should it have to be refilled…the process of replenishment itself-the drawing of the ink-mostly black for me. Making some small check marks and figures of eight(8) to check the flow, every step of the way exciting me further as I get closer to the actual act of penning down the words.
Then now as my age requires me to wear glasses, I’ve discovered yet another pleasure. That of watching closely how ink spreads and dries out on paper. Then of course the magic of words itself! How absolutely enthralling they are to me… the whole act of writing brings to me a sense of meditation, attention to detail, staying in the moment.
It’s very thrilling for me to observe how every word changes the nuances and meaning of what I mean to express. How I respond to my emotions and how words express them –like those birds in flight-laboured or smooth. How words can be positive or negative. How some long words wait patiently to be used. Like: onomatopoeia, cacophonous, existentialism, comprehensibility.
Yet, some of the smallest words are most loaded with meaning.
Consider ‘but’ - how powerful it is as it follows a thought. How it becomes the via media to get into conditions. “But” negates all the words and thoughts which were stated before it.
What about, “if”?
It presupposes what you may or may not be.
How about the phrase “would/could /should have”?
They draw attention to what never happened.
And “don’t”?
What’s your reaction to ‘don’t’?
Words have great power.
“Don’t drop the ball!” and, “Catch the ball!” probably mean the same ,as they are denoting the same objectives, they both imply retaining the ball. Yet the former command is negative in connotation.
Hobbies can lead one towards their higher purpose or calling. And while engaging with that higher purpose, one of the things facing you is how to develop new ways of being, that translate into feeling aligned with your true self. A hobby is therefore, sometimes the real you- indicating the direction you should be moving toward. A call from the Higher power that you ought to respond to.
I think none of us should ever neglect or ignore our hobbies. In fact, saddest must be those people who haven’t even cultivated any yet. So my unsolicited advice to all my readers is to delve deeper into your inner selves and find something that makes you happy. Find it and turn it into your hobby for keepsake.
Your hobby is what will stay with you when your children have flown the nest to their own destinations in life. When your superannuation strikes. They’ll keep company when no one else will have time for you. Cherish and nourish your hobby today. It’s a capital investment which will feed and nourish and enrich you in many years to come.
Please share your happiness mantra with us at iamwoman@xtra.co.nz and find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/womanunlimited
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