Hobby\interest obsessions

[upliftedape]

I engage in a good number of hobbies. Like most of us, I research it, found out the work and effort put into already, and try and approach it the most efficient and enjoyable way. (we are not a reinvent the wheel people typically) But there are those hobbies no amount of learning and intellectual effort will overcome, there is that natural talent ability. Obvious things like guitar, sports, dancing, etc. These things, no matter how much we apply logic and reason to it, we will not just instantly make it happen. I often will drop these habits instantly, but a few will latch into me and present me with a long term challenge. Food for instance, cooking at a high level where everything is amazingly delicious is a long term skill. I also have a few others I have applied my tenacity to.

I am curious what interests burn people out quickly in this group, and what appeals to people for the long term development? Essentially, what do you go OCCD on for the long run, and when does you ADD kick in a punt the hobby to the curb?

[gius]

I'm not INTJ but I just want to point out this natural ability you mentioned. I think the interests you've listed here can fit into two groups, one more left-brain dominant, the other right-brain. So you can put the concept of natural talent aside, and think of it more as using an approach different to what you're used to. Sports, dance, arts you just go by "feel". You can develop it by constant use and trust. It helps that the right brain processes very quickly.. for example in games where you have only a second to figure out where to aim a ball that is coming towards you. There's no reason to what you do, you just "know."

[Shifter]

Usually when I start a new hobby I'm driven by the need for competence, I want to reach some kind of milestone that indicates that I have succeeded at that hobby. If I were to learn guitar I would want to be able to play a certain song, or if I were to take up a new sport I may want to win a particular trophy or get a certain score or rank. At this point I start looking for new challenges, often continuing to challenge myself with a hobby after this point requires a large expenditure of time or money or effort or something else, for small gains in competence. I weight that against starting a new hobby, the new one usually wins. For a hobby to hold my interest for an extended period of time it needs to be constantly changing and challenging.

As an example, I'm currently learning to play poker, my goal is to win a local tournament, which is quite achievable, my next milestone after that would be to win a regional tournament, however to do so would require a large investment of time, and I'd much rather learn something new.

[gius]

For me, for it to hold my interest for a long time, it would have to be something useful and improves the quality of life somehow. So it's usually 'domestic' like sewing clothes or painting pictures to decorate a room, cooking.. The collection for information to take care of all these things will never end.

[Warrior]

I've tried collecting a variety of things - stamps, rocks, baseball cards, trinkets. However, I always burn out on collecting very quickly. I always start to think about how all that stuff just sits around and doesn't do anything, so I end up getting rid of it.

Lately, I've started geocaching with my kids. That seems like a long-term hobby for us. Everyone can do it together, I can teahc the kids things as we go along, we can spend as much or as little time on it as we feel like, and there is relatively low cost involved.

[Anima Mundi]

I only take on new hobbies if I can interweave them with my other interests and am willing to stick with them for the long haul. If it's something that requires me to start completely from scratch, forget it. I also make sure to rotate amongst my interests so as to not devote too much time, energy and money into any one thing.

[XFire35]

Mine are mainly intellectual pursuits and very little implementable stuff will rise from it, but I find it fun/interesting nonetheless.

[agkazama]

i play chess and read books: christian and self-help

[Masslessxphoton]

I have took many online Personality tests, but I go back and forth between INTP, and INTJ, I like to do Random research, Read science articles, do things to improve myself, day dream like there is no tomorrow, draw, read science books, mostly physics.

[navelgazer]

I frequently find hobbies that interest me intensely for a while, and then something else shiny comes along and I'll follow that for a while. The ones that stick are mostly the ones that are strategically aligned with my goals... ie. goal = be healthy, hobby = cooking.
When I was in my early twenties I realized that I would have to eat for the rest of my life, and, I liked to eat well, so it would be smart to learn cooking.

From time to time I will "clean out" my hobbies. Get rid of that easel, move out that croquet set, etc, etc. If a hobby has strategic alignment like that, then when I'm cutting back I always see the value, and it gets to stay on the island.

[Mai]

Art - I loveeee getting wrapped up in some project. Either it be in fashion (makeup, hair, clothing, jewelry making) or actual drawing (and even photoshopping). There is always something you can do/make and there is ample information online to take it further.

Piano - I've been self-learning but by playing favorite songs out of memorization rather than reading sheet music. Pretty efficient to me, at least for the short term.

Pets - I find that watching and interacting with animals are a lot more fun than dealing with people.

Video games - Once I am addicted, I pretty much want to reach the end as soon as possible----sometimes forgetting to eat. If I have time, I would replay and perfect the game.

Technology and new scientific discoveries - I like to be updated on new applications and to where they are leading.

[HoldingPattern]

I like making music.

What really appeals to me is that it can be equally right-brained and left-brained. On one hand, it's largely governed by feel, which gives me one of the only effective ways I can express my emotions. On the other hand, it's really quite mathematical. My left brain is stimulated by reading sheet music and picking out and arranging the structure of a song.

I like this embodiment of two extremes because it reflects my own personality. I find them I'm a left-brained person who expresses himself via his right brain. This coincides well with the principles of music.

By the same token, I'm very interesting in creative writing. I started out with fragments; now I'm making short stories. I hope to work my way up to novels. It's hard work but I enjoy it and I can see how I've improved thus far.

[hutbug]

I used to do a lot of collecting - comics, hot wheels, old watches, stuffed bears. But collecting gets expensive and takes up a lot of room and you have to keep dusting everything.

I've done creative stuff on and off over the years; knitting (hand and machine), specialty cake baking and decorating, tie-dying, needlepoint, embroidery, polymer clay.

We used to be serious rose growers and did shows and won ribbons, etc. Now we just garden for fun.

I love gadgets like cell phones and personal computers, and try to read up on a lot of that kind of personal use technology.

For the last 5 years or so I've been doing high-fire clay (hand-building). I love it but it takes up a lot of room, even after gifting much of it and putting a lot out in the garden.

Oh, and I want to take a water color class, and learn how to blow glass.

I'm sure I've forgotten some stuff. :) Oh yeah, piano and the recorder. Haven't played much in awhile. There just isn't enough time!

[daydreamer]

lots of things hold my interest but i don't tend to think of things in terms of hobbies. for me a hobby would be watching tv, or something like that that i can do whenever to relax and fill some time, not have to put a lot of investment in it and still get something out of it. playing guitar and keyboards also qualifies; although i might sometimes turn learning some particular tune into a project, but i haven't done that in a while.

i probably take everything else way too seriously. i tend to think of things in terms of projects. i get a handful of projects going at a time and i'm on them until they are done, and i have other projects lined up to take their place. i don't place deadlines on most of them but i throw myself into things so i pretty well exhaust the project and working it thoroughly and to completion without delay. sometimes circumstances will make me change the timing of a thing or two, but that's why i have more than one project going, so i can shift focus to whatever i can get to at the time.

current projects include: picking paint colors and painting some rooms yet in the house; reading 3 books; working 3 acrylic paintings (and doing research on how to do them); a needlepoint pillow; mounting 4 large pictures to put up. i've got some tie-dye lying in wait for some 2 hour time slot when i wanna do something quick - besides, the whole earth festival is almost here. i'm planning a few day/weekend trips and those are like projects to me as well, trying to freakin' coordinate the logistics lol. i'm also trying to get up to a 5 mile walk on the treadmill with a certain heart rate before i add more to my exercise routine.

[Ryuu1337]

It all depends on what the person truly wants to do.

When I have a hobby or obsession, I tend to get something like 'tunnel vision' where that one thing is my main focus.

Four years ago I started ballet dance, I've always had the desire to dance and even though I've never danced before, within two years my ballet teacher moved me up with the professionals who have been dancing all their life. I'm not trying to brag or boast, but I think it's just a matter of focusing.

I still dance, but I always love learning, sometimes it can be overwhelming because I have so many interests that I can't tend to them all at once. Also having tunnel vision on areas or hobbies that challenge one's intellect can snuff social aspects of a person. At the same time I think that keeping an open mind can revive that. Push and pull.

Does this make sense?

[dogwoodlover]

Weight lifting is something I've been occupying myself with for the last year or so.

People to tend to think of it as a "meathead" activity, but it's really not.

It involves a lot of time and effort, self-motivation and a good deal of knowledge. It forces you to learn a ton about nutrition and physiology (if you approach it like an INTJ anyway). Prior to, I knew nothing about nutrition or anatomy/physiology--now I sit around finding myself constantly batting a critical eye at the things I watch people eat, and I end up giving advice to people on how to recover from sports injuries and such, how to lose weight, etc.

You get a distinct sense of accomplishment when you move up a set, put up a new one rep max, or step on the scale and look in the mirror, and see the difference.

Not to mention, it gives your body a huge rush of endorphins, and you get hooked fast. I get so stir crazy on days I don't lift.

The health benefits should be obvious. You're less likely to injure yourself in physical activities, you are more focused on eating healthy and only feeding your body things that are good for it, it increases your metabolism by increasing your LBM. Socially, it makes you feel far more confident, especially if you're a male. There's something to be said for the subconscious sense in the back of your mind, when in a group of guys, that you are the most physically fit and strong, and that if the situation were to theoretically arise, you could dominate them on a physical level (i.e. you know you could kick their ass). It also makes you feel more confident around women, not just for aesthetic reasons, but also because they tend to feel more secure around you, because they know you could protect them. [/rant]

The thing about weight lifting too, is that your genetics are really the only limit. So long as you do things properly, you will continue getting bigger and stronger. By the time you do reach your upper limit, you'll have been doing it long enough to where you aren't just going to drop it because you find it boring. At that point it's like brushing your teeth or showering... it's just part of your basic maintenance/upkeep.

[Carol]

There is a legacy of gardening mania on my mom's side of the family & my dad farmed. Gardening I have done whenever however and got to the point where I had 2 acres, was selling flowers by subscription and veggies at a market.
I adore planning a garden in November for the next year. Knowing down to the inch what's going in th ground, lbs. I expect to produce, date each plant is emerging and the days it'll produce a harvest etc.

So I have a city plot going now and I'll be starting to work on a little farm doing odd jobs next week. Hoping I can get a good enough farming buzz from those two exploits.

I also collect LPs and run in warmer months.

[Plastikcat]

Hobbies, does research count?

I really enjoy reading, writing, and experiencing past technological advances. Nostalgia is my addiction. Specific devices from; arcades, pc-hardware, between 1960- to the early nineties.

Also a Japanese video game enthusiast. Having played every title created on Dreamcast, for one.

[BuShinJu]

But there are those hobbies no amount of learning and intellectual effort will overcome, there is that natural talent ability. Obvious things like guitar, sports, dancing, etc. These things, no matter how much we apply logic and reason to it, we will not just instantly make it happen. I often will drop these habits instantly, but a few will latch into me and present me with a long term challenge.

I've noticed a pattern with the hobbies that I end up sticking with.

At first the hobby will only occupy me for an hour or two on one day of the week. If I can do this consistantly for a few weeks then I know that I am into it. Once this happens I will schedule time for it on, to begin with, a couple of days and then most days of the week, until the hobby is basically all I think about. Once I have been doing it for about 2 years, big questions will come up "why am I doing this, am I any good, can I keep going, it's so much effort", then I will chill for a few weeks, still doing the hobby but just relaxing with it.

Then I will go hard core for a few more years and then one day just drop it, like a hot potatoe. The whole process taking 5 to 7 years (I hope I don't drop my current hobby, I am only 2 years in. I hope I end up making a living out of my current hobby.)

[Thinker]

I have been flyfishing for nearly 40 years and I haven't lost interest.
It is probably because it has so many facets to it.

I build fly rods, tie my own flies, read various magazines, travel etc etc.
I mainly flyfish for trout/salmon, but also do saltwater flyfishing for various species.

Other than that, I am also into gardening....but when I say gardening, I mean re-establishing native forest/habitat on our plot of dirt. Once again this is a broad subject and requires research, energy, persistence, experimentation etc etc etc.

[AnnoyingPony]

Also a Japanese video game enthusiast. Having played every title created on Dreamcast, for one.

Amen to that!

I like novels, art, reading, writing, and learning languages. I'm very interested in the written/spoken word.

[Leg]

long term: learning English\languages, history\ww2, singing, researching, reading
seasonal: running, swimming, traveling
small addictions: pc\software in general\videogames, documentaries, movies.

[gabbya]

Photography. Largely used as a stress reliever, in which case interesting things result. I'm currently debating whether to take the plunge and buy some proper gear. Obviously not obsessive enough to commit fully, then.

I'm not huge on hobbies generally. When the fancy strikes I may draw or write something. Otherwise one may consider my general research a hobby, I suppose.

Sport is... too challenging. No.

[shytiger]

Cooking. It's very satisfying. There is the research in determining the best places to get the ingredients, the best recipes. Making a list, buying the ingredients, putting it together and then the best part, eating it.

[paulm]

Currently I'm gaming a lot on my newly built PC. I've gotten good at finding offers online so I've aqcuired a bit pile of games in the last year, most of which I actually play. I really enjoy a bit of co-operative multiplayer with friends.

Other hobbies include finding uses for my old computers. Usually that means taking it apart and frankensteining something new together from the bets bits. Every time I upgrade my main PC, old hardware trickles down the hierarchy. Effectively, all my PCs become slightly more performant over time.

I have too many computers though:

1. Main PC (Win 7 & Linux)
2. Server (Linux)
3. Backup-server (Linux, located elsewhere)
4. Media centre/2nd gaming pc (Win Vista & Linux)
5. Laptop (Windows XP, runs older games well)
6. Netbook (Windows XP & Linux)
7. Unused old laptop (Windows XP)

I ride my bike for commutes. So on days when the weather is good, and I haven't had to commute, I might ride my bike for fun. Or I make a tiny purchase at some point along the route.

Other hobbies include calligraphy and currently I'm trying to learn to play a recorder and/or tin whistle.

In terms of time invested, gaming is my biggest hobby.

[BlackMita]

Two things motivate my time investment in a hobby:

(1) be good; personally challenging; builds confidence; maybe useful to others
(2) have fun; personally rewarding; meditative; collect happy experiences before I die

Drawing fulfils both (1) and (2) on crack. Playing and making video games is almost completely (2) with few and far between bursts of (1). Reading, researching, and 'trying to be educated / smart' is all (1) and incidentally (2) because 'getting good' at my other hobbies is applying things I've read about.

Then there's my two "slowly dying in the cradle--should I be worried?" hobbies: writing (fiction) and making music. I was never that good at either, but really enjoyed them in the past, so I can't shake the feeling that if I don't try them again in the future, I'll regret it.

[Alima]

I have been riding horses since I was five years old. It's something that has always held my interest. There's always something to learn or improve, and I find it to be really rewarding. I started taking dressage lessons at nine years old, and took various jumping lessons throughout the years. I got a job at a riding stable at 12, and got my first horse at 14. I plan on riding and owning horses for the rest of my life.

[Plastikcat]

Research; studying, absorbing new information, debating.

Art; Drawing, modification of images, web design, writing poetry.

Electronics; vintage electronics, obscure video games, novelties, history surrounding my main interests.

[Muse]

Main hobbies are Welding/Metalworking('inventing' things), Video Games(competitive), and watching or reading informational stuff.

[booksorcerer]

I read 3-5 books a week, go to ice hockey games (and read books while wearing noise-cancelling headphones between periods and before the game), cook, and exchange postcards with random people in the world.

When I get a new postcard, I usually research the subject of it (city, country, ship, monument, museum). I try to put interesting facts about my own city when I send the postcards.

[omegamdc]

Love learning new things and travel because it brings new vistas and experiences. In work life this means I change careers about every seven years because I get bored after learning to backup everyone around me. Like Shifter it's about competency for me. And if it's not changing and challenging over time, it's time to move on.

[antistu]

Although I wouldn’t think of it as a hobby but it certainly is, research (as others have stated). Often times research is like the Random Word thread it moves from one thing to the next and on and on (Wikipedia is the best for it).

As for other general hobbies there are many but worth noting is:
cycling (commuting and off-road)
trail advocacy (building and maintaining trails)
geography (both personal & school research this includes traveling)
writing/art (they go together and it overwhelms everything I do)
books/films (too much to expand on)

There’s spending time with my 5-yr old daughter which isn’t really a hobby per se but it gets fit in among everything else. If your hobbies become priorities (as mine do) you don’t think about them as much as just doing and participating in them.

[Agent]

I've tried many of the hobbies mentioned previously. One that hasn't been metioned that has brought me great happiness is meditation.

Also, I question if my relationship with each hobby is healthy. Poker and other games tend to be healthy for me so long as I'm playing with friends. Reading fiction is healthy so long as I don't use it for escape from the true nature of my relationships.

[psykhe]

Interest (but not an obsession) - collecting key rings.

Also, I research a lot about random things.

[knuckleball]

Having a hobby has been a struggle for me, much for the same reasons @shifter stated. I need to be good at something right away to stick with it short term, and I need to continue to learn to stick with it long term.

I self-taught myself graphic design in high school, skipped college and wound up being very successful in NYC ad agencies. All of my hobbies were art related - writing, photography, etc.

I'd go out and shoot some photos and be retouching them all night in Photoshop and go "but wait, this is what I do all day at WORK." Other creative endeavors like painting did not pan out for similar reasons - having spent a lot of my creative energy at work.

I finally stumbled upon gardening for the summer months. There's always new things to learn, it doesn't take a whole lot to be good at it - you can start small and continue to expand, and the productivity of it - having a bounty of fruits and vegetables I think is very rewarding to an INTJ.

I need something to do in the winter months though.

[Luciferus]

I strive for a balanced life, thus I have hobbies concerning both the body and the mind.

Body: weight-lifting, ice skating
Mind: reading, studying languages, playing chess

[Tacdryver]

Good thread topic...

Multiple skill sets, always training, 'developing'.

[BingeArtist]

I'm obsessed with a certain Perfectly Fly Female..

[Mohammad]

mechanical watches and cars. i like to think that mechanical objects become alive. :)

[Nemesis]

Music. Absolutely insane amounts of music collecting. If I like a band or DJ, I will track down absolutely everything they release, demos, bootlegs, remixes... fucking. everything. When I was younger, I managed to get my hands on some extremely rare Marilyn Manson material. I snagged a 2nd generation copy of the MM and the spooky kids demo tapes illegally distributed by their guitarist when they booted him from the band. Tracked down a camcorder recording of their first show at some dive club in Florida. When I like a band, I will find everything. Since mp3s started being shared, I've racked up a full terabyte external full of music, and I'm working on a 250 gig one now.

Any style, genre or sub-genre you can think of, I have something. From opera, to surf-rock, to japanese noise art, to french disco, to country, to death-metal, to all forms of techno... it's in there.

[arohaia]

I am interested in but not limited to:
reading ,sundials, anything to do with time, kites, paperplanes, chess, painting (oils) carving, fire pois, juggling, karate, biking, more reading, daydreaming, writing, legal research, history,philosophy, pondering, mechanical metal wind up toys, gaming, retro, different cloud types, architecture, furniture design, cultural pratices, warfare strategies, sci-fi, and I rather like watching goldfish in ponds.