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Too many hobbies?

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(@stardust)
Eminent Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 20
Topic starter  

What do you guys think about trying to learn more than one skill? Is guitar playing your only hobby you pour all your energy and resources into, or do you draw, write, play a sport, anything like that?

Have any of you become good at more that one pursuit, or do you believe you have to dedicate your life completely to one thing to really be a master of it?

I'm just curious about people's experiences of this. I'll post some thoughts of my own when I see what y'all have to say. :)


   
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(@duffmaster)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 848
 

Heres everything I do:
Guitar
Snowmobile
Shoot Skeet
Scouts
Wrestle Olympic and High School Style
Football
School
computer stuff

I'm good at all of these, some, like computers and school I am great at, and others like football and guitar i'm not.

I would not recommend spending all your time on one hobby, your life might end up seeming a bit to focused, and everything else will be hard, if you know what I mean.

Who needs a signature?
I mean really...
It's almost always lyrics...
or a cliche...
or garbage about me...
Lets just save YOU from the pain, ok?


   
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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

Great question.

When I was young I had many interests

Guitar
Surfing
Skateboarding
Motocross
Baseball
Football
Tennis
Bowling
Hangliding
Swimming
Fishing

I even played more instruments when I was younger

Guitar (standard tuning)
Open Tunings
Slide guitar
Blues Harp
Drums
Bass
Piano
Trumpet

Now that I'm older I just play guitar in standard tuning.

And now, my idea of exercise is getting off the couch and walking to the pantry to get a bag of potato chips. :D

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@u2bono269)
Noble Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 1167
 

interests at the moment:

playing decent guitar
drawing crappy pictures
writing decent stories (recently had one published on a free online science fiction mag)

i think that's it.

i used to do karate, collect coins, comic books and baseball cards, and play baseball. i don't do that anymore

http://www.brianbetteridge.com


   
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(@ghost)
Prominent Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 815
 

Hmmm... Lets see here.

Learning to play songs on guitar.
Writing songs. Has been fun lately.
Video Games (considered by many as a big waste of time)
Learning to sell junk on eBay
Messing with my computer
Reading books (people still do that right???)

Used to do's...

A girlfriend
Track and field
Roller hockey
Collecting sports cards

Having more then one skill in life is a must, IMO. As for me being able to master anything, its going to take time.

42 (after this week it won't be funny anymore)

"If I had a time machine, I'd go back and tell me to practise that bloody guitar!" -Vic Lewis

Everything is 42..... again.


   
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(@ghost-rider)
Reputable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 267
 

interests at the moment:
...writing decent stories (recently had one published on a free online science fiction mag)

Congrats on being published...
I used to read voraciously when I was younger. Had aspirations of being a writer. Am embarrassed to admit that when I was younger, I didn't appreciate music. Compared to literature, I considered it a secondary art form. I was a real snob. Didn't hang around the Led Zeppelin T-Shirt Clad crowd.
I have since forgiven myself, and embraced music and playing guitar. In a sense, its a beneficial rush, in that many things, music and groups are new to me, so I'm listening to old stuff with fresh ears; and finding out how remarkable the stuff really was.

Like all good Canadian kids, I played hockey when I was a kid.

Lately, I've been spending all my time looking for a job, as our office was closed in March. Been listening to countless hours of music; and have developed a new relationship with my electric guitar. (I play acoustic primarily). Also, have spent lots of hours on the computer.

Ghost

"Colour made the grass less green..." 3000 miles, Tracy Chapman


   
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(@the-dali)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1409
 

It definitely helps in the short term to have one hobby to focus on, it will rapidly improve your skill in that one area. But to be a really interesting person I think you need to have a wide range of skills.

Right now... the Dali is working on...

Guitar
Golf
Softball
Reading
Paying bills
Refinishing furniture
Landscaping (yuk, but necessary)
Refurbishing my house
Building and re-building guitars
Writing stories when I get time
Raising two cool kids
Keeping my dogs out of the pantry
Keeping my wife happy and satisfied
Building and re-building my home theater
Fantasy baseball
Trying to experience new and different music

-=- Steve

"If the moon were made of ribs, would you eat it?"


   
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(@guitargeek214)
Trusted Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 41
 

My interests seem to change a lot, but right now my hobbies include:
playing guitar (of course)
songwritting
skateboarding
hockey

and, I think that's it. Well, it's all that I can think of at the moment anyway.


   
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(@pearlthekat)
Noble Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 1468
 

Ive had different hobbies and interests during my life. painting, drawing, ice skating among other things. usually i have one main interest at a time and that's because it's hard to have the energy, time and money to have many different interests at once. If you want a well balanced life then it's good to have a couple things going at the same time but i think if you want to be great at something you have to do that one thing as much as possible. think picasso. if you read about his childhood he drew all the time. michael jordan--always with a basketball. to be great at something that is essentially a skill you need to practice a lot.


   
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(@biker_jim_uk)
Honorable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 536
 

yeh, but then you get the naturals, who seem to be good at everything they try.
Whereas I seem to have been ok at lots of things, enough that is to stop me concentrating on one thing I was a really good at, with the result I have meandered through life feeling pretty unfullfilled, and now wishing I tried hareder at something when I was younger! I kind of envy people who are driven to do stuff, whereas I get fanatical about stuff for a while then move on to other stuff. At the moment guitar is just about my only hobby apart from watching baseball and playing football (soccer to the non-Brits) once a week!
Haven't played enough video games or golf in the last few years! And can't remember the last time I drew, apaprt from PC stuff!


   
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(@saber)
Reputable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 350
 

In my opinion, having one hobby is a great way to burn yourself out.

When I was younger I used to jump from one thing into the next and never gain any real skill/satisfaction in anything, but a few years ago I started doing everything in two's. First writing and drawing, and now drawing and guitar. Being able to switch from one to the other is awesome for blowing off steam. :wink:

"Like the coldest winter chill. Heaven beside you. Hell within." -Jerry Cantrell


   
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(@jasonrunguitar)
Reputable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 273
 

Things I Do:
-Guitar
-Being a Student (physics...takes up the majority of my time)
-Running (used to be D-I Varsity...but that didn't last too long...couldn't have all the other hobbies I wanted, lol)
-Acting

I think it's a a good mix. These four are more than enough to keep me busy, but not enough that I can't work on them all. Sometimes I wish that all I had done was one thing from an early age. Then I could be ridiculously good at it instead of just a litttle above average at so many things. It's definitely a trade off, but with time I've come to realize that it's not necessarily bad to be on this side of that trade :D !

-Jason
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To those about to rock, we salute you!
http://www.soundclick.com/jasonwittenbach


   
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(@telemarker)
Trusted Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 64
 

You gotta mix it up! Here's what I'm currently in to.

Bike Racing (mtn, road)
Triathlon
Guitar (band)
Work
Graphic Design
Telemark Skiing
Snowboarding
Viticulture

I can be serious about three of those at any given time, then one will take a backseat to something else. It's probably on account of the ADD! :wink:


   
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(@misanthrope)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 2261
 

I find it hard to fit in everything I want to do, I've just been getting back into the guitar properly for the last few months, but I had to shelve some other stuff I was doing. Being a father of two girls (3 1/2 and 2) gives me less time to start with... luckily they both love guitars :mrgreen:

Right now, it's:

- Guitar (and home recording soon too, I kinda count that seperately)
- Web development/programming (my job, but my own stuff in my free time)
- A few forums & web reading (This one, web development ones, New scientist, James Randi, Football)
- Occaisional night of GT4 on the PS2 :)

ChordsAndScales.co.uk - Guitar Chord/Scale Finder/Viewer


   
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(@tim_madsen)
Prominent Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 724
 

Guitar
Mandolin
Softball (hit two in the park home runs last Sunday, not bad for a 53 year old :D )
Fishing
Snow Skiing
Gardening
Herptoculture

Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.

"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe


   
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