Yea, I wish I could do paperbacks but the books I want are often not available in my country and shipping is a hassle so I settle for e-books and it hurts my eyes.
I find e-readers to be a pretty good compromise to reduce eyestrain. Older Kindles are pretty cheap here in the US at least and can side-load free ebooks (e.g. from project gutenberg.) (I guess Amazon may be removing that functionality in newer firmware so you may need to apply a jailbreak to prevent updates/prevent it from being removed.)
2 for me: scuba diving and welding (not at the same time). scuba diving is such a surreal experience and incomparable to anything I've ever done. It's unfortunate that there are no decent diving sites close to where I live. Welding is an incredibly rewarding hobby that makes you forget about everything else because it requires a lot of focus. Being able to join 2 pieces of steel according to your own imagination almost feels magical.
I enjoy reading, both in digital and physical mediums.
I visit different libraries in my city 2-3 times a week just to stroll through and open random books. I hope this always remains an option, because there is just something beautiful about opening a book, feeling the pages and even the smell when it is a particularly old book! LOL
In pre-AI days, I'd spend hours each week reading Wikipedia. There are so many topics about so many things in our wonderful world to learn about. Some are really tragic, some hopeful, some are about animals or plants in places I may never be able to visit, and so on.
Currently, I'm enjoying using AI to take me on "journeys" not only around the world, but through time and "dimensions" as well. For fictional works, I can engross myself into their world with a AI and "feel" like I'm there.
Reading is a neat distraction. Before I go to sleep I learn about something cool and interesting and when I have follow up questions, I am able to satisfy my curiosity.
playing music, I have a different appreciation and approach to listening and finding new music. I also found myself supporting new artists and going to concerts more often :)
Trail running - without anything electronic. Outside, in nature, alone with your thoughts, slightly uncomfortable, watching the seasons change, random encounters with wildlife, travel opportunities, fun with friends, most of the benefits of exercise, meditative.
35mm photography. Complete opposite of sterile/computational photography. The colors are muted and warm and make everybody happy.
The colors coming out of modern Sony/Canon/Nikon SLRs are technically perfect but people tend to prefer their memories with rose tinted glasses ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Reading books is the strongest dissociative which is what we crave. Longboarding and welding are also strong options. Hackathons when done right are my favorife social hobby but “done right” may be entirely dead.
Playing a musical instrument. “Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.”
It’s a hobby that simultaneously brings immense gratifying pleasure to oneself, while being able to share it with others to enjoy.
Incredibly fulfilling to get real time feedback of people smiling, swaying their bodies and nodding their head when playing random public pianos that I find (which is also a hobby of mine - seeking out public pianos and sharing ).
One thing that is a bit more generalist that I enjoy is good natured investments in people.
Stuff like helping people I care about grow or handle challenges, connecting people who would likely get along well, creating or growing communities, being active and doing good stuff in my area, helping people do things like fixing their deck or whatever, a dab of local politics when it's worth it, just plain old keeping in touch etc.
It can be really rewarding and has some great long term benefits for everyone involved. It's not really seen as a hobby but it's certainly a "hobby" I'd love to see more people consciously participate in.
I love a good quotation, and when I come across one I will often write it up in my own rudimentary and imperfect calligraphy, usually on a 4x6" card. I enjoy creating the cards, and actually end up flipping through them pretty often. On the back of a card I will write the date, along with some notes about how I came by the quote and what seemed compelling to me about it when I wrote it up.
I love hobbies where you create something. Sewing, leatherworking, woodworking, stuff like that. You can also take this and add more hobbies on top. Embroidery, leather or wood carving for example. Those hobbies are at there core very utilitarian (you get exactly what you want to have. The exact wallet or shirt or chair or whatever) but they allow for artistic freedom and expression as well.
I personally prefer to go as hand tools as possible. I don’t like loud noises. A sewing machine is the most I want to deal with. There is no noise in leather crafting that doesn’t come from straight up elbow grease. I’d not enjoy woodworking with power tools all weekend (which is why I haven’t picked that up yet. I haven’t figured out what I can expect to get done wir hand tools).
There are more hobbies than that of course. More garment / fiber stuff like weaving, knitting or crochet, making jewelry, welding, black smithing all with various degrees of resources required to get started. Another benefit as a man is that most of the time our trends are much more minimalist so you generally get away with larger and simpler items in those women dominated hobbies like sewing (except formal wear. Suits can fuck right off) so it’s not actually that hard to start one of those hobbies very casually and just end up with something you can use for the next decade and be fine. Like, rings, wallets, shirts, pants, sweaters are probably all gonna be text book „how to make an x“ without much details and be in fashion for the next 20 years.
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[ 0.15 ms ] story [ 53.9 ms ] threadBut price to pay!
growing and caring for bonsai
Not unexpected benefit, but just knowing more things.
The books that you read, the more things you will know.
The universe is expanding, read and let your mind follow suit.
I visit different libraries in my city 2-3 times a week just to stroll through and open random books. I hope this always remains an option, because there is just something beautiful about opening a book, feeling the pages and even the smell when it is a particularly old book! LOL
In pre-AI days, I'd spend hours each week reading Wikipedia. There are so many topics about so many things in our wonderful world to learn about. Some are really tragic, some hopeful, some are about animals or plants in places I may never be able to visit, and so on.
Currently, I'm enjoying using AI to take me on "journeys" not only around the world, but through time and "dimensions" as well. For fictional works, I can engross myself into their world with a AI and "feel" like I'm there.
Reading is a neat distraction. Before I go to sleep I learn about something cool and interesting and when I have follow up questions, I am able to satisfy my curiosity.
Learn some Japanese. Become less afraid of falling.
The colors coming out of modern Sony/Canon/Nikon SLRs are technically perfect but people tend to prefer their memories with rose tinted glasses ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
calling friends on the phone is underrated.
It’s a hobby that simultaneously brings immense gratifying pleasure to oneself, while being able to share it with others to enjoy.
Incredibly fulfilling to get real time feedback of people smiling, swaying their bodies and nodding their head when playing random public pianos that I find (which is also a hobby of mine - seeking out public pianos and sharing ).
Stuff like helping people I care about grow or handle challenges, connecting people who would likely get along well, creating or growing communities, being active and doing good stuff in my area, helping people do things like fixing their deck or whatever, a dab of local politics when it's worth it, just plain old keeping in touch etc.
It can be really rewarding and has some great long term benefits for everyone involved. It's not really seen as a hobby but it's certainly a "hobby" I'd love to see more people consciously participate in.
I personally prefer to go as hand tools as possible. I don’t like loud noises. A sewing machine is the most I want to deal with. There is no noise in leather crafting that doesn’t come from straight up elbow grease. I’d not enjoy woodworking with power tools all weekend (which is why I haven’t picked that up yet. I haven’t figured out what I can expect to get done wir hand tools).
There are more hobbies than that of course. More garment / fiber stuff like weaving, knitting or crochet, making jewelry, welding, black smithing all with various degrees of resources required to get started. Another benefit as a man is that most of the time our trends are much more minimalist so you generally get away with larger and simpler items in those women dominated hobbies like sewing (except formal wear. Suits can fuck right off) so it’s not actually that hard to start one of those hobbies very casually and just end up with something you can use for the next decade and be fine. Like, rings, wallets, shirts, pants, sweaters are probably all gonna be text book „how to make an x“ without much details and be in fashion for the next 20 years.