Hobbies and extreme minimalism
When one walks into my stepfather's home, one can see immediately that this fellow human has many hobbies. There are bikes, skis and sports gear, a guitar, and so many books. There is evidence of him having visited many different events and places. He used to live with lots of equipment to film and take photos too. My mother used to knit, crochet, and sew. And both of them loved gardening.
Every time my stepfather visited my home, he would ask me if I had any hobbies at all. He was worried that I worked all the time or that my life was boring and unfulfilling. There is nothing in my home that explicitly communicates what my hobbies are.
When I was younger, I tried out many different hobbies. I used to paint and even went to an art school. I tried working with clay too. I used to attend classical dancing classes. I played chess and badminton. I grew vegetables, flowers and herbs, had chickens, tried fishing, created jewellery from seed beads, travelled much more than I do now. I used to live with many house plants, especially cacti. I'd grow them from seed. And I used to forage and learn about various edible plants.
And yet, over time, as I was stepping more and more into my authenticity, I said goodbye to most of those hobbies. Some fellow humans assume that I force myself to avoid hobbies because of my practice of extreme minimalism. After all, wouldn't paint tubes and plant pots count as possessions? Wouldn't fishing gear become a focal point in an empty space? My experience is very different. I would happily invite into my life the objects that support a hobby, if only that hobby genuinely felt like something I wanted to do (or do again).
My hobbies that I still love and spend time on every day for many years have been reading, writing, and being with nature (walking, foraging). These hobbies simply require very little equipment, or even nothing extra at all. For example, I enjoy reading e-books on my laptop and borrowing books from a library. I use my laptop for writing, too. Being with nature requires only basic clothes, something that I already have. I don't buy special clothes for the kinds of walks that I do mainly because many items of clothing created for outdoor activities are made from synthetic materials. I understand that in some cases, it is necessary to wear special clothing, but I don't engage in such activities.
Reading and writing take a lot of my time. I often feel oneness with what I read and write. And it's also part of my professional development. I grow as a researcher and as a human being. For many years, writing autoethnography has been my hobby. Initially, it was not part of my professional, academic writing. It was something that I was doing while I was trying to align my life's philosophy and my personal practice. Over time, this hobby evolved into both a professional activity and a space where I create. Creating together has become, more recently, a common hobby for my partner and myself (link).
One hobby that I would like to engage with again is gardening. Currently we live in Copenhagen and don't have an opportunity to garden, but I hope that over time it will become possible. My dream is to eventually move to Bornholm. It's a beautiful Danish island.