Your Hobbies Define You

           

            I had always felt drawn towards art in literature and in painting. Though I was not a prolific writer neither an avid painter, I would scribble and sketch whenever I got time. Studies and work always kept me busy. However, there was a time in my career where I found myself at crossroads. I had to take a break, I could not go to work any longer. While there were others like me who were clueless and empty, I found satisfaction fiddling with my craft items. I made quillings designs. I made newspaper articles like baskets. I aligned my quilling greeting cards on the wall and painted glass bottles. I took to sketching and canvas painting too which kept me very engrossed and busy. There was a sense of peace I got after the completion of these works. A sense of being the creator. 

            But the most important thing I realized about having a serious hobby is that it gives you an identity. It adds to your self-image and also to your social identity. And it also says a lot about your personality. For example, an artist, in general, is a reclusive person. He must be calm and composed but not too much of a socially out going and practical person. But that is not really a negative trait though. Artists are celebrated all over the world. By choosing a hobby, you will actually be choosing the qualities attached with it. 

            So now its time for a confession. Though my 'art' imparted to me the "peace-feelings" I mentioned before, it made me cut myself from social contacts. The only way out was to teach these skills to someone. But it also had me sitting for very long time and I realized how sedentary my lifestyle was. I decided a change should happen. I thought of some other hobby that should kick me out of my comfort level. I wanted to try something that I had never done before or I was afraid of trying. It was dance. 

             So now I enrolled in a dance class. The dance hall had mirror on one entire side to watch yourself and others dance. I looked at myself and at other girls. I had become really plump and passive. I found it difficult to move or act quickly. I realized what I had missed all these years.

               Dance makes you confident of your body. Your posture improves. Your reflexes are strengthened and your stage fear decreases. You learn the cues of team work. In other words, dance is no less than sports when it comes to personality development. Plus, it is so much fun. In fact, it is only fun. I learned to enjoy music more with dance and also to appreciate each moment just like beats in dance. I've learnt to let my body move freely without being conscious about grace all the time. 

             For fitness, it is better to engage in an activity that requires the mind to act too. There is so much more to a hobby then just winning prizes. People who have dance or sports as hobby are always fit and age gracefully. 

         But you know what, my first love still remains art. Somehow.. I feel that define me.