Psychology - about what a "hobby" is and why it was needed. mihaly chiszentmihalyi in search of flow psychology of passion for everyday life passion psychologists say

We invite you to talk about hobbies!

Why do you think a person needs a hobby? What does it give and how to choose a close hobby
heart? Well, of course, we talk about our hobby: how did you find it and why did it become yours :)

All occupations, directly and indirectly, are necessary for a person to satisfy his needs. Hobbies are no exception. A hobby is an occupation for the soul, it brings a person joy, pleasure and sometimes fame. All people have different inclinations and abilities: someone knows how to work well with wood; someone draws wonderfully; the other can sing or dance - a hobby is chosen according to what a person does easily and which, as a rule, brings pleasure at least. In order to choose an occupation that is to your heart, think about what types of activities you favor, but not because the neighbor Masha does something great, but because you have more soul for something. And, thinking, try yourself in this type of activity. If in the process you do not feel negative emotions, the activity will be relatively easy - well, your hobby has been found! This is how I found a hobby for myself - sometimes I sew clothes, and when I wear them I am proud of myself! True, when I started sewing, I was also motivated by the shortage of ready-made clothes in Russia :). But nevertheless, tailoring helps me to distract from other affairs and worries, the very process that I do is very philosophical, and sometimes during this lesson I come up with interesting ideas about counseling. And the result pleases me for a very long time! I wish you to find, in addition to work, your outlet, which will be associated with positive emotions!

I only embroider during holidays, in the summer, in the country. And by the end of the vacation, I have a new rarity that takes up space in my winter apartment and reminds me of warm summer evenings, of my thoughts and reflections while embroidering, of the films that I watched at the same time, of the books that I read this summer. It is also a reminder of meetings this summer, of long, unhurried conversations, of barbecues and tea parties. My guests, arriving in winter, see what came out of my summer embroidery, remember with me our summer vacation gatherings.

I also love the occupation itself - I rest my head, calmly, measuredly think about life, work, reflect, remember, illuminate, realize.

I like to imagine and observe what comes out of me, how it coincides with what I imagined.

I love my feelings about this.

I miss embroidery, I'm waiting for summer. It is not just an occupation for me, but a piece of summer, a piece of vacation, a piece of life that I take with me every year.

My hobby is patchwork in winter and tile mosaic in summer. What does it give me?

First of all - the opportunity to recover from mental work. And, of course, to avoid professional deformation.

When you work with color, form (in fabric or in color), the work of the right hemisphere of the brain turns on. The overloaded left at the same time relaxes, is released, rests.

The process of selecting the desired pattern draws me almost into a meditative state, at such moments I am left alone with my unconscious.

We live in a world of insane speeds, often people just waking up are already running somewhere. This is taught from childhood - first kindergarten, then school, college, work. A person suffocates at this speed without the ability to stop, recuperate, get simple pleasure. Creativity, and a hobby is most often of a creative nature, helps a person to regain strength, stop this crazy run, relax and enjoy creating something new. If it is a family hobby, then this is a good way to feel like a member of your family.

I love to draw, embroider and color small soldiers. This allows me to relieve stress, have fun and feel closer to my mother - she also embroiders.

A hobby is a hobby that does not carry material benefits. We study, collect, learn, create exclusively for the soul.

Hobbies are an important component of one of the parts of human resources! Everyone and everyone has something that we like to do. Even if it did not take shape in some specific narrowly focused hobby, always! Thanks to such activities of amenities, the mood rises, and with it positive thinking. Internal forces (resources) always determine our success in life!

Speaking specifically, what resources include and what improves due to a certain enthusiasm, then this, of course, is positive thinking, high self-esteem, the ability to manage emotions, intelligence, health.

A hobby reflects the "inner self" of a person, helps to move to a new stage of one's personal growth!

My hobby is embroidering pictures. Our grandmother embroidered, instilled in us this interest. With great pleasure I embroider, decorate the house, get another portion of resources.

Human life can be divided into two areas: work and family (or home). Everyone wants to go to work happy and come home happy. But there is another important area in life - a hobby. Why does a person need a hobby, is there really not enough work and family to be satisfied with his life?

In addition to consulting and conducting trainings, in my free time I am fond of scrapbooking. I'll tell you why I need a hobby.

1. Scrapbooking allows me to open up more fully and develop those abilities that cannot be developed at work and in family life.
2. This activity allows me to take my mind off problems and relax, enjoying life in the moment.
3. When I do this work with my own hands, I can see the result and get satisfaction from it (and I can show it to someone else).
4. Passion for scrapbooking develops my imagination and fantasy, and this can be useful in my work.
5. When I do scrapbooking, this time is exclusively mine, I stay alone with myself and can just enjoy loneliness and silence.
6. I don't have to do it when I don't feel like it (unlike work and family matters), which makes this hobby a truly free choice.

I will supplement this list with items that I do not have, but someone else may have.

1. For many, a hobby is a real source of income or just an additional income.
2. Also, a hobby allows you to communicate with other people who have a similar hobby, and this is always interesting and enjoyable.

I just want to wish you to be satisfied with your work, your family, and your hobby. And so that all these areas take the right place in your life, without destroying the overall harmony.

In my opinion, a hobby is a wonderful opportunity for a person to cope with everyday stresses, large and small.

The modern rhythm of life leaves not much time for enjoyment. Family, children, work, everyday problems, an endless stream of affairs and worries, duties and obligations. A person constantly "must": be in time, do, go, bring, check ... When there is no way to relax, nervous overstrain, emotional burnout can occur. A favorite hobby comes to the rescue.

A hobby is a person's activity that brings joy, pleasure. The word "should" is replaced by others - "I want", "like". And when a person does something for the soul, spends his leisure time pleasantly, this can be a wonderful resource of energy, vitality for later life.

As a child, I dreamed of being a singer. It did not become my profession, but I enjoy singing karaoke, for me it is an opportunity to realize my childhood dreams, albeit on a different level. I embroider with a cross and beads. I like the process itself and it's very nice to see my pictures as a decoration of my house (cottage) and with relatives and friends (I give my works to my relatives). I also have other interests.
I know people whose hobby brings income. it happy people, not everyone manages to get money for their favorite hobby.

Many people in the post-Soviet space, due to the sameness of being, the total deficit, figured out how to pass the time or save the family budget. It was very fashionable to knit, sew, read, weave macrame, etc. Each woman tried to stand out with her creative approach to her hobby. Tailored dresses, knitted sweaters, hats and any other clothing had their own look and originality. At work, people exchanged patterns, threads, yarn, recipes.

The men were not far behind the women. Due to the shortage of furniture, they had to do carpentry in their free time, make tables, stools, shelves, and more. etc. Men exchanged their secrets among themselves in the construction of houses in summer cottages, in electrical and plumbing skills. Behind the exchange there was close communication between people. In view of the socialist regime, people every day was like another. In the fight against parasitism, the USSR had compulsory labor service. In the morning everyone hurried to work. I liked the work, I did not like it, everyone was busy. Most of the evenings were free, with the exception of those who worked in shifts, on the whole it was boring, gray, ordinary. Hobbies helped people develop, put their hands on various activities, thereby somehow entertain themselves.

Due to these circumstances, I also had to occupy myself with a hobby. And I, like many women of that time, as our children now say, "people of the last century," know how to knit, sew, cook, plant flowers and even hammer nails. In addition, I still dance and skate.

If we talk about hobbies in modern conditions, then hobbies have become more diverse and diverse! From passive embroidery, beadwork, floristry, landscape design, etc. to active sports, fitness, Pilates, yoga, fishing, hunting.

If earlier a hobby was done just to do something, now a hobby is a purposeful, desired hobby that brings not only pleasure, but sometimes a good income. Everyone chooses exactly what he wants. And still, The basis of hobbies, in my opinion, is communication between people. Hobby unites and unites people! Pursuing his interesting work, a person reveals his hidden resources given to him by nature. Thus, developing oneself as a person and acquiring harmony and harmony with oneself. Hobbies are useful.

You can choose a hobby for yourself by listening to your inner "I". Hobbies can be more than one. Try picking a few hobbies. Try to work on each of them. You will definitely enjoy some particular activity. The rest will go away! Whatever hobby you do, your self-esteem will rise. You will become calmer, more balanced, mentally more stable. This means you will be much happier!

I like the idea of ​​this round table, it gives an opportunity to get to know the psychologists of this site from an informal side!

A hobby always brings joy, gives you the opportunity to switch, get distracted, have fun, diversify your life.

Often a hobby is chosen as the opposite of the main job: if the work is routine, the hobby is associated with creativity; if the work is connected with the need to contact with a large number of people - a hobby involves immersion in oneself, solitude; if the work is "sedentary", cabinet - an active hobby is chosen.

My hobby is quite traditional - I am fond of knitting. I learned to knit by myself from a book as a child during the holidays. I can say that since then I have achieved mastery in my hobby, I am often asked to sell the things I have done.

By the way, this is also typical for a hobby - what a person does with pleasure, over time, begins to bring additional income.

In any case, a hobby makes it possible to realize oneself, discover additional talents in oneself and simply please oneself and loved ones.

Often, meeting classmates or old acquaintances, and even meeting new people, I hear the same question: "what are you fond of?". And, of course, I understand that a person is interested in my hobby! I say that I draw pictures, do yoga, write practical manuals for schoolchildren, etc. And this arouses admiration and interest in the interlocutor! The next question is: "what does it give you?". And I begin to tell: "when I paint, I enjoy the silence, the palette of colors, the creation of a drawing and I am fascinated by how I put strokes on the canvas and at the same time I, of course, experience joy and pleasure. In the finale, when I hang the picture - Smile and inner text: it's me, well done!"

Yoga classes tone my body, give calmness, youth, flexibility and energy, I like to look in the mirror and admire a straight back, and I have to sit a lot - a profession, computer work and a hobby. It's all for health!

When I write books - manuals, I share my experience and help schoolchildren to develop their skills and abilities on their own, which saves children time and parents money - classes without tutors. This is completely different for me - here I come into contact with my knowledge, experience, train my memory and develop creativity in writing useful and understandable material. At the end and release of the book, I sigh lightly and there is already a feeling of freedom and context: "I did it!" It brings me fame and of course cash income!

Yes, my hobbies are my life! And it is quite interesting and rich!

And I want to add to the list of hobbies and develop my interest in other directions! I wish everyone who visits our site an exciting hobby!

Perhaps a hobby arises when:

1. It is required to satisfy some need (for example: to spend time of life, burn "extra" energy, increase self-esteem, acquire social status);
2. It is required to suppress some kind of need (for example: not to wash the floor in the house, not to take the child to the skating rink, etc. :).

I know many people who live without hobbies. Is it possible that hobbies are only for proactive people? I don't really have an answer.

At first my hobby was psychology, and my work was pedagogy. Now psychology and business have become work, and pedagogy has become a hobby. Probably, when I begin to poorly understand what is happening around, I will take up painting :). There is such a dream.

And I wish all my colleagues to have a dream that first becomes a hobby, and then the meaning of life!

The word "hobby" is usually called an occupation that a person does after main job, for himself, "for the soul", when he can fully concentrate on the process of doing something interesting and pleasant for himself, while not burdening this activity with the questions "will it bring me money" and "what will the authorities / colleagues / clients say" etc.

Perhaps, someone needs just such a structure: in one case he wants to be a professional, and at the same time he is ready to be responsible for the result, financial issues, etc. In the other - to do just for the sake of doing it, and evaluate the result solely according to your own taste. And that creates a certain balance.

But personally, I never did. Hobbies always smoothly turned into my work and vice versa, some new activity appeared that carried me away, and then it began to bring money, other activities faded into the background, etc.

The history of the appearance of a hobby, as an occupation, is rooted in the distant Middle Ages. Locked in the walls of houses by a patriarchal way of life, women, by the will of fate, received an unlimited supply of time at their disposal. To occupy their hands, the hostesses were engaged in all kinds of needlework. Tapestries, bedspreads, carpets, clothes, stockings - everything was done by skillful women's hands.

The 19th century is considered the official beginning of the craze for collecting, games, needlework and modeling. People who are financially free and unlimited in time wanted to stand out from the crowd. Gradually, hobbies entered the life of every person. In pursuits of the soul, humanity has acquired a taste of personal freedom.

From a psychological point of view, it is very useful to have a hobby for every person, and especially for those who are lost in life, in a state of despondency. A hobby in this case will help to somehow distract yourself from heavy thoughts, at least for a little while, relax and get at least a small, but joy, "perk up."

With the growth of the pace of life, the internal stress of a person increases. And there are not so many ways to remove it. Alcohol, nicotine and drugs are the way out. This is written and shouted all over the world. That is why it is so important now for every person to have a kind of outlet, an activity that leads away from unpleasant thoughts and experiences. In the conditions of modern life, this is a real necessity.

In order not to completely go crazy with the rhythms of modern life, we involuntarily look for something for the soul. The soul needs rest and comfort. The choice is huge: dancing, street and role-playing games, collecting, growing flowers, the same soldiers, finally.

Let your occupation also bring only pleasure and good mood!

In order to decide on the direction of a hobby, it is worth listening to yourself and understanding what I would like? Perhaps, once a person wanted to learn or master something, but in the process of life it faded into the background. Perhaps the hobby will be connected with some own desire or the activity in which a person is able to relax, enjoy and feel inner fullness.

In my life, a hobby smoothly flows into a professional activity, and sometimes it’s difficult for me to determine whether I’m doing work or is it still my lifelong passion!

Psychology is the most important hobby and activity of my life! But besides this main hobby, my passion is dancing and guessing Japanese crosswords.

The more a person does what he likes, the more a state of happiness arises!

If we turn to Wikipedia, we find out that:

Hobby(from English. hobby) - a type of human activity, a certain occupation, hobby, which is regularly practiced at leisure, for the soul. Hobby - something that a person loves and is happy to do in his life. free time. Hobbies are a good way to deal with stress, in addition, hobbies often help to develop horizons. The main goal of a hobby is to help self-realization. A hobby can eventually grow into a main activity that brings in money.

And I totally agree with Wikipedia. Now my main activity is psychology, but it was not always so. But how was it before?

When I entered the Faculty of Applied Psychology, I worked as an ordinary manager, psychology was then only a "hobby", and counseling seemed like an impossible dream. And just at that time I began to show great interest in the modeling business, which seemed to be an occupation not related to psychology. Many then dissuaded me, citing incompatibility with my future profession and the job in which I worked. But I was adamant and after a while, my modeling career grew out of this "hobby". Modeling became my main job, and I stopped going to the office.

So I freed up a lot of time, but I did not waste it and began to show interest in the work of an assistant photographer, makeup artist, stylist, retoucher, and organizer of the shooting. It was these "hobbies" that I then successfully earned, continuing to supplement my psychological education, while I was still a novice psychologist.

Working specifically as a retoucher, I returned to painting, a "hobby" abandoned as a teenager. Now I paint pictures again and sometimes even earn money from it. But since painting requires a lot of involvement, and now I don’t want to devote much time to it, for me it’s just a hobby, very light and joyful, which I take with me when I travel.

By the way, I also started traveling when I worked as a model. I was invited to shoot in various countries, I had to travel around the world alone and at least not immediately, but I learned to enjoy immersing myself in every country I visited. This is where my other “hobby” from childhood came in handy (from the age of 10 I was seriously fond of learning English).

Living in other countries, I learned to consult in English, even before I started doing it in Russian. Many people, expats or travelers like me, when they found out that they were in front of a psychologist, asked for help when they had difficulty adapting to the country. And it often fed me on my travels.

Summarize:

Now I live in Russia, I run a private psychological practice and this is my main activity. My "hobbies" at the moment are: traveling, painting, sports, photography, modeling, studying foreign languages and charity. But most of them once brought me income, thus giving me the opportunity to grow as a psychologist and just gain experience in various areas of life.

Based on this experience, I believe that such concepts as "work" and "hobby" should be treated flexibly and the more loyally we approach them, the more opportunities for self-realization we give ourselves.

"Do what you love and you won't have to work a day in your life," the wise man seems to have said. And life itself will prioritize the way it is best for you at the moment. Just allow yourself to believe in yourself, in your strengths and in the correctness of what is happening. After all, life is much more interesting that way.

A hobby is an activity that brings joy, pleasure, and fills life with a holiday! Hobbies can be very different - it depends on the person, his desires and inner content. We are all different, but also in many ways similar, if a person has a hobby, then a person becomes a little child, surrendering to the process "without looking back", and at the same time getting a lot of positive!

Pursuing our hobby, we become a little dependent on this process, but pathology appears only when a person has nothing else besides this "hobby"! I think that a measure is needed in everything, having different interests, we harmonize our life, making it joyful and happy!

My hobby is traveling and learning new things! I love to observe nature, people, the world around me.

At its core, a hobby is a pleasure for the soul. This is our lifeline in the sea of ​​everyday worries and problems. After all, a hobby is when you enjoy the process itself, regardless of how successful, profitable and approved by other people the result will be. A hobby is something you do solely for your own sake.

I love to dance. I like it when every cell of my body is filled with my favorite music, responding to every overflow of sounds with a new movement. So I relax, "reboot" and renew. So I learn to understand life from the other side - sensual and emotional.

I know that many people like to dance, but few people allow themselves to do this without the appropriate "education" and skills, "crushing" their spiritual impulse in the bud, referring to ineptitude, inflexibility, inappropriateness, clumsiness and a whole bunch of other "not". And in vain ...

I think for people who find it difficult to decide on a hobby, it is typical to focus more on others: "what they will think, what they will say, how it will look from the outside." In such conditions, it is simply impossible to hear the voice of one's own soul. Therefore, it is very important sometimes to put yourself first and be attentive to your inner impulses and innermost desires, without any reservations or conditions. And a hobby will definitely appear, or rather it will manifest itself!

The presence of favorite activities in the life of every person plays a significant role. After all, they make life more harmonious, helping to improve. They make life brighter and more exciting. People who have hobbies or do what they love all their lives are more successful in their careers. They are also more self-confident and easily cope with their fears, this can be explained by the release of the hormone serotonin (pleasure) into the blood while doing what they love.

To choose a hobby you need:

1. Listen to yourself;
2. Remember and write down what interests you - music, dancing, embroidery, knitting, sewing, modeling, designing, psychology, collecting ...
3. Think carefully about each item, choose the one that would captivate you.

Remember, hobbies are our inclinations that we develop.

My hobby is my favorite profession that I dreamed about in my childhood and aspired to it.

The beginning of the hobby, as a phenomenon, dates back to the 13th century, for a long time it was meant as entertainment. In general, it was previously believed that this is a person who participates in activities solely for fun, this is a hobby.

Nowadays, activities on a regular basis for pleasure, usually during one's leisure, can be classified as a hobby. Sometimes, however, as a hobby, a professional may participate in an activity for remuneration, and not just out of personal interest.

In the modern world, when self-realization of the individual is an important direction for a fruitful life, a diverse life, development, growth, a hobby can be very useful.

However, there is an ambiguous attitude to the features of such a pastime. Applied to people who compulsively pursue their hobby. The problematic aspects of the personality, and especially the emotional sphere, are definitely a phenomenon in such cases. Where for such people a hobby acquires a completely different meaning, rather limiting development.

If I tell you about myself, in my life hobbies can be attributed to free time, leisure time, passion for cultures different countries, in particular, the culture of food in the broadest sense, interior design. When there is time for this and circumstances allow, I gladly take a creative part.

In my work, life, attitude towards myself and people, I consider a person not as a set of some individual qualities, manifestations, phenomena, features, etc., but as an integral living organism, whose life goes beyond the limits of his body, where everything interconnected and interdependent, where one flows into the other. In this regard, if you look closely at the concept of a hobby, then this, in fact, is already an occupation close to your heart. This is part of the manifestation of a person outside, a reflection of one of the sides of his being in a certain form to the outside world.

My answer to the question "what gives a hobby?" - nothing if you do it for the sake of waiting for something and the intention to take something. A hobby is a process, a state of being here and now, giving part of yourself to what you like, without expecting pleasure in return, but just like that, for the sake of the experience itself. Although, of course, it, the receipt of this very pleasure, occurs precisely at the moment when a person is immersed. But this is essentially the law of the universe: giving out, we receive in return the same thing and even more, no matter what it concerns.

It seems to me that the presence or absence of a hobby, as well as a sincere love for a hobby, freedom from other people's opinions, is rather an indicator of how open a person is to himself.

As for personal experience, in my life there have always been several hobbies that awe in my soul: self-knowledge, needlework, a healthy lifestyle, interior design. It took time to accept the fact for myself, to hear myself as loudly as possible, that, whatever one may say, no matter how you run away from yourself into some other areas, I am a psychologist. I love this activity with all my heart. My heart is in it. Other interests remain the same important components of my life, but as hobbies. By the way, a hobby, it seems to me, cannot be one. There is always passion and there, and there, and there. So, for example, in the field of passion for the interior theme, there is a small fetish - I love white milk jugs and buy them when I see those that I like. This is such a small weakness. Yes, it has no functionality but to me Like:)

In general, in order to calculate a favorite pastime, or at least an area that is interesting, if there is such a question, there is an experiment. Go to the big bookstore. Just go in, walk around and go to the department where you are drawn, or watch yourself, walking through the store, in which department your eyes lit up for certain titles of books. Heart tells ;)

A hobby is usually called some hobby that does not fit into the "big" areas of a person's life: work, friends, relatives and family. They also say that "hobby - for the soul."

In my opinion, a hobby appears when it is not possible to "invest your soul" (that is, to act with pleasure without focusing on results) in ordinary everyday activities. Then a favorite hobby appears, which is not connected either with making money, or communicating with friends, or with family affairs, or with a loved one.

By the way, quite often a hobby acquires either hobby friends, or additional income, or relatives are drawn in and addicted. That is, a hobby fully enters a person's life. And then life itself becomes a hobby, "a matter for the soul." I believe that this is how it should be for everyone - life should be captivating and one should "put one's soul" into it, and not into some small piece of it.

In this way, a hobby is a site of recovery of a person's life, in my opinion.

Hello. More than anything, I love going to the movies. I am the Spectator. It's a way for me to live another life today.

And most of all I love to cry in the cinema. The most soulful film for me this year is Chagall Malevich.

It was filmed in my city, there was really a feeling of returning to the era of the 20s, when there was so much faith in the ideals of the revolution. When Chagall's eyes shone.

Hobby (English hobby), any hobby, favorite pastime at leisure.

A hobby is something that people like to do in their free time and that fills their life with a certain meaning.

If a person constantly works and thinks about how to earn money, he emasculates his psychological state.

Therefore, each of us should have a hobby and find time for it, which is especially important. For this hobby can be turned into a ritual.

For example, my husband goes fishing one day of the weekend. Every evening, watching TV, I knit things for myself and my loved ones.

Ideally, a hobby should occupy a significant part of a person's pastime. Only then can one achieve a harmonious state and be psychologically healthy enough.

On the other hand, a hobby is the development of the creative component of a person. The opportunity to develop the other hemisphere, which is not involved in the work.

That is, if a person is an accountant at work, then it is better to spend free time outdoors, doing needlework.

And if the work is not related to numbers, the right hemisphere works - a hobby can be solving puzzles, solving scanwords.

At work, tedious and limited activities are hobbies, sports competitive games, communication with friends in order to discuss books read or common topics that are important to all those gathered.

Of course, everyone fills his life with what he sees fit. Remember that a hobby can give your life not only entertainment and variety, but also like spices - taste and aroma. And your "psychological receptors" will feel a unique taste for life and the world around you.

The desire for innovation, brilliant, bold ideas allow humanity to improve, contribute to rapid progress in any field of activity, as well as the emergence of completely new, previously unseen technologies and methods. However, what is an idea worth, even the most ingenious and unique, if it does not find a visual embodiment? Enthusiasm, true devotion to an idea - this is exactly the quality that distinguishes creators from dreamers like Oblomov.

People who are fascinated by an idea are, as it were, excluded from real life for the duration of its implementation. They do not notice the time, they do not pay attention to extraneous factors, they can be somewhat absent-minded, confusing the simplest everyday concepts. They don't seem to need food, sleep, or other normal necessities. The comical depiction of the "brilliant scientist", disheveled, casually dressed, spending day and night in the laboratory, is an exaggerated reflection of this condition.

Those who are constantly in a state of enthusiasm - artists, scientists, theorists, philosophers, in search of truth, often lead a lifestyle that is characterized by complete immersion in the idea, the embodiment of the idea. However, enthusiasm does not necessarily imply complete exclusion from public life, in addition, it can be directly related to society.

Enthusiastic work in cooperation is the enthusiasm of the whole team for a certain idea, the embodiment of a certain idea. The sincere passion of one person is contagious, and if it spread to the entire team, it is difficult to imagine a more productive type of work.

• Enthusiasm is the total concentration of a person on a particular idea.
• Enthusiasm is a permanent directed application of efforts for the fulfillment of the task.
• Enthusiasm is enthusiasm, drive, the desire to implement a certain idea, achieve a goal.
• Enthusiasm is enthusiastic feelings, joy and real pleasure from the process of implementing an idea.

The Benefits of Passion

• Thanks to enthusiasm, self-realization of a person, getting pleasure from work and satisfaction from the result obtained is possible.
• Thanks to passion, the idea is embodied as quickly and in the best possible way.
• Thanks to passion, high degree concentration, distractions fade into the background, without interfering with the full implementation of the plan.
• Thanks to passion, we perform even the most complex tasks with pleasure.
• Thanks to passion, a person can fully reveal his creative potential and see the real limits of his abilities, or rather, the absence of these limits.

Passionate expressions in everyday life

• Children. Notice how children can concentrate. After all, if they are passionate about something, they do not see or hear what is happening around.
• Lovers. The enthusiastic young man does not sleep and does not eat, he cannot think about anything except the one that deprived him of peace.
• Creative personalities. It is incredible and amazing to watch an artist or composer create a new work. You are witnessing the birth of a new dimension, a new galaxy emerging around the one who creates a new masterpiece.

How to develop passion

• In order to develop passion, you need to find "your own business", that is, an idea that arouses strong interest and captures without a trace. Ideas can lie in completely different areas and may not be related to the profession. Unfortunately, this happens very often in real life - a person experiences passion only for his "hobby", and professional activity imbued with boredom and the desire to quickly return home to your favorite pastime.
• You need to find out what gives you the most pleasure, what business you cannot tear yourself away from. It is important to evaluate what qualities, talents, abilities you have to show to implement this business, and try to transfer these qualities to professional activities.
• Become an expert in your field. It is impossible to be carried away by a subject if you know nothing about it. Popular American writer Malcolm Gladwell states that it takes 10,000 hours of quality, intense practice to become an expert.
• Collect, blog, create a website, argue about your favorite subject. Don't be indifferent!

Golden mean

Indifference, indifference

Passion, devotion to the idea

Fanaticism

Winged expressions about passion

MICHAI CHIKSENTMIHAJI

LOOKING FOR A FLOW

Psychology of passion for everyday life

How do we spend our days? What gives us pleasure? How do we feel when we eat, watch TV, make love, work, drive a car, communicate with friends? As the in-depth study of the lives of thousands of people at the heart of Finding the Flow shows, we often live without thinking about or touching our inner life. As a result of this inattention, we are constantly torn between two extremes: during most of the day we experience anxiety, stress at work and the need to cope with our duties, and we spend our free time doing nothing, passive and boring.

Finding Flow is a book about psychology as well as a self-help book. This guide is for those who want to take control of their lives. According to Csikszentmihalyi, the solution lies in setting ourselves difficult tasks that require high professionalism and full dedication from us. Instead of watching TV or playing the piano, approach daily activities from a different angle. In short, know the joy of complete self-giving.

Perhaps the implications of Finding the Flow seem simple when viewed superficially. However, they can change your life. They are the result of many years of work by the author and research conducted by him at the University of Chicago. As a result, a deep and significant work was created, in which the author offers his readers ways to make your life internally richer and richer.

FIRST CHAPTER

Structure of everyday life

If we really want to live, we'd better start right now;

If we do not want to live, it is better for us to start dying.

– W.H. Auden

These lines, written by Auden, briefly and accurately convey the content of this book. The choice is simple: between today and the inevitable end of our days, we choose either life or death. Biological life is an automatic process as long as we satisfy the needs of our body. But life, in the sense that the poet has in mind, is not at all something that happens by itself. In fact, everything proves the opposite: if we do not manage our own life, it will be controlled by other external forces and someone will use it for their own purposes. Biological instincts will force us to pass on our genetic potential, a culture will use our lives to propagate its values, and other people will try to achieve their goals with our energy - all without caring how it affects us. We don't have to wait for someone to help us live; we must learn to do it ourselves.

So what does it mean to "live" in this context? Naturally, this is not about simple biological survival. To live life to the fullest, without wasting time and opportunities, expressing your uniqueness and taking the deepest part in the complex life of the entire universe. This book explores ways to live this way, based on the findings of modern psychology, my own research, and all the wisdom of the past, handed down to us in any form.

We will consider the question “What does it mean to live well?” pretty modest. Instead of understanding prophecies and riddles, we will rely on real facts, as far as possible, and focus our attention on the most ordinary events that occur in our lives during the day.

I will give a specific example to explain what I mean by the expression "to live well". A few years ago, together with my students, we were doing research at a factory where railroad cars were assembled. Main workplace located in a huge dirty hangar, where, because of the constant noise, it was impossible to hear a word. Most welders hated their jobs and were constantly looking at their watches waiting for the end of the day. As soon as they got out through the gate, they immediately hurried to a nearby bar or went to another state to have fun.

But there was one worker in that factory, whose name was Joe. He was in his early sixties and had little to no education whatsoever. However, he learned to understand the technique and repair any equipment in the plant, from cranes to computer monitors. He enjoyed fiddling with broken devices, finding out the cause of the breakdown and bringing them back to working order. Together with his wife, he laid out a large garden with alpine slides on two empty plots of land adjacent to the house, and built fountains there, over which a rainbow shone - even at night!

All the factory workers, and there were about a hundred of them, respected Joe, although they did not always understand him. They turned to him for help if there was any problem. Many believed that without Joe, the plant would simply have closed.

Over the years, I have met with CEOs of large companies, influential politicians and Nobel laureates. All of them were outstanding people who led wonderful lives. However, their life was not at all better life Joe. What makes such a life so simple, rewarding, and worth living? This is main question this book. My approach is based on three main premises. The first of them are the prophets, poets and philosophers who discovered many truths in the past, which are of great importance for our life today. However, these truths were expressed in the language of their time, so in order to apply them, each generation must rediscover and decipher them. The most important ideas of our ancestors are contained in the sacred books of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and the Vedas. These sources can only be ignored out of childish arrogance. However, it would also be naive to think that everything written in the past is the absolute truth for all time.

The second premise on which this book is built is that science is at present supplying humanity with the most important information. Scientific truth is also expressed in terms specific to a particular era, so that it may be changed or discarded in the future. Perhaps there are many prejudices and misunderstandings in modern science, as in old myths, but we are too close in time to catch this difference. Maybe in time we will be able to establish the truth through extrasensory perception and transmission of spiritual energy and will not need theories and laboratories. However, the short path is dangerous: it must be admitted that our knowledge is still far from perfect. Be that as it may, today science is the most reliable reflection of reality, and we risk if we do not use it.

The third premise is that if we are to understand what "real life" means, we must listen to voices from the past and combine their messages with the knowledge that science is gradually accumulating. Ideological appeals, such as Rousseau's idea of ​​a return to nature, which preceded the Freudian ideology, are just empty words if we have no concept of human nature. There is no hope for us in the past. There is no solution in the present. It is also pointless to jump forward into an imaginary future. The only way to know what life is is to try to understand the reality of the past and the possibilities of the future as we can understand them in the present.

Accordingly, in this book, by the word "life" we mean what we experience from morning to evening, seven days a week, for about 70 years if we are lucky, or even more if we are very lucky. Such a perspective may seem limited when compared with the higher conceptions of life that myths and religion give us. But if Pascal's statement is reversed, it turns out that in case of doubt, the best solution is to assume that these seventy years are our only chance to know the universe and we must use this chance to the fullest. If we do not do this, we may lose everything; if we make mistakes even after death there is life, we have nothing to lose.

In another translation, "Psychology of involvement in everyday life." This is from a series of "closed gestalts", and not only the fact of reading at last in full, but also the systematization of impressions in the form of a report on what was read.

I read with great interest at one time "Flow. The Psychology of Optimal Experience". This book establishes the actual concept of "flow". So that there are no associations with something like "dangling like ... in an ice hole" or "swimming at the will of the waves", under the spoiler is a definition from the dictionary of academic terms (in such cases I am not a supporter of "retelling in my own words"):

"Flow is a mental state in which a person is fully involved in what he is doing, which is characterized by active concentration, full involvement and focus on success in the process of activity. The flow concept was proposed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, it also includes practical recommendations for entering the flow state "It should be noted that the flow state is not a unique state, many scientists, researchers, successful businessmen, managers and ordinary people experience it. Being in a flow state is not limited to any one particular area, process. It applies to all areas of activity, in which a particular person is involved in. This state is often described by the researched as a feeling of getting pleasure from self-realization, increased and reasonable self-confidence, a pronounced increase in communication skills, the ability to express one’s thoughts clearly and clearly, to convince the interlocutor, to effectively solve the problems of any difficulties or find innovative ways to solve them. The subjects in the flow state have increased indicators of information assimilation, memory is activated, the ability to analyze information, a mild form of anxiety is observed due to increased activity. People outside the flow state and in the flow are often perceived as two different people.

In The Psychology of Optimal Experience, the components of this delightful state are broken down piece by piece. And it is so good that everyone naturally wants to have it. Therefore, I was expecting with enthusiasm that Csikszentmihalya would give ready-made recipes in The Psychology of Passion for Everyday Life, where to get it and how to enter it. And the first time I couldn't even read it to the end. The book turned out to be so "about everything at once" that, according to my feelings, it borders on "about nothing." As if Barbara Sher decided to switch from training to academic genres.

For example, Csikszentmihalya breaks down a person’s day into its constituent parts, painstakingly confirming with the help of research how much time is spent on sleep, how much time is spent on self-care and economic activity, how much - for food, how much for work, how much for leisure, how much of it - for a hobby. Considers how the attitude to one or another aspect has changed. For example, how people treated work before and how they do it now. How this attitude has changed due to the fact that in many areas the process and results have become perceived as somewhat ephemeral. Well, compare the visual visibility and weightiness of the results, for example, of peasant labor with the work of a clerk who "shifts papers." Explores how the types and forms of leisure have changed. Understands at what moments people feel the most satisfaction and / or pleasure. Analyzes the increase in "passive leisure activities". He manages to speculate in passing why watching a movie is easier than reading, but reading more often causes that same feeling of flow, and why doing an activity that does not require preparation is easier than something that needs to be organized first. In general, there really, almost everything and at once. A lot of interesting facts and reasoning. Enough interesting interpretations. For example, I really liked this moment about self-knowledge, which is not deprived of attention in its religious aspects:

“In the 20th century, self-knowledge was strongly identified with Freudian psychoanalysis. Formed under the influence of the political cynicism of the period between the two world wars, psychoanalysis aims modestly: it offers self-knowledge, without setting itself the goal of telling what a person should do with what he has learned about himself. And the understanding he offered, as profound as it was, was also often limited to discovering some of the pitfalls that the ego usually falls into - the harmful feelings that result from the existence of the family triangle and the subsequent suppression of sexuality. Despite the important discoveries of psychoanalysis, its failure was “in giving a false sense of security to people who believed that, having discovered their childhood trauma, they would now live happier lives. Alas, our "ego" is more insidious and complex than such an idea about it.

Psychotherapy is based mainly on memories and subsequent discussion with a trained psychotherapist. This process of reflection under the guidance of a specialist can be of considerable benefit, and in its form it does not differ much from the injunction of the Delphic oracle. The difficulty is that the popularity of this form of therapy leads people to believe that through introspection and reflection on their past, they can solve their problems. This usually doesn't happen because the lenses through which we look at the past are distorted by the exact problem we want to solve. To benefit from reflection, an experienced psychotherapist or long practice is needed.

What's more, the habit of rumination that our narcissistic society encourages can actually make things worse. Research using Selective Experience Studies shows that when people think about themselves, their mood is usually negative. When a person begins to think without having special skills for this, the first thoughts that arise in his mind are usually depressive. If we forget about ourselves in a state of flow, then in a state of apathy, restlessness or boredom, our "ego" usually comes to the fore. So if we're not proficient in thinking, "thinking about problems" tends to make things worse instead of better.

Most people only think about themselves when things are going badly for them, and as a result, they enter a vicious circle in which anxiety in the present reflects on the past, and painful memories make the present even darker. One way to break this circle is to get in the habit of reflecting on your life when you have reasons to be happy with it when you are in high spirits. But it is even better to direct your psychic energy to those goals and relationships that will bring you harmony in an indirect way. By experiencing flow through a complex interaction, we will receive a concrete and objective response, and we will not need to make an effort to think better of ourselves.”

Everything is very well and correctly noted, but see for yourself what the thematic spread is, for example, with these quotes. And under the spoilers, not pretty aphorisms are collected, but namely capacious theses, deployed in separate chapters-reasonings. In this case, I am not at all afraid to sort out with quotes, because, having familiarized myself with their selection, you can not read the rest, "we understood the principle" c):

“In order to experience flow, having clear goals can help—not because achieving goals is important, but because without a goal, it's hard to focus and not be distracted. Thus, a climber sets himself the goal of reaching the summit, not because he has such a strong desire to reach it, but because this goal makes climbing possible. If not for the summit, then climbing the mountain would be a pointless exercise that leaves a person feeling restless and indifferent.”

“Learning to manage your goals is an important step towards improving the quality of your daily life. But for this it is not at all necessary to hit the extremes of spontaneity, on the one hand, or complete control, on the other hand. The best solution is perhaps to understand the origins of motivation, recognize the bias of our desires, and set modest goals that create order in our minds without bringing much disorder to our social and material environment.”

“Passive leisure and recreation do not afford us much opportunity for the exercise of our faculties. We experience flow when we are engaged in activities that give us the opportunity to apply our skills, namely, doing mental work and outdoor activities.”

“Most of us accumulate attention very carefully. We spend it sparingly only on the serious things that matter to us; we are only interested in those things that contribute to our well-being. The objects that are most worthy of our psychic energy are ourselves, as well as those people and things that give us some kind of material or emotional advantage. As a result, we have almost no attention left to participate in the life of the universe on its own terms, to be surprised, to learn something new, to sympathize, to overcome the boundaries outlined by our egocentrism.

“Most of us have learned to conserve our attention in order to direct it to the immediate needs of existence, and we have little energy left to inquire about the nature of the universe, our place in space, or anything else that will not benefit us in achieving our immediate needs. goals. But without selfless interest, life is uninteresting. It has no room for wonder, discovery, wonder, and overcoming the boundaries of our fears and prejudices. If you didn't develop curiosity and interest in early childhood, you should acquire them now before it's too late to improve the quality of your life."

“Many things that seem interesting to us are not so in nature until we try to pay attention to them. Insects and minerals do not seem very attractive to us until we start collecting them. Most people don't seem interesting to us either until we know how they live and what they think. Marathons and rock climbing, bridge playing and Racine dramas are pretty boring, but not for those who have put in enough attention to understand all their complexity. As soon as we focus our attention on any segment of reality, endless possibilities open up before us for action - physical, intellectual or emotional - and the use of our abilities. We will never have a good enough excuse for being bored."

“The more mental energy we put into an event that is painful for us, the more real it becomes, and the more entropy enters our consciousness. But we also will not solve the problem if we refuse this experience, try to suppress it or interpret it differently, because this information will hide in the depths of our consciousness, depriving us of psychic energy and preventing its spread. It will be better if we look our suffering straight in the eye, acknowledge it and honor its presence, and then, as quickly as possible, focus our attention on those things that we ourselves have chosen for this.

“No one can lead a magnificent life without feeling that he belongs to something greater and more eternal than himself. This is a conclusion common to all religions that have given meaning to human life throughout the long centuries of human history. Today, when we are still intoxicated by great discoveries in science and technology, we risk forgetting this revelation. In the United States and other technologically advanced countries, individualism and materialism almost completely prevailed over commitment to one's community and spiritual values.

“It seems more and more that we hide our heads in the sand so as not to hear bad news, and hide behind the fences of our houses under the protection of armed guards. However, our personal life cannot be good as long as we remain aloof from the problems of society, which Socrates knew and understood those who recently experienced dictatorship in their countries. It would be much easier if we were only responsible for ourselves. Unfortunately, the world works differently. Active responsibility for the rest of humanity and for the world of which we are a part is a necessary part of a good life.”

“However, the true task of man is to reduce entropy in his environment without increasing it in his mind. Buddhists give good advice how to do it: "Always act as if the future of the universe depends on what you have done, and laugh at yourself if you think your actions make a difference." It is this serious humor, this combination of concern and humility, that makes it possible to deal with the matter with full involvement, and at the same time at ease. With this attitude, one does not need to win in order to feel satisfied; maintaining order in the universe becomes a goal that brings satisfaction in itself, without any subsequent benefits for man. In this case, it is possible to experience joy even when you are fighting a losing war for a good cause.”

Summing up, I can say that the book left a feeling that bordered on slight bewilderment. Its essence can be summed up in one sentence: Active Views activity is always better than passive pastime." One involuntarily thinks, but this simple, in essence, thesis, really needs to be accompanied by so many explanations, justifications and evidence, in addition, with research? The subject of which, inappropriately to say, sometimes produces an almost comical effect. Or is the thesis so overblown because the "publish or die" principle is still leading in certain circles?

But at least I understood why I enjoy driving so much: this moment is also given a bit of attention in it. But it's not one of those books that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. More curious than educational. And it seems that only people who are inclined to think quite "on the same wavelength with the author" will be able to benefit. For readers of a different "psychological profile" than the author, it will turn out to be "passing" at best, and even frankly "ballast", since it also does not pull on "reading for pleasure and entertainment."

As you know, an industrial society classical industrial capitalism was born in the UK and lived there. (Even Marx built his theories, looking intently at the Island, there was nowhere else to look).

In the same place, in the UK, the word "hobby" was born. They are inextricably linked with each other - "industrial capitalism", ("industrial society") and - "hobby".

Hobby is the cultural practice of the technical intelligentsia in the era of classical industrial capitalism.

Soviet children learn English from old, old textbooks of the 70s...

Already in the middle of the 20th century, the "hobby" practically died out everywhere, even in its country of origin - England. And by the end of the 20th century, it was already completely dead cultural practice. Anachronism. Like How do you do... And how is the habit of getting up from a chair when a woman enters a room.

But ... from the archaic cultural practice that singled out one estate from the others, there remained - old educational texts about the Thames, which we perceived with bewilderment, because the cipher for many things that were discussed there was lost.

Everyone who studied English from old textbooks remembers these strange topics-topics that had to be memorized by heart:

As a hint, it was given: to collect stamps, for example. It was funny and annoying. Well what normal person will seriously collect stamps! ..

Then: to watch on the TV-set. But this, it seems, is not a hobby at all! So, time-killer...

And here we come to the main thing! Indeed, to watch on the TV-set is not a hobby at all... It is a killer of the good old English cultural practice: “hobby is my second profession”.

Yes. Kept on a hobby mental health nations, and the very civilization of capitalism. How did you keep? Now we'll find out.

Why did the ideologists of the Empire force schoolchildren to look for their hobby from the age of eight?

The dangers of "merging with one's profession"

Industrial capitalism and the growth of industrial cities gave rise in the 19th century to such a social stratum of society as " technical"intelligentsia".

"Technical" intelligentsia:

engineers educated at polytechnics (they technically serviced the machines),

Plus, officials public service, who received the widest humanitarian education (they "technically" served the invisible Machine called the State).

There were more engineers in island England and partly in France, because there was real industry and machines. In Russia, in India and in backward Germany there were more officials in the public service, which included bureaucrats of various departments, judicial officials, statisticians, gymnasium teachers, "state" doctors and even postmen.

Add here - land surveyors, topographers and cartographers, agronomists, inspectors, managers, accountants and policemen.

These people belonged neither to the proletariat, nor to the farming peasantry, nor to the lumpen, nor to the higher, aristocratic class.

But the main thing was this: these people were expected to work that required intelligence - from some more, from some a little less. They were the “salt of society”. The axis of the industrial world and the bureaucratic state.

Intelligence is a broad concept, in the most direct sense of the word.

That is, we have no right to state that a person "has an intellect", we cannot single him out sociologically as a group of "intellectuals" if his intellect is developed only in the direction of his profession, his professional skills and his professional interests.

If outside the profession, we see a failure: the tastes and interests of a five-year-old child with mature genitals.

Whoever teaches a barbarian the art of navigation is sentenced to death

Yes, it was in Ancient Greece, in the Athenian Maritime Union.

The ideologists of the 19th century also understood this and had to reckon with the fact that:

“If you want to get a high-quality mental worker who will responsibly maintain complex expensive machines and the State Machine itself, you must bear the costs and instill in him from school years a second professional skill that generates a persistent sincere interest in something else, besides his narrowly directed professional activity.

That is, it was important, having a diploma, not to be a barbarian at the same time.

It can be said that the literal demand from the 19th century elementary school students to “decide on a hobby” was the Second (last but not least) Career Guidance, which served as insurance - and soil for the good growth of the First Career Guidance.

How did the ideologists of the 19th century think?

What will the proletarian do outside of work?

O! In essence, nothing. He does not know how to do anything, is not trained in anything, except how to pour his iron. He does not feel a genuine need to do something that surpasses his mind of a five-year-old child.

The proletarian will go to the pub and get drunk there after a hard working week (working day). It is obvious. He has low instincts, not ennobled and not tamed either by upbringing or education.

The proletarian will go to dog or rat fights. Or boxing. Or he will beat his wife. Or make babies. We are not interested. The proletarian will always find something to do with himself. He is yesterday's peasant, a child of Nature. Let it frolic.

If the City messes it up completely, we have the police, the courts, and hard labor in the distant colonies.

What will an official or engineer do outside of work?

Gentlemen, we cannot afford that the man who builds for us railway junctions, locomotive boilers and bridges has in everything else the mind and instincts of a five-year-old child!

His bridges will be bad. And his life will be bad. And he will destroy our entire civilization with his bad life and his bad bridges.

The ideologists of the 19th century knew how “merging with one’s profession” ends. Today, only psychologists are forced to deal with this. The state no longer assumes the function of preventing this disease...

“Merge with your profession” is a psychological hell.

Hell is after hours, hell on weekends, hell on vacation and hell in retirement.

A man who has not been seriously taught anything but his profession does not know what to do in the hours, days and years after the end of work.

The classical engineer of the 19th century could no longer sink to the level of the needs of the proletarian and he would not go to the pub or to the rat fights.

What was left for him? He was left with: depression, quiet domestic alcoholism and, as a result, suicide.

Now you understand: why the students of public schools (which (schools) were the nurseries of the future "technical intelligentsia") from the age of eight were asked by teachers this obsessive question: What is your hobby, Bobby?

What did these children learn to do before they learned to be chemical engineers, turn into bald uncles and go to work as technologists at a factory!

They brought out new varieties of orchids. Because their “second profession” (and this is a hobby) was selective floriculture.

They bred new breeds of chickens.

They collected stamps because their second profession was postal history, postal history.

Britain was a big empire, the post office lived well, and therefore the fashion for scientific philately went from there - there was material. (We never understood that fashion).

They also looked for ancient Roman coins, digging in their own soil, or the fossil remains of antediluvian animals like trilobites.

We observed the birds of our region.

They collected materials about the history of the city in which they lived.

It was somehow interesting for them to live ... even a simple enumeration of what they did inspires.

But now the industrial, classical era has ended. The post-industrial era has begun.

Smart engineers and even smart teachers turned out to be unnecessary, redundant. The cost of their "enlightenment" from a young age was immediately reduced.

Why is that? Because the machines have become so perfect that the person who maintained them and even created them could already be an ordinary “brainless cog”.

You imagine an imaginary intertemporal dialogue between:

a typical maker of steel equipment

and a typical plasma panel creator?

Honestly, I don't. "Dialogue" will not work. It seems to me that the first would have mistaken the second for a servant and would have asked a) to clean his shoes and b) to take his hands out of his pockets when talking to a gentleman.

The same happened to the humanitarians of the future, who in a new way served the Machine of the State on all fronts.

This machine became so finely tuned that the teacher could only give the students a test that was not compiled by him. Today, this can be done in a computer class, so even a teacher is not needed, but only a janitor to monitor the equipment. The teacher became a watchman.

With danger "an engineer can build a bridge that will collapse because the engineer is not a gentleman and has no concept of responsibility" all clear.

A computerized machine does not make mistakes and does not need concepts.

Well, what about the "emptiness" that occurs immediately after work?

And the post-industrial society coped with this easily!

Democratization of cultural practices. The birth of mass culture. Relegating Cultural Practices to Entertainment

The "technical intelligentsia", whose mind was no longer needed, began to become sharply stupid - from generation to generation - and was soon reduced to the level of the "proletariat". (The same “proletariat” that the socialists grieved so sincerely and to the point, trying to raise it to their level from vomit).

But... The idea of ​​equality always takes a low bar in the end. (After the romantic politicians who call for equaling everyone on a high bar are noisy). And so it happened.

The options “what to do after work” have become democratic, common to absolutely everyone. And for those who just finished school and became a car wash.

And for those who graduated from the Polytechnic and then interned in the most enviable company, which to get into is a miracle. (And to explain on the fingers of the layman - what you are doing there - is generally impossible).

And yet, both of them now, coming home from work, listen to the same music, lying on the same furniture from Ikea. For example, they listen to Rihanna. And what is wrong? Okay, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes furniture is more expensive.

But both of them, freed from work, do nothing good, nothing creative. They do not create Beauty and Goodness. They - consume - Trash and Evil.

Do you even agree with this?

What did the post-industrial society offer itself to do after work? stages of degradation...

With the advent of televisions in the homes of ordinary people, the need to have a severe hobby in order to occupy one's soul with something after work, on weekends, on vacation, and in old age has disappeared by itself.

Old school knowledge workers still resisted, sitting with a magnifying glass and tweezers over their albums, but they soon died out like brontosaurs.

By the 90s. The twentieth century got tired of TV, because the first personal computers appeared - PCs. And accordingly - the first, still funny, computer games. The story of the departure of men of the late 90s to computer games from real life is as sad as the story of the departure of elves from Valinor.

When, at last, sex was finally allowed (and this happened not so long ago), it became clear what to do with the workers after work.

Dating industry

Dating is the industry of “face-to-face dating”, more precisely, the industry of casual intimate relationships and promiscuous sex life: the “norm and lifestyle for the modern successful resident of the metropolis” postulated by the consumer society.

A huge number of businesses operate in this segment (almost all that exist in nature):

hairdressers,

cosmetologists,

plastic surgeons,

diving instructors,

manufacturers of fashionable clothes and sustainable deodorants,

creators mobile applications to search for a partner by a given parameter at a geolocation point,

orthodontists,

travel business,

catering business,

venereologists,

car dealerships,

pickup trainers,

fitness clubs,

coaches for personal growth and self-esteem,

magicians and fortune-tellers.

And in general, all those who sell us any goods and services, the consumption of which increases our rating - in the eyes of the consumer society.

Well, those who do not have the strength and ability at all (or have a stubborn unwillingness) to support the dating industry with their money and time, support the porn industry with their money and time and (recently completely) overflowing its banks - the industry of sex toys.

How interesting, right? We got so distracted that...

Against this background, they have already forgotten about the uncle, who is digging in his garden, breeding a new variety of tulip to give him the name of his daughter: Margarite.

Uncle knows a little Greek (the florist's hobby makes him learn a lot more). And he believes that this is a very subtle name, because margarite is not only the name of his daughter, but also the Greek name for pearls. And the tulip will be exactly the same color as pearls.

But it seems to us that we do not understand the subtlety inherent in the name of the uncle's tulip variety. We are not interested in this at all.

"Hobby" and "leisure": fields of coincidence and non-coincidence of these concepts

We have lost hobbies (like the one described above), but we have not lost leisure. Sometimes he even looks very decent. It even seems from the outside that we are passionate about science.

But as I said, a hobby differs from other leisure activities in that a hobby is, in fact, a second profession, a second personality, a second life.

That is, it was not for nothing that a hobby was brought up from the age of eight - in order to master a hobby, one must, as it were, “graduate from another institute”, only in some way “in absentia” (or “evening”) and without receiving any diploma at the same time!

And everything that - we - are doing "at our leisure", if it requires us to master new knowledge, it is only very superficially, with the prefixes quasi- and pseudo-.

When “biting” into an object is shallow, without difficulty, then endorphins are not released from the situation “I knew!”, “I understood!”, “I decided!”;

very soon it becomes uninteresting and boring, you feel deceived and start changing your “hobbies” like avatars and statuses...

In psychology, such a lightweight type of interaction with information and practices is called: "consumer attitude to Knowledge" and is highly discouraged.

Well, in the language of the modern market, there are no problems here.

Everything we do with information is (in the jargon of the marketplace) now exclusively referred to as "information consumption".

That is, we consume information even when

having bought a telescope and reference books at our own expense, we spend the nights on the roof and then open the star

and then, when we scroll through VKontakte from the phone at a speed of a public about popular astronomy and pictures from the Hubble, and put a like.

According to market jargon, they are one and the same. We - "consume information."

According to psychologists, this, of course, is far from the same thing!

The first leads to happiness, the second leads to depression, which cannot be cured by any medicine. Because there is no cure for "unhappiness caused by stupidity."

P.S

Entertainment or imitation of the Creator?

My humble hymn to steam-punk - the era when the cultural practice "hobby is my second life" , has as its purpose the following warning.

If, in our free time, we only consume (it doesn’t matter what; it doesn’t matter if it’s crude or refined), then we will disappear. We personally.

If, in our free time, we will try to create and comprehend then we will survive. We personally. And what will happen to the rest of society, this is known only to futurologists.

How do I know: I "create and comprehend" or only "consume and have fun"?

Can create and comprehend, playing in an amateur football team in his yard.

In doing so, you will create- living cultural practice, which has no price, and horizontal connections in their own apartment complex, and comprehend you will - of course, human psychology and the limits of your patience ...

Maybe not creative consume and enjoy doing exactly the same thing: playing the same football with the same older men.

We ourselves give meaning to any action.

What was before the hobby? How people live

I am deliberately not talking now about what served as a support for humanity in more distant epochs - before classical industrial capitalism, before the need arose for the phenomenon of "hobby" for the intermediate part of society - the "technical" intelligentsia.

Because, if you think about it, the hobby has always existed and for everyone - only under a different name and without a British accent.

And without stupid, vulgar sociologism, without class division. Without exception from the obligatory practice of "having a hobby" - the lower, as well as the upper classes.

Hobby is the song of your soul if you are human. A musical theme given by Ilúvatar to his Children to be heard and developed. Given by Ilúvatar to each of his Children. And do not sing it out of tune or somehow on purpose awry.

The British ideologists of a stable state knew about this even in their 19th century.