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How hobbies can enrich one’s life

Everybody needs a hobby. Some people are naturally more predisposed to boredom. These are the creative ones that if encouraged and nurtured can go on to change the world. But before they save the world, they need to save themselves. As the saying goes, no one can pour out of an empty cup. Many artists and creative folk are prone to listlessness and depression. They need hobbies to keep them afloat in choppy seas and help them tide over challenges. Sometimes, they are prone to dark moods and anger, too. The only way to heal is through staying engaged creatively. What will help is to stay amidst verdant surroundings in a peaceful place with few disturbances so that one can delve into one’s artistic self and draw from the wellspring of creativity that lies within. It must be tapped because unless one uses it, one loses it. It’s just like one’s grey cells. It needs regular honing and application. Creative people owe it to themselves, if not to the world, to try to create, even through th

J is for "Jewelry Collection/Making"

One can collect different things as a hobby. People interested in fashion can collect jewelry. One advantage of collecting jewelry is that you can wear your jewelry and always look well turned out. My mom has always loved baubles. She has bought beautiful artificial jewelry, and I remember seeing boxes and boxes of costume jewelry all over the house as a child. The boxes multiplied over the years. As she got older, she preferred gold jewelry as she considered it an investment. I’m not too particular about the kind of jewelry I wear, except that it needs to be made of surgical steel since I’m allergic to most artificial jewelry. My mom’s collection includes semi-precious stones, silver jewelry, oxidized silver, beaded jewelry, plastic jewelry and even wooden jewelry. Some of the semi-precious stones in her collection include topaz, tiger eye, Indian Jade, lapiz lazuli, malacite, coral, rubies, moonstone, pearl etc. A couple of my primary school friends have taken to ma

I is for 'Insect Collecting'

Yes! Insect collecting is a hobby. People do collect insects and preserve them in chemical solutions. A former colleague and friend from Hewlett-Packard used to do it. She was even featured in 'The Hindu' for her unusual hobby. She said her parents always told her stories of insects while she grew up, so she did not consider them icky or creepy. Now, I’ve got arachnophobia that’s been passed down from my maternal grandmother, so the thought of collecting any insect gives me the heebie-jeebies. I do like ladybirds and butterflies although I don’t really want to collect them. Here is an article on ‘How to start a proper insect collection’ from the Internet in case you want to explore your options. If you enter ‘insect collecting supplies' on Amazon, it throws up a list of supplies like ‘insect collecting net’ ‘insect display case’ etc. Maybe once we are rid of COVID -19, you can look it up.  Children interested in science can do it as a school project for t