hobbies – Page 2 – The Life and Times of Ben Weinberg

What Is Your Spice of Life?

“You may be able to find this in your studies, your daily vocation, or even your career, but for many of us, what you do to earn a living may not make up what you are excited most about in the act of living. We often must look elsewhere outside what we do day to day to find our ‘spice of life.’”

How do we explore the full richness of life? This is the kind of age-old question that philosophers and writers have asked for many centuries. What truly fulfills us and makes us enjoy what life has to offer? I would argue that it’s more important than ever to find the ‘spice’ in life that makes you excited, engaged, and fulfilled. You may be able to find this in your studies, your daily vocation, or even your career, but for many of us, what you do to earn a living may not make up what you are excited most about in the act of living. We often must look elsewhere outside what we do day to day to find our ‘spice of life.’

To get your ‘spice of life’ these days, you have to be willing to put yourself out there and try different things. What gets you excited, motivated, and fulfills you today may not be what motivates you years or decades down the line. You should remember that you won’t enjoy everything you do or try forever so it’s important to stay open minded about other possibilities and to not be tethered to one hobby or interest only. Some people have lifelong loves for different activities, hobbies, or sports, which is great, but you may not be able to do it for the rest of your life so keep it in mind that you don’t get attached to one single activity, hobby, or sport because you may not be able to commit to it forever or be as productive or successful at it in the long term.

I think it is wise to keep your identity pliable not just for one job or one academic calling but to be open to learning new things, to experimenting with new ideas, and to trying out different activities that you have some basic interest in. You won’t love everything you do, and you may only do it for a few months or a few years, but it is much better than the alternative of not having done anything at all. Our collective attention spans have become so short due to modern technology that we don’t even try new things or are patient with it because we are too distracted by the latest gadget or technological development.

True fulfillment and satisfaction can come from mastery of a subject or an activity for which you pored countless hours into and never gave up at it. You can also find the ‘spice of life’ from having fun with it and doing it just for enjoyment alone and not to master it completely. Life has a lot to offer and it’s important to keep that in mind beyond our careers and our education. We may have limited time to do what we want to do but we must prioritize that time because without our own choice(s) in what we want to do, we will not find any fulfillment at all. We can find fulfillment both in our day-to-day pursuits but also in those pursuits we do each week or each month without a set schedule in mind.

To find consistent joy in life is not easy, but it can be done by not giving up, by trying out new things, and by doing those things consistently for a little while to see if it is giving you happiness or fulfillment. Being able to give an activity or a hobby at least a few weeks or a month to try it out is key. If you find you are getting bored with something and don’t enjoy it as much or as often, it is okay to put it on the back burner, but don’t be afraid to try something else. Our likes and dislikes change as we go through life, but it is important to keep finding that ‘spice’ in our lives that gets us excited, keeps us motivated, and brings us joy.

Remember to never completely giving up on finding your own passions and fulfillment in life. It is not easy and is something you must continually motivate yourself to do but it can help your life satisfaction out to have something that you enjoy outside of what you have to do each day. Having nothing to enjoy or have fun doing could remove all the ‘spice’ or ‘zest’ that makes life worth living and you want to avoid getting into that kind of scenario. Be ready to try new things, find activities to do by yourself or with others, and be open minded in what you think you would enjoy.

It helps to make a list of activities or things that you have done that you would like to do again as well as those activities or things you’ve never done before but would like to try. There are tons of activities, hobbies, sports, or things to do in this world and you just have to try a few at a time to retain the ‘spice of life.’ Make sure you live life to the fullest in this way and I promise that you will not be disappointed by making the conscious choice to try new things.

Sunset in Dubrovnik

Camera: iPhone 12

Location: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland

Sugarloaf Mountain

Camera: iPhone 12

Location: Sugarloaf Mountain; Barnesville, Maryland

Hiking in Shenandoah National Park

Camera: iPhone 12

Location: Shenandoah National Park; Virginia and West Virginia, USA

Why A Digital Detox Is Good For You

“It is a great chance to recenter yourself, focus more on what matters to you whether it is more time spent with family or friends, or just to be more present with the world around us without staring at our phone, computer, or even our smartwatch.”

We are not meant to be on our digital devices 24 / 7 / 365 a year. I think a key part of realizing how our digital lives are so integral to who we are nowadays is to take some time away from them whenever possible. On a recent vacation I was on, I was able to be without cell service or an internet connection for a week. I do have to say that while the first day or two was difficult, it became nice to be out of reach for a while. It is a great chance to recenter yourself, focus more on what matters to you whether it is more time spent with family or friends, or just to be more present with the world around us without staring at our phone, computer, or even our smartwatch.

Now, in work or in school, we are always expected to be plugged in and reachable even when we might not want to be. However, if you’re on a break, a vacation, or it’s the weekend, I do believe that is a good time to have a digital detox where you can put your devices away. A day, a week, or even a month, is not asking too much to get away from your emails, your social media, or your mobile applications. In that time away, you can really interact with the physical world more fully, feel more present with what you are doing, and it is likely to be healthier for you to devote more time to walking, hiking, playing sports. Instead of reading Twitter or X now, you can read some books. Instead of listening to Spotify, you can play some records or some CDs on your speakers to gain a greater appreciation of the music you like.

In addition, you will have more time to pick up a new skill like playing the guitar, focusing more on your home life with fixing up your apartment or house if it has been neglected, and you can take full advantage of spending more time with friends and family. Digital detox is not so much unplugging from technology forever but temporarily taking some time away to focus on other parts of your life that may have been neglected due to your time spent online. It is hard for most of us to realize this fact, but we likely spend 4-5 hours a day online especially if we have classes or must work online for our jobs.

On top of video games, streaming TV and movies, and the rise of augmented and virtual reality headsets, we are on the path to being more present virtually than being present physically. There is such an endless amount of content that we are exposed to when online that it can be overwhelming for us. If you find that you are too wrapped up in your emails, your Instagram feed, your TikTok videos, or just not being able to pull away from your computer to get enough sunlight and fresh air, you could use a digital detox.

After my week away from being on my laptop, phone, and tablet, I felt lighter in the sense that I was not so overburdened by the constant stream of emails, updates, reminders, news updates, and overall wave of notifications that come with being plugged in. You really live more in the moment when you don’t have your devices with you or in my case, not being able to connect to WIFI or the 5G connection while we are on vacation. Overall, this is a good thing to happen in my view. If someone needs to reach out to us, a regular phone call is still possible or if it’s an emergency, you can enable texts or messages to come through to you.

However, there are many activities and hobbies to do without needing to be online as you’ll soon find out when doing your digital detox.
I encourage you when you go on vacation from work or school to leave your phone and computer on silent or off or even leave it at home. You’ll be surprised on how much you don’t miss it after 1-2 days of the initial FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) hurdle. You will likely be more present with others, more engaged with the world, and more aware of what you are actively doing without the necessary digital distraction or allure that the smartphone, smartwatch, or laptop has on us.

Yes, we do need our digital devices most days, if not every day, but if you can at least take the weekend off, or take a few hours where you’re unreachable, then that is also a good form of digital detoxing. I do recommend using a week or two each year to not be reachable via your devices or to not use them at least for Internet, email, or any mobile applications.

That week or two where you’re fully unplugged will do a world of good for you and your loved ones who could join you to be fully present with you. You’re likely to be closer to one another, enjoy doing more things together, and really appreciate what the physical world has to offer whereas you’re not really thinking anymore about what’s going on online or what kind of digital content you’re potentially missing.

Lastly, we should remember that for hundreds, if not, thousands of years, everybody got on pretty well living their daily lives without being able to have the Internet, computers, or TikTok. They managed to do just fine in the world without the digital age. I think it is good for each of us to remind ourselves that we can get by fine without our devices, if only for a short while. Overall, It is good in my view to be free of technology here and there because as much as we rely on it more and more nowadays, it is not the end all, be all for our lives here.

Be Interested and Be Interesting

“How might you ask can you take a typical ‘small talk’ and make it interesting? Well, you should be able to show some humility by being interested in who they are by asking them some questions.”

Making small talk can be a necessary yet tedious part of daily life. It sometimes may not come naturally to you, and it can be forced at times. However, it is a courteous and polite way to get to know people who are complete strangers to you and to show that you are not oblivious to their presence around you. While ‘small talk’ often revolves around the weather, a simple ‘hello, how are you?’ or just mentioning something about the time of day, the commute to work or school, or maybe a small compliment to brighten their day, it can sometimes lead to a good conversation and even a new friend.

How might you ask can you take a typical ‘small talk’ and make it interesting? Well, you should be able to show some humility by being interested in who they are by asking them some questions. You can take a general comment on the weather to ask if they are used to that kind of weather or if it is new for them. That can lead to a talk about their hometown or where they currently live or if they are just visiting on travel. You would be surprised how a seemingly small question can lead to a wide-ranging and deeper conversation. A comment about the traffic or commute to your work can lead to a discussion on what could be improved about the roads, the transportation options, or if remote work would make things easier for you and the other person.

Even just asking for the time of the day can lead you to asking about their watch (if they have one), if their day is going well or not, and perhaps a comment on if the day is going fast or slow for them since we can tend to perceive time’s passing differently from one another. Key to taking ‘small talk’ to what could be considered ‘medium talk’, or a genuine conversation is to listen intently, wait until they are finished speaking, and follow up with a question or a comment relevant to what they told you.

If you are in a rush, are having a bad day, or are just not in the mood to continue the conversation, you can let it end after the ‘small talk’ or pleasant greeting or two. However, if you feel like you would like to get to know the other person or group of people better, make sure to listen, let them finish, and ask a question about them (within reason), or like the general comment(s) you made, and keep the conversation going for a while longer.

You should not have to do all the work in the conversation and if it is running its course, politely excuse yourself and say goodbye and that it was nice to meet them. Conversations naturally start and end but if you would like to be more social, make a new friend, or just put yourself out there in the world more, you must ‘be interested’ in those around you. You should do your best to refrain from making the conversation all about you at first and what you’re up to. Naturally, that should make its way into the conversation but if you started talking to this person, you would like to get to know them more, then, I believe you should be interested in who they are, find out more about them, and get to know them beyond just the time of the day, the weather forecast, or how their day is generally going.

Even if you feel like you don’t know much about their work, school, hobbies, interests, or where they are from, it shouldn’t prevent the conversation from continuing as you can show curiosity about their background and try to learn more about them from themselves. If there is anything I have learned about my own social life, people like to talk about themselves and will be happy to answer questions about themselves if done in a polite and respectful manner. It’s important to know someone’s boundaries especially if they are still somewhat of a stranger to you but usually, they’ll be willing to share a lot about who they are, where they are from, what they like to do in their free time, and what gets them excited about life in general.

If you feel like your social life could use a boost, I recommend being more interested in others and you should start to feel like you’re making progress in your conversations. Now, it should not be so one sided that they know nothing about you as that would be a bit odd as they’ll likely want to ask you the same questions in response. The conversation should not feel like a one-sided interrogation or a job interview. There should be a natural give and take where you both are interested in each other and you are letting each other answer questions, talk about possible mutual interests, and even discussing if your personal backgrounds overlap at all.

The 2^nd part of a successful beginning of any kind of positive first impression is to ‘be interesting’, which I know is a broad statement to make but you should have things to talk about to that person. You should know a little bit about where you’re from, talk about what excites you about life whether that’s a particular hobby, interest, or activity you like to do. Your life will often involve work or school or both at the same time, but I would recommend making yourself interesting beyond what you do to make a living. If you like traveling, let the person ask you about where you’ve been. If you enjoy learning languages, discuss which ones. If you like to build bird houses or molding ceramic pottery, discuss the process(es) involved in getting either activity done.

While you should be interested in other people to get to know them and have interesting conversations, don’t be shy to discuss who you are in return. You should have a life that is beyond work or school even if it is a large part of our lives. If you don’t have many hobbies or interests, perhaps pivot to what goal(s) you have for the future. It is easier when you have a lot on going on in terms of your outside interests, activities, or hobbies, so that is where the ’be interesting’ comes into play.

You don’t have to be doing something cool, exciting, or fascinating every day, but I find it is easier to build a friendship or relationship when you can share something that you are passionate about and can even include them in on. Whether it is traveling together, going on a hike, building something out of wood or metal, or maybe playing a sport, you can show you are an interesting individual. You can also show that you are inclusive too by allowing yourself to show that hobby or interest to the other person and see if they would enjoy doing that with you as a result. They can also let you join in on what they enjoy doing as well giving you a new hobby or interest that you can learn more about, partake in, and build upon with that other person as well.

Being social may not come naturally or easily to some of us but I think a good way to make it easier is to ‘be interested’ in who they are, what they do, and how they came to be who they are today. Once you do that, you can show that you can ‘be interesting’ with what you enjoy doing in life and that you would like them to be involved or help them learn about it and see if it is something they want to try. I think these are two good ways to be better socially and can lead you to building stronger friendships and relationships as a result.