Since the purpose of a blog may partly be to make arbitrary and outrageous (sometimes silly?) statements, let me say that most interests in life can be categorized to one of five “f’s” – food, fashion, finances, family and fun.
I used to worry about the fact that in my blog entries, I have very little to say about the first two, food and fashion, knowing full well that they are of huge interest to a great number of people.
But that’s the beauty about writing a blog. Anxiety with respect to subject matter can itself be turned into a blog entry. Hence what you are currently reading.
As for the third “f”, I can’t imagine that readers would be very interested in my finances. Lord knows, I don’t want to think about them.
My own interests in life have now reduced to family and several subsets of fun, including economics, art (i.e., paintings) and the National Football League. By the way, I include friends as both extended family and fun. And yes, to me, economics is fun.
I have found that personal interests peak and recede according to one’s stage of life. In the dating years, one gets out and about through such activities as sailing and skiing. Vestiges remain in later years, but they cease to be all-consuming.
Buying one’s first new home, with a yard, encourages an interest in gardening. I used to know a fair bit about gardening – the names of all the plants and where they should be grown, sunny or shady conditions and rich versus sandy soil.
But now our garden has run riot and my wife and me mostly hunker down in the house, hoping not to be absorbed, venus-fly-trap-style, by the encroaching jungle. On occasion, we have ventured out with an axe to “trim things back” a bit, only to retreat in fear and confusion after making little progress. Our next foray into the yard will include a flanking manoeuvre led by a chain saw.
Carpentry and photography have been other hobbies that have waxed and waned. Reading has been an abiding interest, in successive waves of genres. These began with the classics in university followed by science fiction, fantasy, mystery, action/adventure, history and, most recently, art history. Reading is a tremendous source of knowledge and contentment.
As for spectator sports, I used to like watching hockey when I was a younger, but no rational person could stay interested in the Leafs through the Harold Ballard years and I’ve never regained my enthusiasm.
Also, a good deal of the flare went out of the game when the players started wearing helmets. I know it’s insensitive of me to point this out and I wouldn’t want it on my conscience if they ever reverted to the old skull-cracking style.
The one sport I am still really interested in is U.S. professional football, but I’ve written on that topic already.
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