Following on from Pinkchocolate's hobbies thread, I looked at so many of the hobbies people list and reading comes pretty high on the list for many, I couldn't live without books and reading, they're an essential part of my life.
So when does a hobby become essential and is it still a hobby?
I think you're right B, about women displaying a different type of autism to many men.
I do have knowlege of cooking, plants etc, but then I've been doing these things since I was a child in the case of cooking and many of the others since being a teenager, so what you see is the accumilation of about 50 year of knowlege. I'm lucky having a retentive memory for some things, often useless pieces of information, that only benefit me when doing quizzes.
I've met a few photographers and they will all spend hours, lying on the ground to get the perfect shot.
One of the things I do wonder about special interests though, is the role that gender could play? Is it more socially acceptable for boys and men to have a serious hobby than women and are those hobbies/interests gendered too? Is it more acceptable for a woman to bake and decorate cakes for a hobby/interest than do something that involved being outside and getting dirty? Cakes and similar things can be shared, where as other interests maybe can't in the same way with people in general.
Then theres the issue of resourses, how much spending power does each gender have to persue their interests? Most men I know will spend and think nothing of spending hundreds on their interest, whereas women tend to spend pocket money amounts. Theres also time too, men seem to get away with spending lots of time on thier interests whereas women tend to have other, maybe family orrientated things they "have" to do.
When I have been abroad my choice is to travel by train and this included a trip which started with the Eurostar.
Interesting re the trains.
I have travelled from the south coast of England to Rome by train.
I note you mention trains and I wonder what describes a special interest. Do you have to spend every weekend working on a steam railway or noting down numbers of trains? Or can you like travelling on trains etc.
When I was younger I enjoyed going places on trains and had the full train timetable each year ( before they were privatised) so I could plan my own journeys. It had a map which I had on my bedroom wall and I used to plan journeys in the holidays that went on lines I hadn't been on before, then colour them on my map. I would see how far I could go in a day. On one occasion I went to a city and back a different way, involving a couple of changes each time. If I had the opportunity I would go on a steam train. I liked visiting model railways. When I went away to college and the diesel engines at the nearby city where I changed trains had names I kept a note of the ones I saw. I am a woman who also enjoys sewing etc.
Perhaps this was an interest rather than a special interest? Perhaps part of it is that you see a lot of beautiful countryside. When I have been abroad my choice is to travel by train and this included a trip which started with the Eurostar.
I don't have a special interest so I can' treally comment on them
I haven't read a great deal about autism because I tend to find factual reading hard.
However, I have learnt that we women don't fit into the archetypical 'special' interest that men might and in particular, bearing in mind our age, the sort of 'special' interests that boys who would once have been diagnosed with autism might have eg. a lifelong interest in trains.
We tend to move from one interest to another and also they can tend to be more usual.
I've picked up from here that you have a great interest and knowledge of several things eg. archaeology, nutrition, cooking, herbalism, plants, gardening, paganism.
I think that some might see these as 'special' interests.
When I was diagnosed although I expected the question, I found it really hard to find a 'special' interest but then I realised that some things I've done for many years eg. photography, could be classed as such.
I didn't even mention reading in my assessment.
Maybe 'normal' people wouldn't spend all morning lying on the ground trying to photograph bees and then days trying to identify them.
I think that late diagnosed females in particular probably need to do some unpicking of themselves to understand where we fit into the diagnostic criteria.
To get back to what I was saying after nearly being bumped off by the dreaded orange banner making me have to sign in again.
I might physically survive, but whether I would come out sane from a book free period is doubtful, like you I've read since I was a child.
I do watch telly, but not as much as some and different stuff to most on here, I don't listen to radio as DJ's annoy me to the point of defenestrating the radio and I no longer listen to music due to lack of suitable listening time and more importantly uninterupted listening time.
I wonder if the thing about a hobby not being a hobby when you make money from it, is more about a warped sort of Protestant Work Ethic, where you must not enjoy yourself, especially at work, because work is some mad kind of punishment?
When a hobby is part of a coping mechanism, I think it's still a hobby, I don't see there being anything wrong with having or using a hobby to stablise your mental or physicla health.
I don't have a special interest so I can' treally comment on them
I have a problem with the term "passtime", it's so belittling and suggests that the things you do that give your life meaning aren't important or have any value.
With regard to reading it's something I do for several hours every day and have done so since childhood.
I don't watch TV, listen to music or the radio so it's no more a hobby for me than people watching TV is. Passtime?
I see a hobby as something you do from time to time and you get great enjoyment from - it can be all sorts of things but often is practical.
Then there are 'special' interests which can be very absorbing - photography is something I'd put into that bracket (for me).
I think actually it's quite individual as a thing can mean something very different from one person to another.
'Essential' is a difficult word as if you were locked away somewhere without your books, would you survive?
If so, it's not essential for living but maybe essential for contentment (as it is with me).
That is an interesting question. I spend some of my time repairing and mending things. My Mum taught me to darn and sew on patches. I will tend to work out if things can be repaired in a way that is not obvious before discarding something. I also like to recycle items where possible. I have made curtains, but this depends on the size and whether I have room to make them. When I have made curtains it means I get a pattern I like and the exact drop I want. I used to do a lot more cooking than I do now as I lack the energy. I guess these could be considered essential, but could also be enjoyable.
Some people do a job they enjoy, perhaps related to wildlife or creative, but they get paid for it so couldn't be described as a hobby.
A hobby is something you are not paid for that is optional. You do it because you want to and derive some level of enjoyment overall, enough to keep you doing it.
A special interest can also be a hobby. If you are always thinking about your button collection for example, then that is a hobby. A hobby can be anything you like.
If you really can't stop, then it may have elements of addiction. But if it is not harmful, makes you happy or regulated and doesn't stop you doing other important things, then it can be ok. But you might want to consider if it is an avoidance strategy.
I think a hobby is something you do for fun e.g. reading, and not something you have to do e.g cleaning
Although you could like doing some things you have to do e.g. cooking
I think if you do it regularly and enjoy it it's a hobby
I love to cook, I'm not paid for it, but not cooking's not really an option because of food allergies and intollerances, so it's fortunate that I do do like it, or I probably wouldn't eat.
What about cleaning? Theres lots of thing we have to do to live, but we're not paid for, but they're definately not hobbies
I consider everything a hobby that you don't do as a paid job. In other words, things you do for pleasure.
pinkchocoholic :-)
For me if I dont read I lose meaning as well. It is something to look forward to. In this case I consider it more essential than a hobbie.
