Writing: Writing and Other Hobbies

Hi everyone! I have been thinking lately about the meaning of life or more like how to gain a meaningful, satisfactory, and happy life, and not feel worthlessness. I may have told you already that I run a therapeutic discussion group for the senior citizens. I have seen a huge divide with those who feel their life is and has been satisfactory despite the usual ups and downs, and I think the difference who survive better from life’s cruelty is due to attitude. We cannot control what we get. Luck and pure chance sometimes take charge of what we see and experience, and we cannot control other people and what they do, but we can control how we react. Dwelling in hatred, anger, and bitterness seldom will give you a satisfactory life. It will only drain you. The last time the group talked about how not to fret about the future or stay in the past too much, and one older lady said that if you keep busy and do something you love you need not fear the future or hate the past. While I think we need to acknowledge the past and address those issues coming from there, I agree that doing something you love and losing yourself to it is beautiful and will give meaning to your life. For a long time, that was writing for me and still is, but when something is your main focus, you need something else to excite you and keep your mind fresh.

Lately, that new thing for me has been macro photography. Some of you know that I love to take long hikes, and now I have brought my camera with me after I bought cheap macro extension tubes (they cost around 30 euros, includes the postage.) Finally, I can see what the eye cannot always detect. I find the minuscule nature fascinating. There is a vast world out there, and it feels like I have discovered an alien planet. When I’m behind my camera and take pictures of bugs, butterflies, flowers, vegetation, I feel this pure joy. No pressure, just discovery. And the funny thing is, I was a fussy child. I hated bugs and insects and anything that crawls, bites, and stings, but through the camera, I see them as my friends. Something to respect and adore. Last week, I went into the woods and came across a poisonous snake (sorry, no picture). It slithered just past me when I was taking pictures of pink flowers, and I didn’t fear it. In the past, I would have panicked, but now I saw how majestic the creature was and how it was part of nature. It slithered on a tree trunk and if I didn’t know it was there, I wouldn’t have seen it. It belonged there more than I did, with my trekking boots and my camera.

What I’m trying to say with my rant, is that trying new things, giving yourself into something without pressure and loving it for the sake of the action itself is healing and nurturing. Hobbies are important. They give life so much meaning. And I think the older lady in my group is right if you keep yourself busy, you don’t have to fear the future. What good does fearing something you cannot see and control (luck and other people) do? I don’t want to be angry and bitter when I’m in my eighties. I want to be in peace with myself, that I have lived a good life despite what life throws at me. This might sound as if I have forgotten my passion for writing, but no, not at all. Photographing, hiking, climbing, and the rest of those activities give so much for my prose. There is nothing like being in a forest alone with your thoughts, the bird calls, and the wind rustling the leaves. There I can think.

Have a nice day! And thank you for reading my post.

Yours,
Ashcomb

P.S. Both the ants (feature image) and the butterfly are my new friends. I met them on my journeys.