I don't know if this has any direct bearing on Chris' situation, but I
think it's worth saying anyway...
I am a strong believer in the importance of hobbies to the human condition.
For me, it's very therapeutic to provide myself a little haven where I can
crawl into and be creative and have 100% control over what I'm doing while
I'm there.
If it weren't 2600 programming it might be music recording or another video
documentary or a computer animation project. It would be SOMETHING.
That was why I did the first Starpath CD. My daily life at the time SUCKED
and it was something I could focus in on and nudge forward and ultimately
be proud of completing.
Most people's careers involve compromises of some type. When I was a kid I
dreamt of being like Peter Jackson, being the Lord of the Rings
auteur. That dream fizzled when I realized I didn't have the mettle to do
the Hollywood shuffle. So what do you do with your sense of disappointment
when you find yourself locked into a steady career that is not exactly your
dreamjob?
A lot of people just allow themselves to get depressed about it. My
approach is to maintain that tiny little space, even if it's just a few
hours a week in the middle of the night, where I can focus on my
hobbies. If you are single and childless and have any interests at all you
have no valid excuse not pursuing them, I'll tell you that! Time is a
terrible thing to waste, as the Pink Floyd song goes...
You know those stories about eccentric guys who spend decades building
castles in their backyards stone by stone and things like that? I'm like
that. People like that can be the butt of a lot of jokes while they are
working on these things, but the bottom line is that they are transcending
the limitations of their lives.
This is the kind of thing we used to do all the time when we were kids. We
had to transcend being a kid. We built treehouses, did slot car racing,
joined a garage band, whatever. But slowly the creative impulse gets
beaten out of you where you are expected as an adult to do your dayjob,
then go home crack open a beer and veg out watching Cops or something.
That's very stifling. When you have a hobby project you can see yourself
passing milestones, ever so slowly, even when you are basically just
counting days on the calendar at your dayjob. It really helps give your
life more meaning. And beyond your kids (if you do have kids) it helps you
build a monument of your works that can outlive you.
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