Blogging Inspiration - Exploring New Hobbies & Living An Adventurous Life!

I stumbled across a blog today called Sphere of Annihilation, a blog about Tabletop Gaming, Comics, and other nerdy stuff the blog's author, +Ned Leffingwell, likes.  I was first drawn by his post about a new Shadowrun Anarchy product coming out soon - I am loving exploring Tabletop Roleplaying Games, especially Dungeons & Dragons (D&D 3.5e) and Shadowrun (Fourth Edition).  So far I have been enjoying learning to play D&D, and have so far only collecting books on Shadowrun, and hope to learn to play it soon.  

I am enjoying exploring new hobbies, and hope to share what I try on this blog.  Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed with everything I want to try, and everything I want to blog about, that sometimes I don't try or blog about anything.  Which brings me to another lovely blog post Ned Leffingwell wrote, on a Blogging A to Z Challenge he took part in.  I don't know much about the challenge, though it seems to be a challenge where you write something related to each letter of the alphabet, which sounds a fun challenge to me!  But what I really liked about this post, was that it was a personal post of reflection on the challenge, what he liked blogging about, and what he got from blogging.  He says, "I like writing about my hobbies."  It "helps me to gauge how much time and interest I put into them."  "By writing about them I make sure that I am appreciating the things that I collect.  I look at them, read them, play them, and think critically about them."  This is a lovely way to think about hobbies and why to write a blog about them.  

I originally chose to write this blog as a way to explore new hobbies, discover more about what I love, and share an interest for some perhaps unique hobbies that people wouldn't otherwise thought of trying.  I want my life to be more adventurous.  I don't imagine myself travelling the world be doing amazing feats (I'm not sure that is what I would want, even if I had the means to do so), but I do believe you can live a more adventurous life from your armchair.  Even if you are tied down by a career, responsibilities, or even ill health.  There are many fun, unique and exciting hobbies for to discover, attempt and challenge yourself with.  Why not achieve amazing feats in a hobby you can do at home?  Why can't every day of your life be fun, exciting, and filled with a sense of achievement and time well spent, in overcoming a personal challenge of your own choosing, in your own life, right here, right now.  That's how I want to spend my life, always discovering and exploring something new, and having fun in my an adventure playground of my own creation.

Whatever you do, this morning, afternoon, evening, or weekend, have fun and enjoy your life.  

Dreaming Big and Believing in Myself

“Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction. Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight, turns you into who you are tomorrow.”

 ~ Chris Hadfield, Canadian Astronaut

I love these words by Chris Hadfield, after watching him talk on Stargazing Live, he strikes me as both a very calm person but also excited.  He clearly is a person who follows his passions.  Reading his quotes on Goodreads.com, he talks about preparing yourself, just in case.  Not only as an astronaut preparing for potential disasters, but also as a person preparing yourself for what you really want to do in life.

"Look at who you want to be, and start sculpting yourself into that person. You may not get exactly where you thought you'd be, but you will be doing things that suit you in a profession you believe in. Don't let life randomly kick you into the adult you don't want to become.”

I feel so inspired by these words.  Like it doesn't matter that I might not be in a financial position to do whatever I wish I could do, that I don't have the right skills or opportunities to live the life of my dreams.  I can still learn and prepare for the time that this may happen.  And no matter what happens in my life, in preparing for what I dream about, I will be partly living the dream, by doing and learning what I love along the way.

When I allow myself to dream, when I watch movies and see people on TV doing the things I would love to do, I sometimes worry I haven't been learning to play a musical instrument from childhood, I haven't practised my art enough so my skills aren't as good as I would like.  I haven't kept my fitness up, I haven't learnt to dance from a child, how can I possibly become an elegant dancer now, surely it's much too late?

But I think there can be unexpected opportunities in your life, it is possible, even if they are only small opportunities to take part in a small local talent competition, should I pluck up the courage, if I don't prepare now, how will I ever be ready?  I think it was around this time last year I discovered a local talent competition, where you could enter now, and the competition would take place at the end of March.  I had a lovely daydream of how I could dig out my keyboard and actually learn to play it, for March.  But if I'd spent time learning how to play it before the competition arose, then I would have been prepared to take up the challenge of the competition.  I just hadn't prepared.  It is worth preparing and seeing where it leads you.

I could say well my time must be passed, I am in my early 30's now, I haven't studied these skills from an early age, I won't be good enough.  But then why not spend my time learning these skills now, having some fun, and being able to enjoy them in my life?  Why can't I follow my dreams and enjoy my life?  After all, I may not get where I dreamed of being, but I may find myself in rather a good spot after all!

Discover A Life Filled With Passion & Joy

"The world is a delicious and gorgeous place created for us to explore, enjoy, and protect.  I will seek out the lessons in every experience, and as I grow, I will have more to offer in return."

These are the words of wisdom I discovered in Guild Wars 2, the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) I recently downloaded and started playing.  I love fantasy or sci-fi online games that are free to play, and have just discovered Guild Wars 2 is now free.  They have put a lot of effort into making your character feel unique and have their own personal story running through the game, by giving you character choices at the beginning like the one quoted above.  

I think these words ring very true to the attitude and beliefs I would like to encourage in my own life.  A feeling of enthusiasm and excitement at discovering the beauty and the wonder of the world around me.  Sometimes we get a little bogged down with the mundane things we have to do, and can end up stomping around with our eyes down on a grey pavement, and forgetting to look up and take in the little miracles of the world all around us.  Every moment of our lives is different, the weather changes, hence the light is different on the familiar scenes around us.  There will be unique birds singing, wildlife and nature subtly change, so that no moment is ever exactly the same.  We just have to look up and see them.  

I also want to explore and discover new things, try out new hobbies, find new challenges, and further my skills.  Pushing myself to really be the best I can be.  I won't enjoy everything I try, but I am sure I will make some exciting discoveries that will stir my passion, and lead me on a new path in life, that I wouldn't have discovered, if I hadn't first tried something new.  

I hope you find something exciting and beautiful just waiting to be discovered, perhaps a new street you haven't walked down, a garden or park you've not yet visited, the stirrings of your imagination between the pages of a new book, the stroke of a pencil you never knew you could make, or the feel of wet clay between your fingers.  Whatever you discover, I hope it stirs your heart with passion, and fills your life with joy.  

Image Credit:  Image cropped from a screenshot of Guild Wars 2's beautiful scenery during actual gameplay.

Birthday Wisdom When You're Getting A Little Long In The Tooth

Sometimes wisdom can come from the most unlikely of places.  I was making a new appointment with my dentist today, when he told me it would be just after my next birthday.

"Oh, I'll be another year older." I said.

To which he replied, "It's better than the alternative!" 

It's funny but I've never thought of it like that before.  When I was younger I was excited about each new birthday coming up, I had my whole life ahead of me!  But these days, I've been seeing every approaching birthday as just another year older.  I haven't been geting as excited about my age each year as I did in my teens and my twenties.  But now that I've heard this unexpected piece of wisdom from my dentist, I'm a little more excited to be alive!

The only alternative to living (and aging), is dying.  And I don't want to do that.  So now I'm going to think of my birthday as a time to celebrate another year of crazy things I get the chance to do - because I'm lucky enough to be alive to do them!

Photo Credit:  Image by John Kay - Flickr Creative Commons License