Recently I’ve pondered moving away.
The idea of moving to a foreign location with new people and places excites me. London would be cool.
I’ve shared my thoughts with friends. Ray told me to ask myself why I was moving. “Stevie,” she said, in her Wicklow accent, “make sure you want to move for the right reasons. When I broke up with my ex, I wanted to move to Sweden.” She paused for my laughter to cease. “Yeah, I know it’s mad. I had a job lined up and everything. When I look back I question what I was thinking. I wanted change for the sake of it.”
During the week, I told Marcus of my flirtation with London.
He questioned my reasons. “What do you think you’d gain from moving away?”
“New, exciting things!” I announced with grand arm-gestures. “I’m bored. I want change.”
“You can do new, exciting things here.”
“It’s not the same.” I sulked.
“Stephen, what interests do you have? How do you spend your time? What are your hobbies?”
“Hobbies …?” I thought on this a second. “Well I don’t have ‘hobbies’ per sé, but I never have a quiet moment. I am always doing things and meeting people”. I sighed and came to terms with the truth. “Apart from writing my blog, I have no actual hobbies or interests.”
Marcus is a hobbyist; he’s a member of a walking group, keeps bees, blogs and generally pursues weird, wonderful and alternative outlets of entertainment on a weekly basis. Marcus is the type of guy that tells you to keep an evening free; he won’t inform you where you are going or what he has planned. One such time we went to a Champagne tasting evening in his friend’s apartment. He is most qualified to advise me on hobbies.
“The walking club is a great physical and social outlet,” he explained. “I get exercise and meet people on a weekly basis. I’ve invited you to join. You said it’s not your thing.”
“I know,” I acknowledged. “I suppose I need to do something. Something constructive and creative that involves meeting people. I loved meeting people at the speed dating. I was buzzing afterwards”
“Well you can’t make speed dating a hobby, Stephen.” We both laughed.
“True. How desperate would that be? I suppose I was a member of the running group near work, and I was going to join a book club too. The book club sort of fell through. I’ve never been one for hobbies. None of my family has.”
“So take a look for clubs or things that will interest you.”
“I will,” I replied in an over-enthusiastic tone.
Since this chat with Marcus, I’ve been looking for things to do. Marcus’s emphasis on the importance of hobbies is correct. In our daily toil, most of us perform tasks that don’t impact any kind of output. Take my job for example: I report financial figures. I spend my days manipulating data into complex spreadsheets, reporting the results of my analysis and ensuring my workings are backed up for the future. I don’t actually create anything.
Labour should technically make something; something from which satisfaction is derived. My job doesn’t provide much satisfaction. I believe a form of inward decay has set in – brain rot, hence I crave change and excitement. To avoid drastic action, I should look to alternative sources for satisfaction. I need to make, do and create, use the unutilised part of my brain; dry line my mind from inward decay.
So does anyone fancy a course in knitting or pottery?
MyopicPsychotic's Blog 
Well at least you already know where to go for knitting or pottery courses!!
Come to Reggaeton with me instead 🙂
I think I’d prefer knitting 🙂
What about a photography class?
I think I’m just going to go back to my running group. A writer’s group would be fun.
London is more exciting than Dublin (if that’s where you live) — in my humble opinion! But moving is a big deal; you’d want to make sure to have a job & some sort of safety net in place as well… Maybe you could take a holiday there and see how you liked it, a sort of trial run?
Hi Frieda! I’ve been to London numerous times in the last few years. My friend lived there for a while. I visited him lots. He has since come home. He found it very difficult to settle there. A relocation to London is something I’m considering, but it if I do, I want to think it through.