Does Anyone Have a Creative Hobby

[Michelle]

Who out there plays an instrument, writes, paints, sculpts, or something else that is creative? Why do you do it?

I am a professional singer, my hobby is writing on my blog. I do it because it relaxes me and I find the silence a nice contrast to my music filled days.

[Calculusaurus]

I play piano. I used to do artwork (painting, drawing, etc). I'm more focused on music right now, but every once in a while I find a way to be artistic--I doodle in class, I play with photoshop, do web design, etc.

Creativity is a big part of my life. I'm not saying I'm a creative person, but I enjoy activities that require at least a little creativity.

I find them to be activities that inherently worth my time. That is, I don't play piano or draw for the end result, but for the experience itself. It's self-rewarding. Sure, it's nice to show off your stuff in front of an audience once in a while, but it's not why I do it.

You can describe it as a positive escape from reality. People often use TV or video games to escape stressful and difficult lifestyles. But once they return from the TV, the problems still exist; i.e. it's a negative or neutral escape from reality. Creativity, on the other hand, is a positive escape. You leave the activity feeling replenished. And you accomplished something while you let your mind focus away from day-to-day difficulties.

And it looks like there might be a nice reward for this type of lifestyle! Sexual Success And The Schizoid Factor

[Minishark]

I started playing the drumset in the 9th grade, and now it's a huge part of how I define myself. Finding other musicians to play with is a great way to meet people--all my best friends are people I play music with. It's also my therapy--If I'm feeling sad or angry or nervous, I just go play my ass off for an hour and I feel all better. It's even a fair amount of exercise, especially if you're playing heavier music.

[songwriter]

As I'm unemployed now, all my life is a hobby...

Well, I don't know if I should call music a hobby...

[Gautam]

I play the guitar, piano and I compose music and publish online through my website.

I also do art (manual & digital) and SLR Photography and I publish them online at deviantart.com

I also write short-stories and scripts.

In general I always find a way to keep my self amused and busy..,

[Addict]

I do stencils and free hand spray painting sometimes. Both are really great mediums for creativity. I also consider game development as one of my hobbies, even though I need to put more time into it. There are so many other things I would if I had the time too: film, art, music.

[Dating Specialist]

I love the piano! But circumstances always allow me to learn for a while and stop.

Still love it... so will be picking it up again sooner or later.

Luckily, I'm still breathing my passion every day, which is to be present in the love industry. I like to write, so I blog everyday on my site about love and marriage, dating & relationships for all singles and couples.

So, it's two in one! Writing plus loving ha

Like dancing too. Well, all in all, seems pretty normal. Nothing creative. I kind of have a limiting belief that I'm really not a creative person

[Michelle]

Wow, all really diverse and special creative hobbies.

Isn't it great, Dating Specialist, to make a living doing what one loves. Amazing.

The blogging is just the icing on the cake. Yumm!

[Andrew Brunelle]

I write funny scenerios that most people would never be able to get out of...here's one.....You're kidnapped by terrorists and they say the only way they will let you live is if you make love to one of the following people: Maury Povich, Al Sharpton, Rosie O'Donnel, or Ronald McDonald....which one do you choose? The Grimace is not an option!!

[mister_mojorisin]

One hobby I have is bird watching, the other was spawned by feeding birds in my yard and that is building bird feeders, bird houses and nestboxes. Spending the day in my workshop allows my creative juices to flow. Not only does it bring me joy and happiness, it helps the wildlife in my neighborhood!

Another creative aspect of my life is computer related. I cannot draw and I do not have a musical bone in my body, but when it comes to developing software my creativity is sometimes overwhelming!

[dpvtank]

I absolutely love photography. I think I do it because I want to capture a moment before its over. I think that gives me great joy. Something unique, or odd or a moment that might forever go away is crystalized in a picture. How cool is that?

I run a little photoblog to get my pictures out there to the world. I sometimes get very little critique, but I keep snapping pictures as many times as I can and at as many places as I can.

[shameless promotion]http://dpvtank.shutterchance.com[/end shameless promotion] if you want to see some of my photography and (hopefully) give me some good critique.

[Lucas]

I write instrumental rock music with my band. Its less of a hobby and more like my being. We dont get much time to practice, but we make the most of it.

[elainevdw]

I'm a henna artist! You can see some of my work in the gallery on my Web site. There's some crazy beatiful henna art in the HennaTribe Flickr pool, too, a group that I contribute to.

I also love writing... I'm the associate editor for a local magazine, and, like everybody else in the world, I harbor dreams of publishing creative work. So far, the furthest I've gotten with side projects (i.e. stuff not for my magazine) is a really, really old draft that got "cherry-picked" at ABCTales.com. Yikes, is that thing in dire need of revision!!

Also, when I was a kid, I used to make animated flipbooks out of Post-It note pads. And I can play a few things on the guitar. Used to take piano and clarinet lessons, and I drew a few mini comic books in high school and college.

Art -- it's a way of life!

[Strangemagik]

I used to paint when I was a kid. I enjoyed it but haven't really done it in YEARS. I also started learning keyboard/piano while little. I took a course in college but still wouldn't say I "play" really. I can read music pretty decent and can practice my way into a playing a song but I can't sight read so it takes me forever to learn a song.

My favorite lately is photography. I'm really into and so far only have a point and shoot camera with some manual modes. I use the apreture priority mode and am learning alot for that day when I *gasp* can afford a DSLR. I'm not that great but you can view some of the photos I've taken here: Flickr: Photos from strangemagik

[scottyp]

I make music and write (about music stuff).

Currently a student, make my side money doing computer repair.

[MarkusL]

I draw, do art with Photoshop, and writing. Drawing and writing gives me alot of creative power so I do them alot. Writing stories also takes you away from reality because you get to create a different world than what you are in now.

[Cath]

Way too many...
I play piano, a little guitar and i used to play the violin. I also used to write my own songs, but i haven't for a while now.
I love being busy with my hands, i love creating things, I've always adored drawing, painting, working with clay, beading, chrocheting and knitting.
But most of all i love designing clothes and making them, and i hope to be able to do this for a living some day.

[Dharma]

I am photographer and sports photography is my passion. I love to do it because I have to be so in the moment to capture what's going on and not get trampled by players. I also love how I give my images that "pop" in Photoshop.

A few years ago I left computer programming. I was a programmer/system designer and found I would slip into a very creative space in the mind. I did the programming because I like making stuff, love computers, and it makes a boatload of money.

[Che]

I write, and I also do anything that involves paper. I love paper. Obsessed with it. I like drawing, painting and especially collage. (I derived such joy from gluing paper together!). I also enjoy making my own paper, dying paper, and making transparent papers. Paper paper paper.

[Scott B]

I am at heart a writer and am currently working on various stages of eight stories. I love poetry and I have recently published a poetry book currently available at Lulu but will soon find its spot at Amazon and bookshelves (the latter will be difficult but that's why life is fun). I am pretty good at Photoshop but lack the money to upgrade my computer to handle complex work but no worries. My best art, however, is my imagination.

[Mnemosyne]

I create bonsai!

(Ok, I'm learning to create bonsai, it's a process that takes decades to master and I'm only a few years into it!)

[Alarin]

I work as a fantasy artist and children's illustrator - Treelight Studios - so my day job is always creative and I really enjoy it I paint digitally (Painter IX) and with watercolors and acrylics.

I used to play the piano, guitar, sing and write songs and then I moved to digital composition which is still something I love and is my main hobby - Alarin Music

I also keep an illustrated journal (example), and do a lot of web design and Photoshop work as well.

[Colin Pedicini]

I like to run as that keeps me in shape. For someone with cerebral palsy it's even more important.

Reading historical biographies.

I also wrote a play about first semester of college at the end of last semester. I finished it on 23 December 2005.

Go Suns! (NBA) And Go Aggies! (NMSU)

[andrew]

Music and design for sure, which are more like my life than hobbies. I play guitar and a tiny piano for theory. I love to sing, but my voice kind of sucks and I can't keep pitch, even though I was in chorus for like 10 years.

Design, esp, web and graphics require creativity, along with programming.

Once in a while a little photography.

And, of course, PD.

[alsy]

I sometimes have periods of inspiration where a creative stream starts flowing. This has been going on for a long time, and only over the past few years I have spent more time capturing this in a visual journal. Sometimes there is so much flowing its hard to capture everything. Details come to me in each inspiration for ideas to do with new technological products I have been desiring to bring into form. Some ideas relate to my hobby of musical valve amplifiers. Which is actually old technology and I have already made some things in that area. I intend to bring the journal ideas, into form. Since I discovered Steve’s Blog and Forum a few weeks ago, I have come to understand the process that has been forming over so many years as no different to Intention Manifestion. Whenever I set an intent or desired outcome, I would get frustrated initially and not much understanding or creativity would be happening. At a later time an inspiration would come and I would see part of the picture. Later I tried to come up with ideas to complete it but little came of it. I got fed up, and it was not until (I now realize) I re visited the intent of what I wanted and released it, that it would later come again in more a complete picture. So the ideas ended up being the manifestation.
I wonder if full time creative artists go through the same process. Perhaps without being conscious of it. In the same way that one does not consciously think of pressing the clutch pedal in a car to change gears after driving becomes second nature.

Why do I do it? As far back as I can remember, I have always had a fascination and the desire to understand how things work. I remember at somewhere around 4 years old; removing the dashboard out of dads car to see what would happen if I cut the wires and shorted them together. It got smokey in the car and it was a mess. My fascination and questioning has led me through an evolving journey. It’s like an inner drive I have been following, which has led me to this point. That drive has helped manifest things in the journey.
I feel alive and joyful after inspiration and being in the creativity flow. I sometimes feel motived by the experience. Excitement comes out of having EVERY SINGLE DESIRE OR INTENT manifest in those inspirational moments.

[Conan Stevens]

I guess my whole life is 'creative' - creative thinking on how to avoid a 9 to 5 job!

Pretty succesful at it - I am a professional actor, I wrote my first movie script for cinema (got funding and we're shooting late January) and write my own blog - about 650 pages now in 4.5 months.

My life is my hobby, I would not have it any other way. I'd put a gun to my head if I was to work 9 to 5 for a corporation

[Beloved]

I am a crafter - doing anything crafty interests me such as sewing, painting, jewellery making and much more. I even work in the industry.

[Bingjie]

I've been dancing hip hop for around 6 years since my varsity days, and this year I'll be learning jazz, contemporary dance and dance improvisation! I'm fascinated by the art of dance-making (choreography), especially when you add other stuff like mixing/creating your own music, getting the right multimedia images to project on the stage, designing and creating your own special costumes etc.

Dance is about paying tribute to your own body and giving thanks to the music created.

[Steve Rodgman]

I haven't for a long time, but I am going to start playing the piano again. I also want to learn the guitar. One day I will record songs or an album of some kind -- maybe with a band, etc. I can sing too.

Currently my main project is my website which I write articles on.

Creativity can be expressed in absolutely everything you do. It should be a part of your daily life.

Steve

[Trina]

Another photographer here. I have been doing it for about three years seriously now, although I dabbled with it a little in high school (a darkroom class and three years of yearbook) and have always been attracted to taking pictures. I am hoping to one day have an exhibit in a gallery somewhere.

I also have a shutterchance if anyone wants to look. I will admit that it has been a while since I uploaded anything. In the last few months my husband and I have moved, had our living room and kitchen re-tiled, and completely redecorated our living room so I have been super busy. I will try to update it more. Here is the link...

photoblog: wicked

I also have a flickr but I forgot to pay the bill and it expired and a lot of my good pictures have been removed. Feel free to check it out though...

Flickr: Photos from *¦wicked¦*