A hobby is an activity that people pursue for pleasure and enjoyment, outside of work or professional life. Hobbies are often activities that involve collecting themed items or objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, fixing or tinkering, sports or adult education. Occasionally hobbies can become productive in terms of acquiring substantial skill, knowledge and experience, however the primary motivation for hobbyists is to gain satisfaction from engaging in the activity for its own sake.
Hobbies can be fun and enjoyable on their own, but many people enjoy sharing their hobbies with others. This can be a great way to make new friends and connections, and can also help keep the hobby exciting and interesting. Whether it’s joining a bunko group, book club or sports team, taking part in a hobby with other people can be very rewarding.
Some hobbies result in an end product like woodworking, software projects or artistic creations, such as papercrafting or even higher-end projects like assembling or restoring cars or building computers from scratch. These types of hobbies often develop into small businesses, and many hobbyists sell their creations to generate revenue to further their hobby or fund other activities related to it.
There are many different hobbies that can be enjoyed, and the list continues to grow with new developments in technology, new trends in society and renewed interest in older activities. For example, stamp collecting was very popular in the nineteenth century and video games are now a major hobby as a result of advances in computer technology.
