But price to pay!
growing and caring for bonsai
Not unexpected benefit, but just knowing more things.
The books that you read, the more things you will know.
The universe is expanding, read and let your mind follow suit.
I visit different libraries in my city 2-3 times a week just to stroll through and open random books. I hope this always remains an option, because there is just something beautiful about opening a book, feeling the pages and even the smell when it is a particularly old book! LOL
In pre-AI days, I'd spend hours each week reading Wikipedia. There are so many topics about so many things in our wonderful world to learn about. Some are really tragic, some hopeful, some are about animals or plants in places I may never be able to visit, and so on.
Currently, I'm enjoying using AI to take me on "journeys" not only around the world, but through time and "dimensions" as well. For fictional works, I can engross myself into their world with a AI and "feel" like I'm there.
Reading is a neat distraction. Before I go to sleep I learn about something cool and interesting and when I have follow up questions, I am able to satisfy my curiosity.
Learn some Japanese. Become less afraid of falling.
The colors coming out of modern Sony/Canon/Nikon SLRs are technically perfect but people tend to prefer their memories with rose tinted glasses ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Here are a few examples on my Flickr account: https://flickr.com/photos/---mike---/albums/7217772029791881...
The images that focus on the Wrigley Building or the Tribune Tower in Chicago have a virtual aperture of about 10 feet across. For most subjects it's more like 6-12 inches in diameter.
I used to do the manual picking of point pairs on the train while commuting to Chicago. It was quite relaxing.
calling friends on the phone is underrated.
Another of my hackathon projects is now a company finishing up a bridge round, with our 510k equivalence paperwork submitted to the FDA a few months ago. It consisted, at time of judging, largely of powerpoint slides and burnt teraflops.
I would categorize the first as a hackathon done right, and the second as the astonishing incentives that whisper “don’t do this hackathon right”
It’s a hobby that simultaneously brings immense gratifying pleasure to oneself, while being able to share it with others to enjoy.
Incredibly fulfilling to get real time feedback of people smiling, swaying their bodies and nodding their head when playing random public pianos that I find, which is also a hobby of mine - seeking out public pianos and sharing music and sometimes even doing free repairs and tunings on them since a lot are in bad shape.
Stuff like helping people I care about grow or handle challenges, connecting people who would likely get along well, creating or growing communities, being active and doing good stuff in my area, helping people do things like fixing their deck or whatever, a dab of local politics when it's worth it, just plain old keeping in touch etc.
It can be really rewarding and has some great long term benefits for everyone involved. It's not really seen as a hobby but it's certainly a "hobby" I'd love to see more people consciously participate in.
I personally prefer to go as hand tools as possible. I don’t like loud noises. A sewing machine is the most I want to deal with. There is no noise in leather crafting that doesn’t come from straight up elbow grease. I’d not enjoy woodworking with power tools all weekend (which is why I haven’t picked that up yet. I haven’t figured out what I can expect to get done wir hand tools).
There are more hobbies than that of course. More garment / fiber stuff like weaving, knitting or crochet, making jewelry, welding, black smithing all with various degrees of resources required to get started. Another benefit as a man is that most of the time our trends are much more minimalist so you generally get away with larger and simpler items in those women dominated hobbies like sewing (except formal wear. Suits can fuck right off) so it’s not actually that hard to start one of those hobbies very casually and just end up with something you can use for the next decade and be fine. Like, rings, wallets, shirts, pants, sweaters are probably all gonna be text book „how to make an x“ without much details and be in fashion for the next 20 years.
Well I'm not sure it really counts as a hobby as such, but it's definitely "diverting and pleasurable".
Generate the idea, break it into scenes, shots, narrative, how to set up the shot, how to frame it, the edit, music, composition, publishing. It's a great hobby for me.
Just you, on a plank, pointed downwards.
My unexpected benefit was wanting to live near the snow, which meant thinking really hard about if leaving the big city was worth it. Living in the rural countryside next to a mountain is amazing.
For me woodworking or similar DIY projects making things with my hands (i.e. not 3d printers - not that there's anything wrong with that but most of the creation there I think is on a computer). I took architecture drawing classes in high school and I like the pencil and paper element of that for projects. With wood, its very malleable so if you make mistakes you can really easily adapt and keep going.
The unexpected benefit I found is when you make things for other people, they really appreciate it and tell you as much. They almost think its magical like when you fix their computer but they are much more appreciative because there's a physical thing there they use, maybe daily, maybe others comment on it and ask where they got it.
Most unexpected benefit (perhaps predictable to an outsider, but I didn't see it coming) was getting married and moving to Sweden :)
As far as unexpected benefit, maybe it encourages people to visit me, because they know I'll have food here?