Leisure time activities

SolitaryRoad.com

Website owner:  James Miller

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People engage in many kinds of leisure time activities. Large numbers of people go to the beach during the summer months. A great many watch sporting events, such as football, on television. Some people like to fish. Others like to hunt. A huge portion of our population spends their leisure hours in front of a TV set. How do I feel about some of these activities that attract so many people?

Lying on a beach. I can’t think of anything more boring than spending hours lying in the hot sun on a beach. I am bored to death after ten minutes of lying on a beach. And if there are lots of people around also lying on the beach, that makes it even less enjoyable. I don’t like crowds. When I made trips to the Atlantic City and Ocean City beaches when I was single, I didn’t spend much time lying on the beach. I spent my time walking on the boardwalk.

Watching sports. I don’t understand what causes people to like to watch sports (such as football). I feel no attraction for it. I think playing at some sport such as softball or basketball, might be enjoyable, but watching sports seems like a terrible waste of time. I think people just do it as a way to pass time, an occupation for their mind. I think they do it from habit, for lack of anything better to do.

Going to the movies. I haven’t gone to a movie since the early 70's. The kind of movies being produced by Hollywood was changing in the early 70's. I objected to the trends in language and content and stopped going. In the 50's and 60's Hollywood produced some good, decent movies and I went to a few. Thus I am totally ignorant about all things involving Hollywood actors and celebrities. I have absolutely no interest in the celebrities of my society. For the most part I probably wouldn’t approve of them or their lifestyles.

Watching television. I object to television and haven’t watched it in years. As with movies, the language and content started changing in the early 70's and I stopped watching it. First I started limiting the programs I was watching to one or two decent programs (like Little House on the Prairie), by the end of the 70's I was watching only the news, and then in the 80's I stopped watching it altogether. I can’t watch TV without it offending my sensitivities. I don’t like the values, views and attitudes projected. I can find other things to do. The content of TV becomes more degenerate and depraved with each passing year.

Watching home movies. I have never watched a single home movie. I am just not interested. Not interested for the same reason that I am not interested in watching TV.

Hunting. I don’t like to kill things and so I don’t hunt. I shot a squirrel with a 22 rifle once when I was a boy and it died slowly and that turned me off to hunting.

Gambling. Gambling holds no attraction for me. I think it is a very foolish thing to do. It is a great way to squander money. I went inside a casino in Atlantic City once and was very much turned off. I didn’t like the atmosphere at all. I didn’t understand why people would go there. I got out as quickly as possible.

Card playing. I don’t care for card playing. I find it boring.

Dancing. I don’t dance. I don’t know how and am not very music oriented.

Drinking, drugs. I don’t drink and never have. Nor have I ever touched any drug.

Parties. I am just not the party type. I tend to be uncomfortable at parties.

Listening to music. I don’t listen to music much. The only kind of music I like very much is classical music and religious music. I will usually choose quiet over music.

Social media (such as Facebook). I have never participated in any of the modern social media. I am not interested. I don’t even have a cell phone ( I would have one if I had need for one but I have no need for one — and I don’t spend money on what I don’t need.).

I tend to prefer solitary type activities (or one involving only me and my wife). My main leisure time activity is walking. I like hiking. One of the vacations that I enjoyed the most consisted of hiking in the Cascade mountains of Washington and in Redwood, Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. When I go on vacation the activity that I enjoy the most is simply exploring by walking.

There are some things I might enjoy doing, things like sailing, skiing, scuba diving, etc., but don’t do them because they cost money. If I can enjoy myself just as much with a pastime that costs little or nothing, such as hiking, I choose the one that costs little or nothing. I don’t like the idea of spending a lot of money on a pastime.

As one can see from what I have said, I am not one for following the latest fad and fashion. Fad and fashion mean absolutely nothing to me. I am not interested in what people may think of me. They can think whatever they wish. I have no interest in being up to date in either my ideas or my clothes. The clothes that I am wearing were probably all bought at the Salvation Army store. You can get some very nice blue jeans there for a dollar or two on one of their sales.

The reader may think that I am a real strange one, a real hermit, like someone from another planet. Well, let me observe this: For the last forty years I have been totally robust and healthy emotionally and mentally. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate myself at 10. I have had no traces of the neuroses, psychoses, emotional problems or mental instabilities that afflict so many people. I have lived long enough to feel sure that very few people can say that. My life has been a quiet, happy one. I had problems with shyness towards girls and lack of self-confidence when I was young, had some emotional frustration, confusion and distress then, but that is now all in the distant past. In fact, people would do very well to listen to some of the things I have to say.

Jan 2015