  Spiritual
This week: Everyone Needs A Hobby Edited by: Kit  
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Life is busy, life is hectic, and it can be difficult to find true peace and inner quiet. We're often told that everyone needs a hobby, and this week's Spiritual Newsletter looks into that statement and the benefits of taking the time to simply be.
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It may be stating the obvious when I write this, but many of us live busy lives. We get up, prepare ourselves for work, come back home to look after the house and prepare food, do the dishes, and after that we're left with only a small amount of time to do whatever we want to do. If we have children, delightful as they are we even have more things to do before we can settle down.
That time to relax is often filled by sitting in front of the television or browsing away on the computer. For me it's the latter option. It's a pleasant enough pastime, frequently spent on doing research for my writing and finding new inspiration, but lately I've been reminded of the saying that everyone needs a hobby.
Could I class my writing as a hobby? I suppose I could. It's not like I'm a professional, and as hobbies go it's a very worthwhile one. The thing is that when I write, I'm such a perfectionist that it doesn't truly help me wind down. I feel it's important to have a little something to help a person settle, clear the mind and simply be.
When I write, my mind is busy. When I stop writing, my mind carries on where my fingers left off, thinking of how to improve what I just wrote or where to go from there. Characters take on a life and make themselves known, storylines want developing, twists in the plot unfold and paragraphs that didn't quite work lurk in the back of my head, waiting to be sorted. What once was a hobby has turned into something more, and I like that. I like how involved I get when working on a piece. But I still need that "me" time, and I can't have that when my characters jump up and down and shout to make themselves heard.
More than a decade ago, I had this wonderful collection of Magic: The Gathering cards. Every month when I got paid, I'd treat myself to some cards and then I'd sit down and sort out my gaming deck, sort out all the cards by type and category and place them all in folders to keep them neat and tidy. Every card is a miniature piece of artwork. I used to get such joy from my collection.
Unfortunately, my collection got stolen. Thousands of quite cherished little artworks, gone. I couldn't bring myself to start all over. The releases I'd purchased were now years old and hard to get. Besides, my life was changing drastically and required all my attention. As time passed, my focus drifted elsewhere.
Then, a couple of days ago I dreamt about the game. I'm not sure where it came from, but I experienced a strange yearning to rebuild what I had. I live in the middle of nowhere, so it won't be easy to even get to whatever is out now, but I still remember the peace and quiet I experienced when I sat down tending to my collection. When I did that, I had my "me" time.
I'm not certain I'll get anywhere with it, but I think I'm going to try reunite myself with the gaming geek I once was. It's a bit embarrassing to even write about it, but on the other hand I don't feel that ashamed. And in sharing my weird old passion, I hope I can encourage you to perhaps pick up something you used to enjoy, that got lost during the hectic management of daily life. Dust it off, see if it still makes you smile.
You never know, it may even inspire you. I know that those little artworks used to give me ideas for stories, though those sparks were not bright enough to cause chaos in my mind - not until I started to work with them. It was a perfect balance.
Without some time to ourselves - true time to ourselves - I think we risk losing who we are. We become our routines and miss out on self-discovery. We should be the ones to run our lives, instead of letting our lives run us. We're not machines  .
kittiara
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The Spiritual Newsletter Team welcomes any and all questions, suggestions, thoughts and feedback, so please don't hesitate to write in!
Jessette  - hello! your letter is very touching, We have our own freedom of where to worship. the most important is you make sure that you received Jesus Christ as your personal savior and Lord. and share the love of Jesus to others. Surely, blessing will come upon you...
Thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement! I truly do appreciate it .
~~~
Babsqueen - I enjoyed reading this newsletter as instead of making resolutions that get forgotten soon after-wards anyway, doing the best you can in whatever goal you want to reach will bring better success in the new year. Smaller goals are better to complete one at a time to reach a higher goal. So instead of making that resolution that is soon forgotten, I have learned to give myself the gift of really making an effort to complete one goal at a time.
That's a really good way of doing it, and I know what you say to be true. That's what I'm trying so far this year and it's definitely working out for me. Thanks so much for sharing and good luck with your goals!
~~~
nikkey76 - Writers have a very important role in society,we can inspire hope and change with a few keystrokes. This year I'd like to challenge myself to write one positive and uplifting poem or story a month, and send it to someone who really needs the encouragement.
That's such a sweet and meaningful goal! I really like that idea. Very inspiring! I may have to try that one myself, thanks .
~~~
Joy  - Thanks for a positive and wonderful newsletter, Kittiara.
I am amongst those who believe that there will come a time when this planet will be free of wars. Maybe not in my lifetime, but sometime.
It may well be that positive thinking will make it happen.
I really, really hope so. It would be wonderful, wouldn't it? If we all try together, surely sooner or later it will work...
~~~
Budroe - Kittiara:
This was an excellent presentation of the world of positive thinking. Thank you for your work.
Thank you so much for your kind words!
~~~
Ԝ€ß☆ԜiʈCH...I am Home!  - Hey, Kitt, I'm a firm believer in positive thinking. It is much better to face life looking at things from the bright side rather than wringing our hands and expecting the worse all the time. My favorite lines to tell people are, "It doesn't matter" and "don't pre-worry," what will be will be. Face those things one problem at a time, one day at a time. It's the overload of negativity that tends to weigh us down. Over the years, I've made it a point to nip negative conversation in the bud. This is especially true for some family members who seem to find a calling in their need to spread negative news.I just say, NO!
Great Newsletter, Kitt!
WW
Don't pre-worry. I love that statement. It's so true! I'm very good at the pre-worry thing, but I'm trying to change that. I really like your positive attitude, and I admire you for it. Thanks for inspiring me .
~~~
Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,
The Spiritual Newsletter Team:
Sophy  , KimChi , kittiara
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Spiritual: February 02, 2011 Issue [#4221]
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