When I'm not writing, my time gets divided up with a few different activities, some regular, others less so. Work aside, because that's a whole other kettle of fish, I tend to do as much as I can to fill up my time. Sometimes it's productive. Other times, not so much.
The biggest regular activity is my weekly visit to the cinema. I've gone almost every week for the past seven years, or so, sometimes twice a week, and almost always with the same 2-3 people that I went to secondary school with. Take that as a load off your worries if your academic situation is in any way like mine was when I started college - none of your friends are in the same college as you, and none of them are studying the same subject. We managed to use the cinema to ensure we met up regularly, and as a result we've also seen a huge chunk of the movies that came out over that period of time.
Aside from that, and my various online activities, I try to work in a balance of reading, baking, and watching television. Don't get me wrong on the last one, though - I despise just casually watching reruns of something. I end up doing it, occasionally, for nostalgia more than anything else. Usually, I'm watching a particular series, and it's more likely than not that it's been recorded in advance.
The latest edition to any of my non-writing hobbies is photography. But let's just be clear: as of writing this, I am not a photographer.
I own a nice camera. It takes really good pictures. I enjoy taking them. But I can't exactly call myself a photographer. When I start taking pictures more often, when I start getting around with the camera a bit more, I'll describe myself as an amateur photographer. When I actually start making money from it, then I'll upgrade the description to photographer.
But not a moment sooner.
The most I've done is an excursion to the Botanic Gardens, to take as many pictures as I could in the blistering heat. And, because I'm so new to this, I want to keep doing things like that. I want to try get to the point when I'm taking pictures a lot, so I can call myself a photographer, of some description. But for now, photography is just a hobby, and one I'm not even sure I'm any good at yet.
Something I'd love to do would be to combine my various hobbies - taking pictures to accompany writing pieces, food photography when I get my ass in gear and go beyond a couple of different recipes, writing about film and television and stories generally. That sort of thing.
Is it bad that I want to make a living from hobbies? Maybe. I mean, from a bank's point of view, yeah. But in terms of personal fulfilment, I don't think I could find anything better.
Showing posts with label hobbies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hobbies. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Presently, For a Living
The big dream for so many writers is to do it full-time, without having to work a "regular" job to pay the bills. I'm no different. Unfortunately, I'm still at the "regular" job stage of my career. I work in a bookshop, which is no longer just a bookshop, with three days a week at the moment.
I get paid minimum wage to process deliveries, work on the till, help out with the magazines with the senior staff member in charge of them is out, price and merchandise books, and generally keep the place clean when I'm in. And that's just the half of it.
There's very little I don't do in the shop, but the standout task for me is recommending new books to people. It tends to happen more often in the children's section than anywhere else in the shop, because I have the most experience of personal reading in that section out of anyone else in the shop - though the staff member in charge of book orders would know the section better than I would from more direct involvement in the stock processing.
No other job in the shop is quiet like getting to recommend a new book series to a teenager who's only figuring out what they like to read, or finding something similar to books someone's read and enjoyed.
Recently, with the big John Green craze, it means getting to recommend The Perks of Being a Wallflower and We Were Liars to readers. For fans of The Hunger Games, I just to Gone, and fans of Divergent to The Mortal Instruments. Figuring out what people would like is a big job - and one that relies on their personal taste as much as my opinion - and it's the thing I don't mind dedicating a little bit of extra time to, especially if it means that someone will have something to look for the next time they come in.
It's not quite a job for a living, not the same way my parents' jobs are for a living, because I'm still lucky enough to be living at home while still in part-time employment. However, it's let me save for a Masters. It's let me replace my old laptop, with one of the hinges shattered to pieces so that it can't close, and get some equipment for the Masters and beyond. It's a job that's let me go to the cinema on a regular basis, and buy books when I feel like it, keep up with magazine subscriptions, go see friends and eat out for dinner every now and then.
It's not a living, not with a mortgage and bills and a car to run, but it is a life I wouldn't have otherwise.
I get paid minimum wage to process deliveries, work on the till, help out with the magazines with the senior staff member in charge of them is out, price and merchandise books, and generally keep the place clean when I'm in. And that's just the half of it.
There's very little I don't do in the shop, but the standout task for me is recommending new books to people. It tends to happen more often in the children's section than anywhere else in the shop, because I have the most experience of personal reading in that section out of anyone else in the shop - though the staff member in charge of book orders would know the section better than I would from more direct involvement in the stock processing.
No other job in the shop is quiet like getting to recommend a new book series to a teenager who's only figuring out what they like to read, or finding something similar to books someone's read and enjoyed.
Recently, with the big John Green craze, it means getting to recommend The Perks of Being a Wallflower and We Were Liars to readers. For fans of The Hunger Games, I just to Gone, and fans of Divergent to The Mortal Instruments. Figuring out what people would like is a big job - and one that relies on their personal taste as much as my opinion - and it's the thing I don't mind dedicating a little bit of extra time to, especially if it means that someone will have something to look for the next time they come in.
It's not quite a job for a living, not the same way my parents' jobs are for a living, because I'm still lucky enough to be living at home while still in part-time employment. However, it's let me save for a Masters. It's let me replace my old laptop, with one of the hinges shattered to pieces so that it can't close, and get some equipment for the Masters and beyond. It's a job that's let me go to the cinema on a regular basis, and buy books when I feel like it, keep up with magazine subscriptions, go see friends and eat out for dinner every now and then.
It's not a living, not with a mortgage and bills and a car to run, but it is a life I wouldn't have otherwise.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Something to Offer
Today, I received a grade for an assignment I had to submit in the first semester of college this year, a scheme of work. (Those are the fun things teachers get to put together to plan a whole series of lessons well in advance of the actual lessons...) I hadn't expected to do well (so I was pleasantly surprised), but what was more important to me were the words of the lecturer.
"You have a lot to offer."
I thought about that for a while. I kept focusing on it, until a friend of mine popped into the building back from England, and well...I stopped focusing on it. Right up until I got on the bus to go home, when I was back in "Thinking about the future" mode. That's always fun...
Anyway, I thought about those words, and what she meant. She meant the Drama Soc. She meant the writing. And I thought to myself, how many people in the college have something to offer when they go for a job interview?
We wondered about certain things like this for the year book, and realized that people didn't really talk about what they did in their spare time that could be discussed as an added bonus come job-hunting. I know there are some people who play sports (okay, a lot of people...), but other than that I could only think of a couple of different things that set people apart that were actually part of the college life: the Drama Soc, the Writers' Soc, and the musicians. Now, not everyone who acts, writes, sings or plays an instrument necessarily does it in the college, but there's not a lot else catered for.
So, thinking more broadly. Fund raising. Quite a few people have done that. Can it help with a teaching position? Like I've said before: it's a lifestyle, not just a job. Many teachers do a lot outside of the classroom. So, involvement in things like the SVP Society. That's always beneficial. What about the G-Soc? (Gaelic.) I don't know. I couldn't possibly know, having not joined. The SU offers obvious benefits. Organizing the ball or the yearbook, also beneficial.
While I have been involved in Drama, writing, fundraising and the yearbook over my four years in college, I didn't think of it like this. It wasn't about adding to my CV. I did it for me. Apparently, that means I have a lot to offer, and I can see some sense in that (though not because it's me.) Up until recently, my old secondary school didn't have a Drama Club. Experience with Drama would help with something like that, both the acting elements of it and all the behind-the-scenes sort of stuff.
Is it too late for people to get involved in these sorts of things? If they're leaving the college this year, obviously they can't participate in the societies. But what about outside of college? I know I'll be looking for somewhere to act when I find myself living only my own life come September. That'll be weird. And there are writing groups outside of college. Plenty of them. Charities are always looking for volunteers. Sports clubs are always open to new members.
Basically, I think we've all got something to offer, and ways to pick up new hobbies that reflect well on us. It feels weird to think of us in these terms, but that's how it works in many cases. Yes, it can be about the CV, but I think picking up something like acting or writing just to look better to employees seems a bit hollow. I think it's much easier to enjoy something and to keep it up if it's not simply for the sake of appearances. It's definitely easier to speak about it passionately if it's something you actually are passionate about.
Evident by my blathering, yes?
The point, I suppose, is that I never really considered the optional extras in college as being points on a CV. I never thought of them as something to offer. To me, they were just part of life. They were things I loved to do, and they were activities that helped me make new friends and talk to them on a regular basis.
I've seen plenty of CVs in my time to know what it looks like when someone does a lot. A broad range of interests is nice to see, because someone looks like they've done more with their time than simply stuck to study or work, or "socializing". Life looks more interesting and a person more rounded when certain things pop up on a piece of paper. Some of it is relevant, some of it isn't, and that's the hardest part of writing a CV for a specific job: how do you show what you have to offer?
I won't assume my classmates (a) read my blog or (b) need to read this in particular, but to me, it seems that if you're going for a job in a school, having some engagement with the world outside of the lecture hall is a requirement. Schools always need people to run teams. Schools run Drama Clubs. Some schools have magazines, written by students. The new Junior Cycle Programme will place demands on teachers to prove their worth.
How to do that without sounding like an ass seems difficult, but I guess that's why we're allowed to hide behind a piece of paper with our qualifications written on it. My main concern is, how do we even identify what's unique and interesting to offer to schools as an added extra? Should we have to? (Ideally, we wouldn't have to talk about ourselves...but then we'd be robots.)
When I stop having an existential crisis about what the future holds, I'll let you know. But for now, I'm back to worrying if what I've done in college looks like something that appeals to employers, and how what I want to do for the next few months makes me look. Yay worries..?
"You have a lot to offer."
I thought about that for a while. I kept focusing on it, until a friend of mine popped into the building back from England, and well...I stopped focusing on it. Right up until I got on the bus to go home, when I was back in "Thinking about the future" mode. That's always fun...
Anyway, I thought about those words, and what she meant. She meant the Drama Soc. She meant the writing. And I thought to myself, how many people in the college have something to offer when they go for a job interview?
We wondered about certain things like this for the year book, and realized that people didn't really talk about what they did in their spare time that could be discussed as an added bonus come job-hunting. I know there are some people who play sports (okay, a lot of people...), but other than that I could only think of a couple of different things that set people apart that were actually part of the college life: the Drama Soc, the Writers' Soc, and the musicians. Now, not everyone who acts, writes, sings or plays an instrument necessarily does it in the college, but there's not a lot else catered for.
So, thinking more broadly. Fund raising. Quite a few people have done that. Can it help with a teaching position? Like I've said before: it's a lifestyle, not just a job. Many teachers do a lot outside of the classroom. So, involvement in things like the SVP Society. That's always beneficial. What about the G-Soc? (Gaelic.) I don't know. I couldn't possibly know, having not joined. The SU offers obvious benefits. Organizing the ball or the yearbook, also beneficial.
While I have been involved in Drama, writing, fundraising and the yearbook over my four years in college, I didn't think of it like this. It wasn't about adding to my CV. I did it for me. Apparently, that means I have a lot to offer, and I can see some sense in that (though not because it's me.) Up until recently, my old secondary school didn't have a Drama Club. Experience with Drama would help with something like that, both the acting elements of it and all the behind-the-scenes sort of stuff.
Is it too late for people to get involved in these sorts of things? If they're leaving the college this year, obviously they can't participate in the societies. But what about outside of college? I know I'll be looking for somewhere to act when I find myself living only my own life come September. That'll be weird. And there are writing groups outside of college. Plenty of them. Charities are always looking for volunteers. Sports clubs are always open to new members.
Basically, I think we've all got something to offer, and ways to pick up new hobbies that reflect well on us. It feels weird to think of us in these terms, but that's how it works in many cases. Yes, it can be about the CV, but I think picking up something like acting or writing just to look better to employees seems a bit hollow. I think it's much easier to enjoy something and to keep it up if it's not simply for the sake of appearances. It's definitely easier to speak about it passionately if it's something you actually are passionate about.
Evident by my blathering, yes?
The point, I suppose, is that I never really considered the optional extras in college as being points on a CV. I never thought of them as something to offer. To me, they were just part of life. They were things I loved to do, and they were activities that helped me make new friends and talk to them on a regular basis.
I've seen plenty of CVs in my time to know what it looks like when someone does a lot. A broad range of interests is nice to see, because someone looks like they've done more with their time than simply stuck to study or work, or "socializing". Life looks more interesting and a person more rounded when certain things pop up on a piece of paper. Some of it is relevant, some of it isn't, and that's the hardest part of writing a CV for a specific job: how do you show what you have to offer?
I won't assume my classmates (a) read my blog or (b) need to read this in particular, but to me, it seems that if you're going for a job in a school, having some engagement with the world outside of the lecture hall is a requirement. Schools always need people to run teams. Schools run Drama Clubs. Some schools have magazines, written by students. The new Junior Cycle Programme will place demands on teachers to prove their worth.
How to do that without sounding like an ass seems difficult, but I guess that's why we're allowed to hide behind a piece of paper with our qualifications written on it. My main concern is, how do we even identify what's unique and interesting to offer to schools as an added extra? Should we have to? (Ideally, we wouldn't have to talk about ourselves...but then we'd be robots.)
When I stop having an existential crisis about what the future holds, I'll let you know. But for now, I'm back to worrying if what I've done in college looks like something that appeals to employers, and how what I want to do for the next few months makes me look. Yay worries..?
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