My hypothesis is rewarding yourself and hobbies are outlets for the irrational side of us.
I like to use fountain pens and recently added to my collection after getting through a particularly tough time.
Our culture generally embraces this idea of rewarding yourself for one reason or another by one way or another. It normally involves spending disposable income, such as going out to dinner or buying something to commemorate an event. Perhaps it is a little thing, the object of the reward is imbued with symbolizing the accomplishment. Sometimes we lower the accomplishment to just getting through the work week, getting through the day, etc as if existence or survival is at stake. Such is the emotional state we are in. Such is the irrational state we are in.
This explains why restaurants tend to be busiest on the weekend, which is paradoxical since people actually have more time to cook for themselves at that time. Can you recall a single instance where our lord rewarded himself in any way?
Not seeing this in the Bible causes me to recognize it is a cultural thing and perhaps tied to ours being an opulent country. And that leads me to hobbies. Sure, it is a way to spend ones “free time.” Therefore, taking up a hobby destroys “free time” and often, our capacity to sabbath.
Many people have hobbies that consume enormous time and money. A friend built a 3 car, 2 story garage – on top of his existing 3 car garage – to house his hobby of motorcycles, snowmobiles, model planes, etc.
Another friend was into collecting wine. I have a respectable 7-bottle container. He has a wine cellar of 400 bottles of wine. Again, many of these are collectable and not for drinking with dinner. (I understand the bottle of wine that Napoleon had upon his death sold for over $400K.)
The money I spend on fountain pens pales by comparison. Yet, I realize that I cannot rationalize the time and money I spend on this hobby. It seems like an irrational compulsion to expand the scope of the hobby. What is your experience in this area?
I like to use fountain pens and recently added to my collection after getting through a particularly tough time.
Our culture generally embraces this idea of rewarding yourself for one reason or another by one way or another. It normally involves spending disposable income, such as going out to dinner or buying something to commemorate an event. Perhaps it is a little thing, the object of the reward is imbued with symbolizing the accomplishment. Sometimes we lower the accomplishment to just getting through the work week, getting through the day, etc as if existence or survival is at stake. Such is the emotional state we are in. Such is the irrational state we are in.
This explains why restaurants tend to be busiest on the weekend, which is paradoxical since people actually have more time to cook for themselves at that time. Can you recall a single instance where our lord rewarded himself in any way?
Not seeing this in the Bible causes me to recognize it is a cultural thing and perhaps tied to ours being an opulent country. And that leads me to hobbies. Sure, it is a way to spend ones “free time.” Therefore, taking up a hobby destroys “free time” and often, our capacity to sabbath.
Many people have hobbies that consume enormous time and money. A friend built a 3 car, 2 story garage – on top of his existing 3 car garage – to house his hobby of motorcycles, snowmobiles, model planes, etc.
Another friend was into collecting wine. I have a respectable 7-bottle container. He has a wine cellar of 400 bottles of wine. Again, many of these are collectable and not for drinking with dinner. (I understand the bottle of wine that Napoleon had upon his death sold for over $400K.)
The money I spend on fountain pens pales by comparison. Yet, I realize that I cannot rationalize the time and money I spend on this hobby. It seems like an irrational compulsion to expand the scope of the hobby. What is your experience in this area?
