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How has your special interests made you a better person?

hiraeth

hiraeth

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Did they inspire you to gain new skills, knowledge, start or change careers, meet new people, do new things, go out of your comfort zone, or just become more energetic and happy in the long term... etc

Every relationship requires nourishment and gratitude is one of the most effective ways to do so. So how have your special interests transformed you? :)
 
I didn't discover cats as pets until I was an adult, but it became a real passion, and I am now a cat behaviorist.
 
Perceptive question Hiraeth, one that I'd not considered before. Teaching myself about food and nutrition and really having an interest in it, changed me. So much so that my friends began to organize once a week dinner parties in which we discussed everything and cooked and marketed together, looking for the freshest food. Opened my eyes to technique, flavors as it never had before. Became interested in the history of food, and it's connection to cultural groups and practices.

It was the same with art, through school, friends and association with other artists I began to comprehend the patterns and connections to ideas in architecture, music and literature.
 
It's up for debate what a "better person" exactly is - but I think we can all agree that our own special interests can grant us a near-obsessive attention to detail that can help us notice what other people miss. Also, sharing an interest with someone can be a great first step toward making connections (or a way to strengthen existing ones) - either friends, colleagues, or romantic partners. Perhaps they can learn from something about your topic that they didn't know before, and vice versa.
 
Hmm I don't know if better person is the right phrase, but my special interests have sometimes helped me as a person and helped me to help others. Examples; my genealogical abilities, have helped me with making family trees for several people and I have been able to solve family mysteries for them that even professionals have not been able to. Knowing the Danish language has recently helped me, to help an older guy who does not speak English well, to find a way to get his camera fixed over here in the UK as there is nobody with the right expertise in Denmark.
 
One of my big interests which is drawing was a big help for me during my teen years,having been both bullied at school and being emotionally and mentally abused by my father it help me cope and be creative,I wanted once to be a cartoonist but that never happened though I have had blocks with art over the years I started up again a few months ago and while it takes me a while to draw I always feel better when I do.
 
The only way I can communicate very effectively 95% of the time is through music. Since I changed churches almost 2 years ago, people in my new congregation (unless they visited my former church, which is on the other side of the hill) were mostly thunderstruck when I'm done with whatever song I'm singing. They're always wanting more. An organist friend has always called me "Pavarotti" (even though I'm more along the lines of Sir Jon Vickers. Pavarotti just stood there like a tub of lard and opened his mouth. Sir Jon could act, as well as sing. I stand there like a tub of lard, and can sing as well as act. When I'm done, I'm usually exhausted, since I give 150%, like the great Caruso.)
 
I do not know if my special interest has made me a better person or not. But it has gave me a life time of entertainment and a good way to make a living.
 
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I tend to dive deeply into cultural things (especially languages-- and my university degree is in anthropology) and religions/lack thereof. I think my deep understanding of religion in general, has made me a more compassionate person, mostly with broad-scale things. I like knowing how other people process the world through their cultural lens :)
 
I don't know maybe the jury is still out?:confused:

My interest in science fiction... lead me to seek a realistic Star Drive for my story....which led me to watch stupid Astor-physics programs causing me to declare war on the Big Bang theory....which led me to finding a way to prove Hawking wrong on his first Black Hole stuff...which lead me to crack cancelation theory in Super-novas...which led me to sending a e-mail to NASA bragging I was closing in on a real Zero Mass star drive...which I think led to a NASA engineer sending his step daughter to to visit family in my area and Honey trap me....which led to me declaring total war on NASA and Air force when I caught them using my unusual stolen work online....which lead me to going slightly mad over my broken heart, and unraveling the rest of the nuclear sub-atomic code and all its horrors, and almost moving to Russia to get even....but all my sorrow drove me closer to God, and he got me to stand down at the very last minute...which saved America from facing my super-nukes from Russia....So now I barely resemble who I once was, stronger, smarter, wiser, and very much sadder, also closer to God.:innocent:

So yes special interests can make a person great, but they also can be all consuming, and evil :imp: as well.

And I would trade it all for one good Christian women who truly loved me. But it seems in life you always value what is just out of reach the most.:(

So my advice is don't neglect love and family for a interest too much. Life slips through your fingers, and you can't get some lost things back.:confused:

Not much of a answer, or too much...that is me:Maelstrom
 
For me, I wouldn't really say made me a "better person" is the right phrase. I also am not sure whether I have thought a lot of what my special interest/interests is/are.

In the past, maybe sometimes helped me to be determined or to have a hobby. Now, though, for some reason I actually am somewhat interested in the positive things and barriers in the lives of people with disabilities (of course this probably varies from person to person). Maybe this is connected to my personal experience, but I'd say maybe this helps me try to be a bit more compassionate or empathetic towards others.
 
Maelstrom said:
I don't know maybe the jury is still out?:confused:

My interest in science fiction... lead me to seek a realistic Star Drive for my story....which led me to watch stupid Astor-physics programs causing me to declare war on the Big Bang theory....which led me to finding a way to prove Hawking wrong on his first Black Hole stuff...which lead me to crack cancelation theory in Super-novas...which led me to sending a e-mail to NASA bragging I was closing in on a real Zero Mass star drive...which I think led to a NASA engineer sending his step daughter to to visit family in my area and Honey trap me....which led to me declaring total war on NASA and Air force when I caught them using my unusual stolen work online....which lead me to going slightly mad over my broken heart, and unraveling the rest of the nuclear sub-atomic code and all its horrors, and almost moving to Russia to get even....but all my sorrow drove me closer to God, and he got me to stand down at the very last minute...which saved America from facing my super-nukes from Russia....So now I barely resemble who I once was, stronger, smarter, wiser, and very much sadder, also closer to God.:innocent:

So yes special interests can make a person great, but they also can be all consuming, and evil :imp: as well.

And I would trade it all for one good Christian women who truly loved me. But it seems in life you always value what is just out of reach the most.:(

So my advice is don't neglect love and family for a interest too much. Life slips through your fingers, and you can't get some lost things back.:confused:

Not much of a answer, or too much...that is me:Maelstrom
Click to expand...

This was way more interesting then 99% of the movies out there. With emblishment it would be a great book or screen play. Just saying- you seem highly creative. As a creative Type- you always have to check that you are walking the line.
 
Worlds before this one, have ended. There are threads in the universe and I am one of them. When I see how the Amorites, the Hittites, the Phrygians and the Elamites coped - or didn't - it gives me perspective. I try to appreciate logic. I've only got like this in my old age. All humans need every advantage we can give ourselves.
 
Curiosity over why or how something happens led me to obsess until I found an answer.

Uncertain if it could all be classed as special interests, there's been so many to date.
When I feel I know enough, I move on to something else.
Something I have questions about.

I'm left with a belief that we can learn whatever we want to if we're interested and motivated enough.

My current curiosity loosely weaves around neuroplasticity.
(motivated by o.c.d and anxiety disorder)
only in so far as how I can help myself.
So not strictly an obsession, just an enthusiastic curiosity.
 
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