Scuba diving, stamp collecting, skeet shooting?
What’s your hobby?
Laura Foy does a little bit of everything. Her hobbies range from wood burning,
scuba diving and underwater photography, to jigsaw puzzles, trivia, and cataloguing
moths in the middle of the night.
“I have different reasons for different hobbies,” says Foy, a Windsor resident.
“My nature-based hobbies help me to relax and recenter myself. My creative hobbies
are an outlet for my artistic side that I don't necessarily get to use in my jobs. My
gaming hobbies (board games, trivia) are a social activity.”
Like many hobbies, Foy finds the learning elements of her hobbies the most
intriguing.
“That’s what connects them all, whether it is learning a new game, or learning
the name of a different kind of plant.”
While Foy’s hobbies haven’t been career-focused, she has turned her hobbies
into employment on occasion.
“My love for scuba diving developed into underwater photography, and then I
learned Photoshop so I could better display the pictures.” From that, Foy found work
in graphic design. Her love of nature led her to work with the Essex Region
Conservation Authority, and then into outdoors-based retail at the new Lee Valley
store in Windsor.
Tim Swaddling, operations manager at Action Hobbies Kingsville, recognizes
that sometimes, it’s good to be busy.
“I think the universal truth is that hobbies provide an interesting healthy
alternative to some other more bad habits that can occupy people's time,” says
Swaddling.
Though not everyone turns their hobbies into employment like Foy has, the
skills or knowledge you pick up on a hobby can translate to other aspects of your
life.
“Hobbies provide you with a challenge in your spare time, which is healthy to
keep one's brain sharp. The skills involved in any hobby are all applicable to other
aspects of life,” says Swaddling. “They certainly teach you to look at life a little
differently.”
In the heart of Windsor, there is a group of people who get together to work on a
common hobby - model trains.