Help me choose a hobby

[pisceswolf96]

Hello everyone.

This might sound a bit weird but I've been spending the last 7 months studying for 5+ hours on my computer and I got a bit burned out because there seems to be nothing to add to my life aside from programming and computer science.

Since I'm a new revert to Islam, I'm trying to leave a lot of things that filled my time in the past (Porn, songs & music, social media etc) and this left me with a void that I feel must be filled with something.

 

I'm trying to get a hobby that could be practiced without the need to use a screen and I limited my choices to only 3:

1. Writing
2. Drawing
3. Learning a language (Japanese or Spanish)

 

I could learn to write short stories and even turn them into visual novels (I would like to make visual novels explaining computer concepts) but this again will force me to use a screen since writing is mostly done through the use of a computer nowadays

 

I gave drawing a chance but I truly hate the results I got mainly because I don't even try and I'm not a big fan of writing on paper (I do everything to avoid taking notes for example )

 

My third choice is learning a language, I was daydreaming about learning a third language, but my biggest hurdle is the availability of study materials and the problem with comprehension materials(movies, shows etc).

I found quite a lot of freely learning materials for Spanish and the language is relatively easy and has the 2nd highest number of speakers in the world and will probably become an important language in the foreseeable future

 

Japanese on the other hand was always my dream to learn just because of how hard it is (Never been a huge anime fan). I found some free materials that could help learn the characters and the core 6000 words, but beyond that I need materials that I could not get my hand on either because they don't ship anything to Iraq or because they can get ridiculously expensive ($500+ which is a 2 month salary or so for some people). This means that I either download or torrent them or don't learn it at all. Add to that the fact that you must watch Japanese shows/animes (not available for free or purchase in Iraq) to get exposure to the language and from reading some old posts here on shiachat I believe people here believe that anime is not good.

I don't know if it is possible to use something and then pay money for it if it becomes available in the future.

 

Anyways thank you a lot for reading this far and have a nice day

[Abu_Zahra]

You could consider reading, cooking or exercising as hobbies that are easily accessible. 

[Guest Guest]

Salam,

I honestly recommend using that time to workout, do some form of volunteer work, read a book or take up a new skill like learning to cook. Personally I got a car I like to work on in any spare time I get so that might be something your into. 

[Soldiers and Saffron]

Salam,

Perhaps you could try gardening, you can do indoor gardening too if you do not have the possibility to do it outdoors.

Personally I grow different types of herbs indoors hydroponically with lamps used for plants. You can buy smart-plugs for your power outlet and then connect your lamp cables to that plug so that it will turn on and off at designated times and you only need to check the water levels. I can iA post pictures if your interested.

[SoRoUsH]

سلام علیکم

1. Running 2. Weight lifting 3. Cooking 4. Gardening 5. Meditation 6. Breathing exercises

[pisceswolf96]

55 minutes ago, Mahdavist said:

You could consider reading, cooking or exercising as hobbies that are easily accessible. 

I do a lot of technical reading each day aside from philosophical/self-help books and I already do exercise and lift weights.

I don't know how to feel about a man cooking and I tired it before and didn't like it but maybe I should ask my mother if she doesn't mind me ruining her kitchen.

20 minutes ago, Soldiers and Saffron said:

Salam,

Perhaps you could try gardening, you can do indoor gardening too if you do not have the possibility to do it outdoors.

Personally I grow different types of herbs indoors hydroponically with lamps used for plants. You can buy smart-plugs for your power outlet and then connect your lamp cables to that plug so that it will turn on and off at designated times and you only need to check the water levels. I can iA post pictures if your interested.

Quite an interesting idea, but we don't really have the space for it

7 minutes ago, SoRoUsH said:

سلام علیکم

1. Running 2. Weight lifting 3. Cooking 4. Gardening 5. Meditation 6. Breathing exercises

 

 

 

وعليكم السلام

Do people consider those things (aside from gardening) to be hobbies?

I already do 1,2. I never found 5 & 6 to be doable, meditation just make me daydream even more than I need to

As for cooking, I'm not really sure my Mom would even allow me since she uses the kitchen most of the day

[Soldiers and Saffron]

26 minutes ago, pisceswolf96 said:

Quite an interesting idea, but we don't really have the space for it

I have all my plants on one of the levels of a shelf in our living room.

[SoRoUsH]

48 minutes ago, pisceswolf96 said:

As for cooking, I'm not really sure my Mom would even allow me since she uses the kitchen most of the day

Ask her how you could help her in the kitchen and with cooking. Make it a habit. You'll know your way around the kitchen, and you'll make your mom happy. Win-win. 

After a while, when your mom is used to and comfortable with you being in the kitchen, ask her to let you start with cooking easy dishes. And go from there.

Step by step!

And this step-by-step approach can (and should) be applied to building any new habit and hobby.

Edited February 10, 2021 by SoRoUsH

[inneedofprayers]

34 minutes ago, pisceswolf96 said:

I don't know how to feel about a man cooking

Salam brother. Here are my views:

1) there's absolutely nothing wrong about a man cooking. At 90% of the restaurants, hotels and cafes, it's men who cook! Regarding your hobbies

2) Learning a language is much more productive than drawing or writing (unless you intend to make a career out of it). Learning a language opens up new pathways for you to work internationally. If you chose to learn a language, I'd advise you to learn French or Spanish as they are more widely spoken in the world as compared to Japanese.

3) Being a computer science major is actually very cool. Programming is one of the world's highest paid jobs! I really hope that you get an excellent job!

4) I read your post about you graduating on top of your class. I'd advise you, brother, to apply for Masters degrees in Europe. With your grades you can land a scholarship.

May God bless you and makes things easy for you.

[hasanhh]

2 hours ago, Mahdavist said:

You could consider reading, cooking or exercising as hobbies that are easily accessible. 

As in reading cookbooks on a treadmill?    

Seriously, why not assembling plastic models of airplanes. Now days, there are build-your-own robot kits.

Then there is target shooting, racquetball, drag racing, car rallies, join the military reserves, and so on.

Cooking? Even gurls can do that . . . well, some of them anyway.

[Guest]

1. Painting - acrylic on canvas is easy and a good way to unwind.

2. Woodwork ? You might need to learn a few things first but I have heard it's very relaxing.

3. Baking. I don't know about Iraq but in other places it can be turned into a small business from home. 

[guest 2025]

If you're not the hobby type, why don't you work towards a mission or project? I know of a person who dedicates her time and money to helping orphaned cats. Some people focus on the environment, care for the poor, tutoring kids, etc. I tried to get into a hobby but it's just not in my bones I guess. So what occupies my time and thoughts is working towards my projects. Maybe you're the same way.

Edited February 10, 2021 by guest 2025

[Abu_Zahra]

2 hours ago, pisceswolf96 said:

I don't know how to feel about a man cooking and I tired it before and didn't like it but maybe I should ask my mother if she doesn't mind me ruining her kitchen.

I'm not really 'in touch with my feminine side', as they say, but I still learnt how to cook because it's an important life skill and also because I prefer to know what ingredients are in my food. Recently I have been baking my own bread as well (whole wheat). 

[Soldiers and Saffron]

1 hour ago, Mahdavist said:

Recently I have been baking my own bread as well (whole wheat). 

Its not whole wheat but you should try making some Iranian barbari bread, its really delicious and easy to make. You can also cut them into toaster sizes once they come out of the oven and freeze them, then just take out slices as the need comes and toast them, they will taste fresh and new again. Here is a picture of the barbari bread I made recently:

[Ali bin Hussein]

Woodwork. Surprisingly easy to get into. Takes up time(in an enjoyable way) and is a very useful skill.

You don't even need expensive power tools. Cheap hand tools are a good starting point. 

[hasanhh]

3 hours ago, Mahdavist said:

I'm not really 'in touch with my feminine side', ...  Ahamduallah 

...as they say, but I still learnt how to cook   Well yeah . . . you/we have to take care of ourselves. That even includes how to sew-on a button. What normal man wants to go through Life depending on his mummy or missez?

ln bold face above.

[hasanhh]

1 hour ago, Soldiers and Saffron said:

try making some Iranian barbaric bread,

l'II ask my little sister if she knows how to make barbaric bread.

Reason: once my ex asked me to make some hasha, as she was on her way home. "0kay, how?" "A little oil and semolina."  So, as the typically dumb husband, l did what she said. Pretty soon, the whole house (about) was all smoked up. So l turn off the stove, open the windows and doors -smoke pouring out the back door- and got it aired out when she pulls into the driveway. Comes into the house and asks, "Why are all the windows open?" So l tell her. She said, "You use water with a little oil." "But you didn't say that!"  So she ended up de-smoking the house, furniture, clothes . . . 

She deserved it.

On Quran: true and un-exaggerated.

[pisceswolf96]

8 hours ago, inneedofprayers said:

2) Learning a language is much more productive than drawing or writing (unless you intend to make a career out of it). Learning a language opens up new pathways for you to work internationally. If you chose to learn a language, I'd advise you to learn French or Spanish as they are more widely spoken in the world as compared to Japanese.

Yeah, I guess that's what I'm going with, people has suggested a lot of interesting ideas in this post, but I guess I live most of my day in my head and actually phase out of this world when doing any type of manual work. I'll give Spanish a try since it's easier and more widely used.

 

8 hours ago, inneedofprayers said:

3) Being a computer science major is actually very cool. Programming is one of the world's highest paid jobs! I really hope that you get an excellent job!

4) I read your post about you graduating on top of your class. I'd advise you, brother, to apply for Masters degrees in Europe. With your grades you can land a scholarship.

May God bless you and makes things easy for you.

There aren't any programming jobs in Iraq except in Baghdad (the capital) and Kurdistan. I don't live in Baghdad but I thought about relocating there, but after seeing the salaries (most of may salary will be spent on food and rent) I felt quite discouraged because I would be basically living from paycheck to paycheck.

I've seen quite a lot of people study their masters in Asia or Europe but if you don't already have a job then you won't get anything with your new degree, you'll join the 10s of thousands of Masters/PhDs holders begging the government for a job and getting water hosed by the police 

[pisceswolf96]

7 hours ago, guest 2025 said:

If you're not the hobby type, why don't you work towards a mission or project? I know of a person who dedicates her time and money to helping orphaned cats. Some people focus on the environment, care for the poor, tutoring kids, etc. I tried to get into a hobby but it's just not in my bones I guess. So what occupies my time and thoughts is working towards my projects. Maybe you're the same way.

Is that women married, because if she's not then that's the typical cat lady. I don't know about dedicating my time to others mainly because I can do this if I join some NGOs, and those are just used to make money using people generosity and concern for the poor

[pisceswolf96]

5 hours ago, Soldiers and Saffron said:

Its not whole wheat but you should try making some Iranian barbari bread, its really delicious and easy to make. You can also cut them into toaster sizes once they come out of the oven and freeze them, then just take out slices as the need comes and toast them, they will taste fresh and new again. Here is a picture of the barbari bread I made recently:

Never seen such kind of bread, looks delicious but I don't know how would you combine it with other types of food (I'm used to Iraqi bread and you can put food inside it and then eat it)

[smma]

Learn web development!

[The Green Knight]

Btw I hope you wear UV protection / yellow tinted glasses when using computer. LED exposure for hours is very harmful for eyes. As for your hobby you will have to choose yourself. Ideally I would pick swimming, horse riding or archery if possible. All three are recommended by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and ma'soomeen so you also get reward for obedience. Archery is actually quite doable, one can even make their own bows, arrows, crossbows and its a good skill to have and teaches you about projectile motion which is the same science that applies to all modern and ancient projectiles just the velocities are different. And soon as the world goes to pot it might help save your life.

[ali_fatheroforphans]

Muay Thai 

Heard it's pretty fun from some of my friends. Will take up some classes.

[Zainuu]

17 hours ago, pisceswolf96 said:

Hello everyone.

This might sound a bit weird but I've been spending the last 7 months studying for 5+ hours on my computer and I got a bit burned out because there seems to be nothing to add to my life aside from programming and computer science.

Since I'm a new revert to Islam, I'm trying to leave a lot of things that filled my time in the past (Porn, songs & music, social media etc) and this left me with a void that I feel must be filled with something.

 

I'm trying to get a hobby that could be practiced without the need to use a screen and I limited my choices to only 3:

1. Writing
2. Drawing
3. Learning a language (Japanese or Spanish)

 

I could learn to write short stories and even turn them into visual novels (I would like to make visual novels explaining computer concepts) but this again will force me to use a screen since writing is mostly done through the use of a computer nowadays

 

I gave drawing a chance but I truly hate the results I got mainly because I don't even try and I'm not a big fan of writing on paper (I do everything to avoid taking notes for example )

 

My third choice is learning a language, I was daydreaming about learning a third language, but my biggest hurdle is the availability of study materials and the problem with comprehension materials(movies, shows etc).

I found quite a lot of freely learning materials for Spanish and the language is relatively easy and has the 2nd highest number of speakers in the world and will probably become an important language in the foreseeable future

 

Japanese on the other hand was always my dream to learn just because of how hard it is (Never been a huge anime fan). I found some free materials that could help learn the characters and the core 6000 words, but beyond that I need materials that I could not get my hand on either because they don't ship anything to Iraq or because they can get ridiculously expensive ($500+ which is a 2 month salary or so for some people). This means that I either download or torrent them or don't learn it at all. Add to that the fact that you must watch Japanese shows/animes (not available for free or purchase in Iraq) to get exposure to the language and from reading some old posts here on shiachat I believe people here believe that anime is not good.

I don't know if it is possible to use something and then pay money for it if it becomes available in the future.

 

Anyways thank you a lot for reading this far and have a nice day

You might not like my hobby. But it can be a good pass time and it doesn't requires to learn anything. Neither contempaltion, nor focus. Just nothing. And it will help you to pass your time quite easily.

It is 'washing utensils'.and kitchen cleaning. Seems weird right? But frankly, it helps me a lot as a time pass. 

 

[pisceswolf96]

5 hours ago, smma said:

Learn web development!

That's what I'm actually studying and would like to escape from

 

1 hour ago, The Green Knight said:

Btw I hope you wear UV protection / yellow tinted glasses when using computer. LED exposure for hours is very harmful for eyes. As for your hobby you will have to choose yourself. Ideally I would pick swimming, horse riding or archery if possible. All three are recommended by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and ma'soomeen so you also get reward for obedience. Archery is actually quite doable, one can even make their own bows, arrows, crossbows and its a good skill to have and teaches you about projectile motion which is the same science that applies to all modern and ancient projectiles just the velocities are different. And soon as the world goes to pot it might help save your life.

No, I'll change my glasses the next I go to check on my eyes. As for the hobbies I don't think they are doable here in Iraq, especially since I live in the poor and neglected southern region.

1 hour ago, ali_fatheroforphans said:

Muay Thai 

Heard it's pretty fun from some of my friends. Will take up some classes.

That's quite a niche sport, I don't think there's any gyms that teaches this anywhere in the country 

52 minutes ago, Zainuu said:

You might not like my hobby. But it can be a good pass time and it doesn't requires to learn anything. Neither contempaltion, nor focus. Just nothing. And it will help you to pass your time quite easily.

It is 'washing utensils'.and kitchen cleaning. Seems weird right? But frankly, it helps me a lot as a time pass. 

 

Oh yeah, I remember enjoying this when I was living in dorms, but is it really a hobby?

[Zainuu]

3 minutes ago, pisceswolf96 said:

Oh yeah, I remember enjoying this when I was living in dorms, but is it really a hobby?

After sitting on a computer and doing development for a massive time. Finally when you'll get up from there then yes dude, you'll love it. 

[313_Waiter]

1 hour ago, ali_fatheroforphans said:

Muay Thai 

Heard it's pretty fun from some of my friends. Will take up some classes.

Yeah Muay Thai and Boxing are quite fun, I have taken a couple of classes in the past. But in the long term, isn’t their a potential for health risks / injury? In that case wouldn’t something like wrestling or bjj be better to take up as a sport?

[shadow_of_light]

Doing crossword puzzles.

[shadow_of_light]

14 hours ago, Soldiers and Saffron said:

Its not whole wheat but you should try making some Iranian barbari bread, its really delicious and easy to make. You can also cut them into toaster sizes once they come out of the oven and freeze them, then just take out slices as the need comes and toast them, they will taste fresh and new again. Here is a picture of the barbari bread I made recently:

You made it?!! At home? How?!

[hasanhh]

4 hours ago, Zainuu said:

kitchen cleaning.

l was doing an little bi-annual cleaning the kitchen this morning. Some of those spots need hydrochloric/muratic acid. Weakened of course. A hot grease on dust and dirt splat also needs a paintscraper after a year or so. Works pretty well.

l still need to vacuum my stove again. 

[hasanhh]

2 hours ago, shadow_of_light said:

Doing crossword puzzles.

l am actually lousy at these. l have kept count, but l have only worked 4 or 5 in my adult lifetime.

l have to read the answer in the back for ~3/4ths of the prompts so l can figure out the clue.

l am really terrible at these.

[hasanhh]

2 hours ago, shadow_of_light said:

Doing crossword puzzles.

l about know you know the answer:

Who invented the crossword puzzle?

Yep, you 'win.'

[Abu_Zahra]

9 hours ago, ali_fatheroforphans said:

Muay Thai 

Heard it's pretty fun from some of my friends. Will take up some classes.

It is, but looking back many years on I think wrestling or BJJ would have been a wiser option. 

A good wrestler will usually beat a good striker. 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, hasanhh said:

Some of those spots need hydrochloric/muratic acid.

Tried baking soda + vinegar?

4 hours ago, hasanhh said:

still need to vacuum my stove again. 

What?? You vaccum your stove?

[hasanhh]

2 hours ago, starlight said:

Tried baking soda + vinegar?    No, and other commercial cleaners don't work on my messes.

What?? You vaccuum your stove?

Yes, to remove the crumbs. 

Then l scrape it and vacuum up the particles.