Hobbies

I went to San Francisco for the second time in two weeks last week for an impulsive last second trip to see one of my favorite house DJs perform at Ruby Skye. It was a good Labor Day weekend...got to party with my old dorm mates again and I had the worst ever week at work as per usual so nothing like some good old fashioned drunken debauchery to forget about my problems for a fleeting second.

Anyway, last weekend gave me a lot to think about. I realized that I need I need to take up an activity outside of my job.

I've been on a news writers block. I haven't been breaking any stories and I need to fix that. I'm constantly obsessed with work, but it's not really helping me so I think I need to get out of my own head.

I think constantly thinking abut work is good to an extent, but it tends to be counterproductive and less fruitful for me in the long run. I obsess over paltry things, and I want to redefine what my job actually means.

Like for instance, I took up running after I retired from swimming. But that's not the same. I have no problems with physical activity but I think I want to once again pursue another hobby that makes me think, but in a more creative way and makes me use a different part of my brain. I really feel like taking off my work thinking cap and putting on another one will expose me to new ideas, a different way of thinking and looking at things and offer a fresh new perspective to help unlock a different part of my brain. Coming back after putting on a new shade of glasses might be helpful.

Like coding for example. I was so obsessed with data mining and statistics and taking coding tutorial classes back during grad school. I haven't ran a built a database system in forever. And then I started focusing less and less on stuff I used to be into after I started my new job, and I just focused on what I do in the office and that was it.

I need to get out of my head. What happened with the old creative me? I think me being creative outside of work will help inspire me inside the office somehow. I can bring in the different part of my brain and wired thinking into my work which may help offer fresh perspectives.

I don't know how I plan on doing this, but I'm willing to try and find out. Maybe this won't fix my slump, but at the very least I know I tried, and if it means I just suck at thinking outside the box at my job, then that's just it.

I want to also be able to not be scared about tackling certain stories. I have so many ideas and I'm always scared to share them because I feel like my angle doesn't hold water. I'm terrified of getting shut down so I give up, and then I end up doing the bare minimum at my job.

I hate that. I didn't come to this place to do the bare minimum. I'm here to be better than everyone. I'm here to be the best that I can be. If I only do what's minimally required from my job I'm not growing as a person. I think that's why I broke such a huge story during my internship last year...I was desperate to break a story, a good story. And a year later, even though I don't live there anymore, I just found out Louisville's metro zoning laws have now been re-written to be changed, all because of something small that I cracked over a year ago.

I need that hunger again. I need that desire again. I can't be too complacent. Complacency gets you NOWHERE. I am not that person. I am going places, or at least I will die trying. It means that you're going to climb out of your comfort zone because that's really the only way you can function in this world. Sorry, that's just how it goes.

The new hobby thing that I can segue it to is to help me get out of my own head and realize that obsessing over work isn't really productive in any way whatsoever because there are no results over worrying and being anxious and over-obsessing. I need to think of another way to help me focus on my job, the right way. And maybe taking up an activity that uses a different part of my brain just might be the answer.

Alright, now, time to think of new hobbies to take up. Anything is welcome.