I had nearly completed the alumni questionnaire when I came to a question containing a word I haven't thought of since high school. An ancient word. A word that calls back an amazing time when days lasted 24 hours and weeks lasted seven days ...
The question was: What are your hobbies?
I reread the sentence. Hobbies? I tried to think of something I do just for the sheer joy of doing it -- not because it's due ... not because it's past due ... not because it's way past due.
I tried to think of the last time I did anything that wasn't for survival, panic or money. I tried to think of anyone I know who has anything remotely close to a hobby. Between work, home and kids, what on earth would it be? Painting in her sleep? Practicing the violin in the minivan while waiting for her children to finish soccer practice?
The few people I do know who've actually scaled back and committed to pursuing the simple life have been swept into an irresistible marketing frenzy.
There's my friend Molly, who took time to stop and smell the roses ... and now has a gardening Web site and a collection of tools and gardening shoes that are imprinting her name in topsoil all across America.
My friend Maureen quit her job and devoted herself to staying home and doing projects with her small children. Within two months, she was the star of the "Maureen's Projects With Small Children" video series and had a line of "Maureen's Craft Project Kits" and a monthly "Fun With Maureen" magazine.
