HAVE A HOBBY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20426, 30 November 1929, Page 7 (Supplement)

HAVE A HOBBY.

Why do doctors so often give the man with an absorbing hobby an approving pat on the back ? They realise that woik on a wellloved 'hobbv' brings into operation a different set of nerves from those which aie used in the routine processes of a dav-to-day occupation. Some even suggest that the man who can lose himself in his hobby has at hand a relaxation which is, in essential equal to a change of scene. The conventional holiday of the conventional man by no means supplies him with a real rest. But the deep interest lie takes in nil that he is doing then, in the different scenery and the unfamiliar people, has great recuperative value. In the same way, an enthralling hobby, which can hold the mind of the person concerned, means the switching over of tho outlook and the emotions from one point to another. This is why men and women choose hobbies which provide the greatest) contrast to their every-day life. The stockbroker likes to swing a club in brS free hours; the countryman, working in open windy spaces, likes to be rcallv mug in the bar of the village mn, when he knocks of! work. The hard-headed man of business likes to look at nis punts, china, or old silver when his office is closed The woman M.P. !ikes (o cook her little meals in her little flat between bouts of oratory.

These people are wise." They arc offering strained nerves a rest and giving a little healthy work to other nerves, that are the better for it.