What's your hobby?

The question was asked in a production meeting yesterday, and I got stumped. Who has time to have hobbies when, on a Saturday, you've got meetings in Makati at 10:00 am, 1:00, and 5:00, an event from 2:00 to 5:00, set-up for a friend's party at 7:00, and the party itself at 9:00 pm? And, in between, a business plan that's waiting to be done (it wasn't).

So I said, half-jokingly, that my hobby was drinking - and going to the bathroom to pee (it felt like that was the only thing I had free time to do). But I wasn't really complaining, and just continued to think about the question for the next few hours.

Later, at the party, Alan asked the question again, but with the qualification "If you had time, what would be your hobbies?"

Standard answer: travel - a little luxury now that my calendar is steadily filling up, and I'll be doing that mid-year. Diving, which I promised myself I'd do again sometime soon, and schedule is still the consideration. Movies - haven't gone to a theater lately but there's always the rare DVD marathon (of foreign art films, yum). The occasional book is always nice, recently finished The Four Agreements - but I'm not reading as much as I used to. But no regrets; I honestly didn't feel like I was missing out on doing things I really love to do.

And so the party progressed, and I had such a fun time (even when I was "working," i.e., helping out at the bar, serving food, entertaining guests), that this morning I got to thinking.

It's not true that I don't have time to do the things I love (the popular definition of "hobby"), because I'm actually already doing them in my life. And not just in my spare time! Now that's a blessing I'm now present to and profoundly grateful for.

I love to cook, and go shopping for pretty household stuff for entertaining. And that's what I do for a living, through the catering business.

I love to party and entertain, and that too I do as part of the business - and as a big part of my life, just like at Kate's impromptu birthday bash last night. I got to dance to some great bands and meet new people (and old friends!) and have great conversations with them and my friends until the wee hours.

I love to talk, and conversation is no longer a dying art in my world. I get to talk to my best friend every single weekday (and sometimes the after-work drinking weeknights) as we work together, to the wonderful people in my life, and to the great people I spend a lot of time doing the work of transformation with (even on weekends and holidays and even in the middle of a party; no vacation from transformation!). And to whoever else I meet and engage in conversation.

And I get to really live my life. I have no time for hobbies, because I'm spending it all already doing what I love - my hobby is my life. Amazing grace, indeed! Now I really get what He said about the fullness and abundance of life - and I'm truly thankful for that. :-)

Now that the business plan's done and I've gotten some writing in today, I'm going to do something I really love and have the rare opportunity to enjoy: take a Sunday nap. Yum!

Breathing Space

Finally, some down time after work-play-work-play-work-work-work over the season. Was so pooped on New Year's Eve that I didn't even make it to the countdown, and then New Year's Day was another big day in the kitchen. So today, I relished the alone time to drive to Chinatown (thank God for post-holiday traffic-lessness), comb the bookstore racks, get a *pink* pedicure, and read up on some program assignments. And to talk on the phone with someone I never thought I could ever relate to - what a great way to cap off a relaxing day. Also got some phone time in with my peripatetic BMF, just when I was beginning to really miss him. And it's back to work tomorrow! Never thought I'd be raring to say that :-)

Before I hit the sack, I wanted to share an entry from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest, a devotional I've had a love-cynical-love relationship with. The last part of December 31st's reads:

"...As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impuslive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.

"Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him."

Amen. I got that, and I really like that. :-)