Memoirs Q 48: How do you Engage with your Passions Outside of Work?

Outside of work... well, most of my time is directed to house chores now - given that I have no professional work related activities these days. It's called 'retirement' after all. So what do I do when not working at home? For starters, I just finished two roles in Toastmasters - that being the President of the Hall of Learners Advenced Toastmasters Club, and concurrenlty taking on the Division N Director role. That said, most of my free time was dedicated to either the club or the division. So yes, helping other Toastmasters is a passion of mine. Giving them opportunities to learn and grow, while I made sure my club was hitting its goals. The division was harder though... not everything was easily under my influence or control. We had to make hte best of what we had. You can only do so much. In such a situation, I would say, do what we can and not worry about what we can't address... help where we can, but not get frustated if things don't go the way we want.

Given these activities, I had a team that, I could say, were great at what they did. It took a little adjustment on my end - and most times, I had to just approve great ideas. Having a well motivated team was great. That was what I was taking advantage of in one instance, and what I was trying to form in the other. Call it luck, or meeting our goals through persistence - but we got to build a good team in time for the turnover.

Another passion would be photography, though nowadays its a bit downgraded. Years ago, I would practive on a daily basis to take pictures - to study great composition, but I have to be honest, I normally took pictures at the moment - not really considering angles, styles or arrangements. This was more a natural progression. Unlike say what my wife does - she takes pictures - study the image, and if it does not fit her accepted image, a rshoot is in order. Me? I take several shots and hope I get a 'golden' one amongst the ones I took. So which is the better procedure? I suspect both need to be combined.

Bakc then I would have my DSLR, my IPhone, my iPAD - three cameras, and the DSLR had three different lenses ready to be switched. I would lug all these, plus two types of tripods - let's just say they were not exactly light. But that was my learning phase. Yes, I took a lot of golden pics - I even experimented with infrared filters and black and white methods. The only thing I did not get to practive was model photography - and maybe some protrait and landscapes. But for some of these, I would have needed other equipment. Not only that, there came a time I really needed to upgrade my camera. But not being a professional photographer made buying new equipment - more so a newer camera, a bit pricey. Okay, not a bit... a lot.

Still, I learned, and now i'm just down to my phone cam. Do I miss my old equipment? Sometimes. But the convenience pf just having my phone cam ready is just enough for everyday use.

Anotehr passion I've had - something on hold for now due to a lack of space is my aquarium. I plan to get back to it some time soon.

Another? My comics and books. I always loved having a personal library. It makes me look learned. :D But it kept me updated. Once ina while I still look at my books for reference or for entertainment purposes. Unfortunately, the library is also on hold in my new place, and I've had to lessen purchasing books - though these past years, since the pandemic, I've switched more to ebooks. Too bad I can't dislplay them on a shelf - but it's convenient to carry the iPad around with said books... and comic books.

So how do I engage in them? Consider... some passions allow me to be alone. I like that. Others demand I communicate and impart knowledge with others - either face-to-face or online. But I try to find time for them. They are part of a life balance.