Whatever Happened to the Things We Used to Enjoy?

I’ve spent a good bit of my spare time this week shopping for a camera. I’ve compared models, looked at pictures other people have taken, and even made an offer on a used one.

All because I’ve grown tired of trying to take decent pictures of my grandsons playing ball with my cell phone.

Sitting in the stands, trying to zoom in on the action, I rarely get the results I’m hoping for. And it’s not just their ball games. There are plenty of other things I’d like to photograph that my phone just doesn’t seem to capture the way I want.

But this isn’t exactly a new interest for me.

Back in my teens and early 20s, I was usually the guy who showed up at family gatherings with a 35mm camera. I enjoyed taking pictures, although photographing people wasn’t necessarily my favorite subject.

I was more interested in nature. Sunsets, interesting clusters of trees, clouds, and whatever else happened to catch my eye.

I also loved fishing back then. When I got my Minolta X-370, I started carrying it along on fishing trips.

You might expect those old photo albums to be full of pictures of fish.

Not a single one.

Instead, I photographed birds nesting on posts, sunlight reflecting off the water, approaching storm clouds, and leaves changing with the seasons.

I went fishing, but apparently my camera had other interests.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped carrying it.

Work and everyday responsibilities gradually took up more of my time. I never made a conscious decision to quit photography. It just became one of those things I used to do.

And that got me wondering about all the other interests we leave behind as the years go by.

What happened to the things we enjoyed?

Think about something you enjoyed doing twenty or thirty years ago.

Maybe you played golf every weekend. Maybe you enjoyed woodworking, played guitar, worked on old cars, or spent every chance you got fishing.

There was a time when you made room for those things without giving it much thought. You looked forward to doing them.

Then life got busy.

Jobs, raising children, maintaining a home, and all the other responsibilities of adulthood began filling up the calendar.

You missed a Saturday here and there. A few months went by. Eventually, the golf clubs ended up in the garage, the guitar went into its case, or that woodworking project sat unfinished in the corner of your shop.

And maybe you never got around to picking them up again.

It doesn’t necessarily mean you stopped enjoying those things. You just stopped doing them.

Of course, some interests genuinely fade. What we enjoyed at twenty might not appeal to us at fifty-five. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Sometimes the interest never really leaves

Here’s something I realized while shopping for a camera.

Even though I haven’t carried a dedicated camera in years, I never really stopped looking for things to photograph.

I’m constantly pulling out my phone to capture an interesting sunset, unusual clouds, or something in nature that catches my attention.

And I’m often disappointed with the results.

Apparently, that part of me that enjoyed photography forty years ago is still there. I’ve just been trying to satisfy it with a cell phone.

My grandsons’ ball games gave me a reason to start looking at cameras again, but I suspect I’ll be pointing one at trees, birds, and sunsets just as often as I point it toward a ball field.

Maybe some of our old interests haven’t disappeared entirely. Maybe they’re still showing up in small ways, waiting for us to pay attention to them again.

Someone who enjoyed woodworking might still stop to admire a beautifully made piece of furniture. A man who once played guitar might still find himself wishing he could play a particular song.

Or maybe there’s an old interest that hasn’t crossed your mind in years until something unexpectedly reminds you of it.

Either way, it might be worth another look.

You don’t have to start where you left off

I think one mistake we could make is believing that returning to an old interest means picking up exactly where we left off.

It doesn’t have to work that way.

If you used to play golf, you don’t need to join a club or commit every Saturday morning to the course. Maybe you start with an afternoon at the driving range.

If you enjoyed fishing, you don’t need a boat or a truckload of new equipment. A couple of hours at a familiar fishing hole might be enough to remind you what you liked about it.

If you once played guitar, maybe you take it out of the case and see what you can still remember.

And you don’t have to spend a lot of money finding out whether an interest is still there.

Give it another try on a small scale.

You might discover that you’ve moved on, and the activity doesn’t appeal to you anymore. At least you’ll know.

But you might also find yourself wondering why you ever stopped.

I haven’t gotten my camera yet, so I don’t know how much I’ll enjoy photography this time around. I’m curious enough to find out.

Maybe there’s something you used to enjoy that deserves the same chance.

What’s something you haven’t done in years that you might still enjoy doing today?