Dear friends, family, followers, and those of you who ended up here looking for a pdf copy of the new Chaos Space Marines Codex... A warm welcome to you all! (And to the final group, might I suggest looking here?)
I'm afraid this is one of those '...and life...' posts. I don't tend to do that sort of thing unless it directly has some kind of hobby element to it. But in the last two weeks I've not only fallen off the hobby horse but also dropped into the self-replicating-abyss-of-hobby-hiatus... (I should probably add a ! round about now). So the issue is one of a hobby that has mysteriously evaporated.
Obviously there's nothing at all mysterious going on here. What's changed for the first time in ages is the rhythm of my life, a forecastable side effect of my new job - oh dear, how I cringe at the very mention of that word in this space. This is a j-o-b free zone and I intend to keep it that way.
It will probably come as no surprise that I'm a closeted hobbyist. It would be my guess that most people are. I can't imagine how I'd start that conversation. No, that's a lie. Because I've had the conversation before, but before I worked with people in a different way and, well, it didn't matter. (Notice that I maintain distance by never stating what I do. It's just the deal we have, ok? Right... now I'm concerned this is reading to much like Fight Club). Moving on.
Now I have to stay closeted in a way I've never had to before. The closet has been built around me. I now work regularly in an office environment - not everyday, but enough so that I have office-style relationships for the first time ever. People are so very nosey. Everyone divulges. Everyone listens. Everyone wants to know more. How do you make that work?! Help me folks?
Is it worth coming out?
What have your experiences been?
Conversely, how do you mix your job into your hobby spaces?
Are our experiences specific to where we work and what we do?
And do let me know if I'm over thinking this!
I have always worked in an office environment. Whilst I don't go out of my way to tell people what I do with my spare time, if they ask I answer honestly. So many people know of Warhammer, either directly or through their children or someone else they know, that often it's not even hard to explain.
ReplyDeleteFailing that, I go for the self-effacing approach of declaring that I play with toy soldiers. That generally leads to bafflement and further questions, during which they get a rough understanding of what it is I do.
I'm not overly bothered by the thought of the people I work with knowing about my hobby, despite the initial discomfort when it's first brought up. I don't know if I qualify as a closet hobbyist or not, in that sense.
Am in the same situation, except over here in Turkey, Warhammer and the such are not known if but rarely. Though I don't hide it neither, and have a few models kicking around my desk.
ReplyDeleteI find it to be a conversation starter if nothing else. And, as Hoodling states, worst case I just say I play with Toy Soldiers, and make pew pew noises while doing so. But I leave that to the people who are already ignorant and not wanting to listen anyways.
Good luck with it, and honestly, it is nothing to shy away from.
It could be worse, you could enjoy 'living history' and dress up and run around fighting pretend battles based on historical events..........oh how i dream.
ReplyDeleteThanks all for the comments. I think the trouble for me (if it is indeed trouble) is that I spend a very small amount of time gaming within the warhammer hobby. The majority of my gaming is different and shaped by the tastes of my small group of friends who share a regular games night, when we play board games and RPGs - those are an easy sell. Most of my warhammer hobby time falls into the category of modelling and painting. I find that creeps into solitary nerd territory. Once or twice I've shown people photos of what I'm working on and then they've seen that it is an artistic hobby akin to a whole range of others.
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of making pew pew noises at people!
I think that 'living history' would be easier to explain as it's obviously more social... or is it? I'm not sure. Maybe it's more 'manly' to have life sized toy guns!