We all have hobbies, at least one, don't we?
I read once, that : << There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." >>
I partly agree with this and partly not... it depends on the person and about how obsessive you are about that hobby.
Some people do it to relax, others to create, others to disconnect themselves from the outer world, but the main purpose of having a hobby is to do something that will make you happy.
But then, people are greedy by nature. When something makes you feel good, of course, you will want more and more and at a certain point you will become obsessed with the thing that fills you with happiness, proud, passion, etc.
Hobbies are also called passions(not by chance, I'm guessing) and as passion can become obsession, the same can happen with a hobby.
When you start neglecting your friends, family, health, job, yourself or anything else that should normally be important to you, when instead of dealing with your problems you search for refuge in a hobby... then you need to rethink your priorities. You need to stop when you walked through the fine line between hobby and madness.
When I think of the above mentioned quote, I always remember famous artists, that were considered obsessed, mad, mentally ill at the time, but today they are considered genius artists. Just think of Vincent van Gogh or Picasso as examples.
Their hobby was their torture.
As long as we don't exaggerate, hobbies are good thing, aren't they :)
So... what's your hobby?
PS: picture link http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mags/qf/c/PopularScience/12-1938/hobbies_hobby/med_hobbies_hobby_0.jpg
