Turning Interests into Hobbies, Part 1

As a college undergrad, I shelled out hundreds of dollars every semester on new textbooks and used old-editions, most of which never saw the light of day beyond the first few weeks. Alas! Skipping, skimming, and  Spark-Noting has become the norm among much of today's youth, myself included.

One undertaking I've attempted several times before is to sit down and re-read all my old books, formulate my own theories and ideas about the world, and somehow achieve recognition doing it. At one point, I tried blogging about every article and book I read, ultimately losing interest after about two months.

I was fooling myself.

Sociology (and its various facets/related disciplines) remains an interest of mine, but the time and effort required to turn myself into the idealized Great American Sociologist and Thinker of my fantasies was too much for me to handle.

It didn't help that each time I rekindled this dream I started with either my inane Sociology 101 texts (ex: "Beauty Myths and Realities and Their Impact on Women's Health") or my most esoteric, theoretical works by authors who cannot be thoroughly understood without a substantial understanding of the basic (and intermediate) concepts (ex: Simmel, Mead, Marcuse, etc.). I always chose either the simple or the complex, and I tried to force myself into following through until I gave up completely.

Amateur Sociology is still an interest of mine, and is only one of several. I want to turn this interest into a hobby. I don't want to "be interested in sociology", I want to "be a sociologist". I want to write and publish papers in peer-reviewed journals. I want to attend conventions. I want to meet and hold conversation with academics and researchers who do this for a living. I want to enjoy doing something I like.

Ay, there's the rub! For in my attempts to study and master the entire discipline, I forced myself to study the theoretically bland or the impossibly convoluted. I had to grind through the insipidity of the most basic texts until I caught up with my interest, or I had to pore over every term and sentence and contemplate every example until that small micro-fragment of an author's argument registered with me. It was hard work either way.

One of my life's goals is to be a sociologist. To get there, I need to study sociology. But rather than turning my interest into a chore by reading every single book I own, I will accept that I don't need to read everything and that for some books I'm not yet ready. Some, mostly case studies , I will skip since I've no interest in them.

Sounds easy, right? Carefully consider your skill level and know your limitations. Don't let your efforts become a chore; stick with what you like and let your pursuit of knowledge grow from there.