The triangle of my hobbies

 Was talking to a co-worker, who was intrigued that I had so many hobbies.  In explaining my pattern of hobbies to him, I realized that there's a "triangle" relationship to all of my major hobbies (writing and recording songs; hand tool woodworking; filmmaking).

I'm not going to draw out a diagram, so:  imagine a triangle, with the bottom left vertex being "creativity", the bottom right being "logic", and the top of the triangle being "technical".  Extend a line outwards from each of these three corners:  to "creativity" add "self-expression"; to "logic" add "problem-solving"; and to "technical" add "gear".

All of my major hobbies are an intersection of left-brain and right-brain activities (logic vs creativity), and all involve technical mastery of skills (e.g. playing an instrument; using woodworking hand tools).

The creative aspects manifest themselves in self-expression (emotions and ideas in the songwriting; storytelling through the filmmaking; and various physical forms (and creative decisions about shape, color, and general look and style for the woodworking.

Problem-solving occurs in songwriting (choosing the right notes that fit as a whole); filmmaking (various technical challenges, especially with my limited resources); and woodworking (creating something that's structurally sound and meets the needs, while using often "scavenged" materials).

Finally, all of these hobbies can be performed with a fairly basic set of tools -- but I tend to enjoy the gear (inexpensive, quirky stuff -- not the fancy expensive stuff) as well.  :)

So:  that's a diagnostic summary of (apparently) why my main hobbies are, indeed, my main hobbies -- and why other things (e.g. martial arts) have -- for now -- fallen by the wayside. 

--GG