Old People Hobbies

I liked this article about things deemed “old people hobbies” mostly because it is a strange phenomenon that some (most?) people don’t focus on connection until later in life, even though there are plenty of older people out there writing articles outlining how to have a meaningful life.

So… if you want to know, you can technically know.

Birdwatching has been “having a moment” for many moments. If you put that phrase into Google, it spits out over 3 million results. Though interestingly, if you look it up on Google Trends, birdwatching had many many more searches in 2004 than now. Just saying.

But they’re going by users on Merlin or people who purchase birdwatching guides. So, yes, there are likely more birdwatchers, which is a good thing.

Anyway, this is the point that I liked, and it feels fitting for the season:

The reason birdwatching is stereotyped as “for old people” is because our culture is so dysfunctional it takes most people 50 years or more to figure out what makes for a meaningful life. The answer is genuine connection to other people and nature.

Watching birds becomes a little like blogging itself. It’s about standing still, watching, noticing, commenting, and letting the thought — or bird — fly away while the memories remain.