Whe does a hobby become a way of life?

[Kaz]

A lot of members here refer to this as their hobby... to me it is not a hobby, it is a way of life. I play guitar very seriously... I have never regarded it as a hobby... it has been a serious part of my life for the past 30+ years...

Any thoughts... hobby or a way of life?

[JaytoJillian]

would have to say way of life--I see it as a craft that I just haven't figured out what to do with just yet.

[kimdl93]

I suppose its a hobby to the extent that I don't get paid for doing it. But, some people take their hobbies very, very seriously indeed. And some people, myself included, identify with CDing to such an extent that its not simply something I do, its a part of who I am. Yes, I identify myself as (among other things) as a CDr.

[LeaP]

Thanks for raising the question! I'm new to the forum and have seen several posts referring to CD'ing as a hobby. I find the usage really odd as it comes across to me as trivializing it to the point of being a mere amusement, or an optional activity akin to, say, woodworking or sewing. Hobbies are usually innocuous, CD'ing is anything but.

But way of life? That would seem to best apply to anyone living a significant portion of their life dressed. That description would be a stretch for me, though perhaps underdressing qualifies. An essential part of life, perhaps.

Lea

[Jane_UK]

initially I would have said hobby as its something I've done on and off for 20 years but as I stated in another post over the last month or so I've become more and more involved with CD'ing, and its made me feel free. The SO knows nothing about it so I dress in private but the way it makes me feel I dare say it could become a way of life even if I was to tell the SO and she didnt like it .... now that sounds complicated

[Sheren Kelly]

No definitive answers, but for some, what starts out as a hobby becomes part of one's identity.
Like many, I started out thinking this was just a diversion, but it turned out to be something more.

I don't know what path this life will take, but going backward isn't an option.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Kaz, If it's just a hobby then thier not doing something right.
It's a life$tyle for for you and I.

Orchid

[Maria 60]

A hobby to me is something you do on your spare time, but this is something that i have to do. I crave it always and from the minute i wake up in the morning the first thing i do is check the kids schedules to see if there is any chance. I don't think that's a hobby.

[Kaz]

For me a hobby is what you do in your spare time... if you have any! It is an adjunct to what you do, can be discarded easily, no reason to be good at it, not a priority?

I must say I have few hobbies.. I tend to take most things I do seriously?

[Lynn Marie]

Once again, it may just be a matter of degrees. Some folks have hobbies that they occasionally dabble in. Other folks have hobbies that just about take over their every waking moment! They spend inordinate amounts of money and often every available minute and even their social lives all revolve around their hobbies.

I know. I'm sort of like that. So in that respect my CD activities are really no more to me than any of the hobbies that I have devoted entire segments of my life to! Oh yeah, and a few of the hobbies that I lost interest in in my youth, have come back on line with renewed interest in my advanced adulthood.

[Kaz]

Thanks for raising the question! I'm new to the forum and have seen several posts referring to CD'ing as a hobby. I find the usage really odd as it comes across to me as trivializing it to the point of being a mere amusement, or an optional activity akin to, say, woodworking or sewing. Hobbies are usually innocuous, CD'ing is anything but. But way of life? That would seem to best apply to anyone living a significant portion of their life dressed. That description would be a stretch for me, though perhaps underdressing qualifies. An essential part of life, perhaps. Lea


'Way of life' to me does not imply the other end of the spectrum as in living dressed full time... just it being a significant part of your identity... who you are rather than a 'hobby'.

[TGMarla]

It's funny that you'd post this. I know so many who regard their crossdressing as an extremely integral part of their lives. To a great extent, it is with me, too. It's part of who I am, part of my identity. But in the years since I was much younger, while I dealt with all the transgender aspects of crossdressing, and all the gender confusion it can come with, and as I've come to grips with self-acceptance, I've relegated my crossdressing to something less than a lifestyle, and something more than a mere hobby.

But really, some hobbyists are quite serious about their hobbies, almost to the point of obsession. They'll pursue their hobbies down to the last minute detail. I'm like that when I crossdress. And since I'll no longer allow this to control me as it once did, and since I'm still a bit obsessive about it in many regards, I can safely say that now it is more of a hobby for me than it is a lifestyle. And that's something of a relief to me, really.

[Carol A]

I really don't know as it is who and what I am. I prefer to dress as a women rather the a man.

[cassandra54]

i would say it's become a way of life for me. i don't feel as if i'm a woman trapped in a man's body, but i feel that i have a number of characteristics and personality traits that could be considered female. i've also had what you might call intimations of being a woman. i am using this to create the persona known as cassandra. this is a very exciting concept for me, since i can lead two very different lives with two different genders and personalities and switch between the two seamlessly. i look forward to my new life with all the adventure and challenge it will bring and using my success with to enrich my existing life. a lot of people don't think outside the box, but i live for it.

[Maria 60]

Now that i read your comment it got me thinking that i believe my crossdressing is more then a hobby but it is not a lifestyle. I want to do it so bad, but i put a limit to where it stops. I wonder if i had more freedom to dress when ever i wanted, if then i could tell if it is a hobby or not.

[Suzette Muguet de Mai]

Always been a way of life Kaz, just now I accept it because of this forum and good discussions. Now it is taking over most of my life and trying to be more female every day. It has never been a hobby even when I was young. I guess when I was young I felt freakish and a misfit because I knew no one else who dressed, god forbid if I even raised the subject. Hardest part is controlling it because it is driving me crazy.

[VioletJourney]

I also play guitar very seriously, but I don't consider crossdressing or guitar anything more than a hobby. A passionate hobby, sure, but still, it's a freakin' hobby.

[Katrina Black]

would have to say way of life--I see it as a craft that I just haven't figured out what to do with just yet.

yes unless your a women trapped in a male body, then its a lifestyle.. Im a man who loves all things female ..for me it is a craft ..as with most things men preform we try to perfect our craft.

[AllieSF]

For me it is probably both. A fun activity which I really enjoy and a way of life as I continue to focus on dressing, hygiene, makeup etc. It takes too damn much of my time and I need to "get a life" independent of this to keep my balance, balanced!

[cassandra54]

all those who say it's just a hobby, your point is well taken. but, if you go out in public and do things en femme and i hope you do and enjoy yourselves, you could say you're going out as a man who has perfected a craft, but then again the prize is to be recognized as a woman, so then aren't you living as a woman. not that your are a woman, but as a woman so therefore that living in a sense becomes a way of life.

[BeckyAnderson]

:2c: As I see it, crossdressing is an innate part of my life, like personality, being right-handed, etc. A hobby, on the other hand, is an enjoyable pass time. I have many hobbies and can freely give one or more up any time I desire and have done so in the past. How many of you can give up crossdressing? Even under the most stressful of times CD'ing may become temporarily secondary to an event but 'always' emerges when the condition that caused it to become secondary is gone. Loss of marriage or girlfriends or loss of family relations cannot stop it from reemerging. :2c:

[NathalieX66]

Sometimes I'm just not happy presenting as male, so I like to go out & about in my free time as female. That's who I am.

My hobbies are home restoration, my music and my guitars, my antique car, and hopefully a nice big sailboat for the weekends someday.

[Brynna M]

I don't think the two terms are mutually exclusive. A hobby is something that one does for enjoyment and not as a profession or vocation. A way of life is what we do and how we live, hobbies and all. There are several hobbies I can't get rid of and am not myself without. Crossdressing, for all its associated difficulties, is something I enjoy and can not put aside. It is a hobby is some broad sense of the word but it is also an inescapable part of my way of life.

[Cari]

For me its a lifestyle that has led to a few hobbies.
I don't consider dressing a hobby;
however playing with different looks or shopping and putting together new outfits does feel like hobby to me.
I really don't need another makeup brush to get dressed but I enjoy it.

[sissystephanie]

I don't consider crossdressing to be a hobby for me, but I also don't consider it to be a way of life. It is something that I like to do, and that I do almost every day. That certainly does not define a hobby, nor does it really fit the definition of a way of life! It is just something to be done!!

[Diana Bain]

I'll go with "a way of life." The Dobbie Brothers had an album "What were once vices are now habits." I have grown a lot as Diana over the last 40+ years...part of my day...a week...a month...a year(s)...she is here. Hobbies are like many of you have posted here...hobbies...far less complicated. So I'll go now and enjoy my "habit"...errr "way of life."

[suchacutie]

I have always thought that when the word "hobby" was used that it was "tongue in cheek"...a little bit of an inside joke when said by us, and a bit of an attempt to contain the possibilities when spoken by a very nervous or confused spouse/SO.

tina

[docrobbysherry]

A "Hobby" according to Webster's is:

"A favorite pursuit: an interest apart from one's regular work, as painting or gardening, enjoyed as a relaxation."

Unless someone is PAYING U to dress up, which would make u a "professional":eek:,
your dressing is defined as a hobby!:)
Plus, my guess is PLENTY of r u involved with "painting" your faces and trying to "grow" your female characters! Both defined as hobbies by Webster!

[Frédérique]

A lot of members here refer to this as their hobby... to me it is not a hobby, it is a way of life. I play guitar very seriously... I have never regarded it as a hobby... it has been a serious part of my life for the past 30+ years... Any thoughts... hobby or a way of life?

I don’t see crossdressing as a hobby, nor does it feel like a hobby. It may be a hobby for others, but, for me, wearing women’s/girl’s/lady’s clothing is akin to recreational drug use – I dress to get high, or get to a mental “space” where I like to BE, and the tactile sensations of the clothing take me there. Since I am a chronic MtF crossdresser, I keep going on the same ‘trip,” time and time again, but I dress in moderation, according to my own moderate personality…

If I was collecting my fetishistic garments (pleated skirts or pretty dresses) and not wearing them, I might say that was a hobby, but active crossdressing just doesn’t seem like an activity that could be called a “pastime.” I mean, I pass the time dressed (I very much want to), but I’m doing other things while I’m dressed, including my actual hobby, WRITING about crossdressing! My real profession, which involves making images for profit (painting, printmaking, photography) is often misinterpreted as a hobby by people who don’t know any better. There is a hypothetical “level” where a hobby becomes a way of life – in our case, when we cease admiring the clothes we covet, and start actually wearing them, becoming the female we dearly want to be, the hobby aspect flies out the window, never to return…

PS – I use to collect stamps. Now THAT is a hobby… :hmph:

[Miranda09]

Actually, I don't think of it as one way or the other. When the mood strikes me, I go for it and enjoy my time doing so. When it doesn't, I just set it aside and play with it later. This pretty much summarizes most of my hobbies, including photography. :)

[SweetIonis]

Well very strong feelings that need to be expressed become prominent. Actually it's quite different from a fantasy. A fantasy you conjure up. This is something that is not conjured up. It's just there. It's quite different when everything, and I mean everything about you feels strongly a certain way. It ain't no fetish. It's about what you feel you are.

That's a way of life.

[jenna_woods]

to me its always been a way of life never a hobby

[MsCheriMarie]

i have many hobbies from coin collecting, dabbling into interior design, online gaming and nerdy rpg's, and vintage advertising collecting to name a few. I am happy to say these endeavors and interests have carried over to "my true self" My "lifestyle choice" as once described long ago is now just "life" and I am a better person for it :)

[danielletorresani]

Just a hobby for me. Probably because I only dress up for sexual stimulation, not out of gender identity issues.