It's Never Too Late to Learn
[rebelmouse-image 18348452 is_animated_gif=They say it's never too late to learn. Famous artist Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as Grandma Moses, didn't begin painting until age 76.
Reddit user classycatman asked "Redditors who discovered and mastered a new hobby in middle or late age, what was it, why did you start, and how did you master it?"
Here are just a few skills others have picked up later in life. Maybe you'll find a new hobby too.
Off the Land
[rebelmouse-image 18348453 is_animated_gif=I decided at the age of 27 I wanted to hunt and fish for all my food. I know 27 isnt middle aged, but its a damn late start to hunting, most hunters start with their dad as a kid. I come from a non hunting and fishing family, so it was very foreign to me. I had no background in it, and no clue how to get started. Lots of googling, book reading, and podcast listening got me to a good start. I went from never firing a gun to killing my first buck in the span of about 3 months. I became obsessed. I now bowhunt, gunhunt, kayak and offshore fish for every bit of meat I eat. Been living that way for 5 years, so I guess you can say im pretty good at it.
Visual Arts
[rebelmouse-image 18348454 is_animated_gif=Animation and 3D modeling assets for movies, games and TV. I've always been artistic but never really thought about what I wanted out of life as I normally put other peoples needs in front of my own. I turned 30 last year and applied for an art course in the local college, got accepted and now a year later I've just found out I've been accepted onto an animation course in the main University in my city. It feels weird because I never imagined myself doing this or enjoying it but I really do love it.
Voltron
[rebelmouse-image 18348455 is_animated_gif=It might not be such a big thing, but recently I started buying and building Gundam build kits. The first one took me nearly 16 hours to complete and I'm starting to get better and better at making them, especially the stickers, those things are damn hard to put on.
Board Life
[rebelmouse-image 18348456 is_animated_gif=Started skateboarding at 31 - on and off, never more than 3-4 hours a week. My findings after 1 year: - it's hard - it hurts - it's extremely fun.
We Got the Beat
[rebelmouse-image 18348457 is_animated_gif=I'm 44 now and I just started playing the drums three years ago. I was always one of those guys that basically drums on the steering wheel, desk, lap, anything I could find when listening to music. Then finally at 41 years old I decided to gift myself a real drum kit. Can't say that I've mastered it since it takes a long long time to master drums. If there really is such a thing as mastering the drums. Considering the many play styles, genres of music, and just about endless techniques to master, I will have plenty to keep busy with. All in all though I absolutely love drumming and wish I would have started much younger in life. Either way it is a fantastic Hobby.
Something to Draw On
[rebelmouse-image 18348460 is_animated_gif=I started learning to draw when I was 34 years old. I always figured I was a crappy artist, since I was comparing myself to my twin brother. Growing up, he was "the artistic one" (side note don't label your twins in comparison to each other), and he drew way more often than I did.
When I was 34, I told him how I wished I could draw. He told me to pick something fun to draw, draw every day, and see how my skill improves.
So, I started drawing chibis. My first ones sucked. I drew every day. I read books and found Pinterest tutorials. I started keeping a drawing journal, in addition to learning and practicing.
Now, I'm 36 years old. I still consider myself a beginner. A large percentage of my pictures still suck, especially when I'm trying something new or ambitious. I've learned to accept that. I've also started drawing things that I'm really happy with, and it is refreshing.
Fun Fitness
[rebelmouse-image 18348461 is_animated_gif=I took up Krav Maga in my forties. Beating the crap out of each other is way more fun than running on a treadmill for an hour.
Treasure Hunter
[rebelmouse-image 18348462 is_animated_gif=Well, I'm 33 and I've been Metal detecting for the past 2 years and I must say it's something that fulfills me, researching places of battles, of old abandoned towns, digging stuff that has been buried for over 300 years it's a unique experience.
Design Line
[rebelmouse-image 18348463 is_animated_gif=I took up game programming. Everything's free now. Blender. Unity. Visual Studio. Unreal Engine. These were all things that would have been hundreds, if not thousands of dollars when I was in my 20s back in the 90s. And there are so many thousands of great tutorials out there for everything. It's the golden age of Indie Game Design.
I'm not a master yet. But I've made a few things that people seem to enjoy.
Purl One, Cast Off
[rebelmouse-image 18348464 is_animated_gif=I'm 47 and earlier this year had surgery on my foot. Bed-bound, foot elevated. I've always wanted to learn how to knit, and figured I could use my recovery time doing something useful. I bought cheap yarn at a local craft store, one 'how to' book, and found some really good tutorial-type YouTube channels. Had my surgery in early January, and as of right now I can knit hats, scarves, mittens, and socks. I can do cable knitting and fair isle knitting (only 2 colours so far, next project will use 3). I can knit on straight needles and in the round. I currently have two goals: knitting Christmas stockings for my husband, my 6 children, and myself, and knitting myself an Icelandic sweater. I realize it's sort of an 'old lady' hobby, but I find it so relaxing and rewarding.
Puck Passion
[rebelmouse-image 18348465 is_animated_gif=At age 39, I decided to learn to play ice hockey.
I rollerbladed as a kid and would occasionally ice skate on figure skates. Then my son started to play ice hockey and it looked like so much fun, I joined an adult league to learn to play. I've been playing in men's leagues for over a year and was invited to help coach my son's team.
Little Xs
[rebelmouse-image 18348466 is_animated_gif=Cross stitch. I came across a book at a library that had subversive cross stitch. I loved looking at old granny things that had swears and snarky remarks on them. It was a fairly cheap hobby to pick up. A lot of supplies you can find in thrift shops. Regardless it's cheap even at store price.
Stroke
[rebelmouse-image 18348467 is_animated_gif=Began rowing at 30. It's been a brutal, weird, humbling journey that began with an awkward class and some flailing on the water to near perfect strokes that make me feel like I'm flying and my heart is soaring.
There's no way to just row, just like there's no way to just be. It always feels like more, in a good way.
Handy
[rebelmouse-image 18348468 is_animated_gif=Not by any means a "master" at it but, I started woodworking at 35. I'm now 42. I impress myself and my friends. It started out of practicality. I needed a workbench for my garage. I built one. I needed a bookcase. I built it. I discovered that I really enjoy doing it so I picked up some additional tools and I started building more and more complex things.
Edit because this got popular and there were a lot of comments: Here is one of my projects. Like I said, I am not really all that good. I just watch a lot of videos and I'm not afraid to try new stuff. I built this because I needed a good solid bookshelf and I wasn't going to pay $350.00 for a cheap veneered MDF bookcase. This was made out of pine and cost me about 100 bucks in materials.
Upon the Stage
[rebelmouse-image 18348469 is_animated_gif=At age 60, without a single second of previous experience, I started acting in live theater. It was local community theater but still... A friend convinced me to try it. I have done alright and each time I try out for a new play I get a better role.
Trivial Matters
[rebelmouse-image 18348470 is_animated_gif=I started collecting facts about different countries a few years ago. I had a total of 70,000 that I have organized down to about 15,000 of the best ones.
There's no end in sight and I think that I will be doing this for the rest of my life. Everyday is just a new adventure researching whether Afghan women have triangle or crescent shaped tattoos on their faces or fact-checking whether Germans actually fought side-by-side with Ameiricans in WW2.
Maybe by the time I'm done fact checking everything, I will be able to write a couple of books or do a Youtube series or something. But even if that never pans out, I just enjoy doing this everyday.
I don't think I will ever master all of the histories and intricacies of all the countries in the world, though. But I'm going to try.
The Pen Is Mighty
[rebelmouse-image 18348472 is_animated_gif=I started writing at 42, sold a book at 45. I had tried writing at various times all my life but never had thought of really showing it to anyone until I got in my 40s. I just like to write. It gets everything out.
Throwing Clay
[rebelmouse-image 18348473 is_animated_gif=I always wanted to try ceramics. So when I had to take art electives when I went back to college about 30 years later than planned, I figured, what the hell.
I didn't expect to be good at it (art isn't really something I'm any good at) but it's so much fun and there's so much science in it. You can completely ignore the science part, or you can go full Mad Scientist and experiment the hell out of it.
Sadly ceramics isn't really a hobby you can easily bring home with you, so while I spent a ton of time in the studio when I had access to one, it's a hobby that's pretty hard to keep going.
Doing the Heavy Lifting
[rebelmouse-image 18348474 is_animated_gif=I was approaching 39 I was overweight and depressed. I did not want to start my 40s the same way. I started going to the gym and got connected with a personal trainer who was going to school at the same time. She used me as a guinea pig for all the things she was learning.
I was a sponge who wanted to learn all the things. Long story short, my body type is perfect for powerlifting and she was getting into going to competitions herself. I started training hard with her using big boy weights. So far I have done 2 competitions and hope to do another one next year.
Still with the same coach. Truly life changing.
Like Don Ho
[rebelmouse-image 18348475 is_animated_gif=A couple years ago (I'm 36 now) I somehow drunkenly ordered a ukulele from Amazon Prime because it looked cool and because beer.
It turned out that it was easier to just learn how to play the damned thing than it was to return it, and now I play with a group in the city once a week and started up a group of my own at my office because a bunch of other people here got interested in it too. It's become a surprisingly solid source of security and comfort through a very rocky time in my life.
I learned to play it using youtube videos and then once I'd gotten my feet under me I found a group that plays for fun near me and started showing up weekly. There's no better way to solidify and improve your musical skills than playing with other people, and there's almost nothing you can't learn using youtube.
It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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