other time-honored activities

“Activities”
Activities are a way of structuring time that deal with external reality and are commonly thought of as work, getting something done. Activities are often what people want to do, need to do, or have to do:

collecting stamps
preparing homework
milking cows
balancing the ledger
getting dressed
answering the mail
programming a missile
cooking dinner
weeding the garden
unloading a ship
building a birdhouse
sewing a dress
drawing blueprints
building bridges

When some of the above and other time-honored activities come to an end, a person frequently feels empty, restless, or useless. ♥Add a Tooltip Text

from Born to Win, by Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward

Some days you wake up and find you don’t feel like programming your missiles. Down in the dumps, my grandmother called it. Now, she was a gal who could sew herself out of despair. All she needed was the right pattern and a few yards of fabric. That was functional sewing, while it lasted. She made clothes for her grandchildren and we wore the clothes to school. But we preferred to shop at J.C. Penney, and she stopped sewing for us. At which point her sewing became a hobby.

I have always had a fear of hobbies and the empty time they imply. Sundays, in particular, can be hard. The poor pioneers in the Old West had to sit on a hard wooden bench every Sunday and do absolutely nothing. Not one thing. Couldn’t read or talk or whittle.

Today, Sundays mean Sixty Minutes.
TV people are so amazing. They really know how to stay busy. Acting, producing, directing. Fabulous.