Happy new year to all

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850


I like the way Google shows its widget at any occasion. At the time of Olympics, there were many event relating clip arts whenever I opened the home page of my browser.

Let's learn more about celebration of the new year and few quotes relating to the topic.

The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible cresent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).

The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all, it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.

The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.

The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.

In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.

To read more: It's Another New Year...but for what reason?

New Year Quotes:

# Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to. ~Bill Vaughn

# An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan

# Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits. ~Author Unknown

# The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. ~G.K. Chesterton

Travelling- An Adventorous Hobby

We travel for many needs like as work, visiting people or places, and etc, but there are many who are fond of travelling and it can be easily considered as a passion or 'hobby' for them.

Travelling is an adventorous hobby which has lots of surprises within it. As you travel you discover many things which were not exposed to you before. Seeing new places, new landscapes, meeting new people, and learning about different cultures and histories are all great benefits of travelling.

According to 'Samuel Johnson'- “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.”
And at another place he said,"All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it."

Few more quotes about travel:

* The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine

* I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move. ~Robert Louis Stevenson

* “He who does not travel does not know the value of men.” - Moorish proverb

Travelling is a wonderful hobby. It takes a traveler to travel far off places which he had only thought of to travel in his past. The effect produced on the mind by travelling depends on the mind of the traveler and in the way in which he conducts himself throughout the journey. The chief idea to travel is to see as many objects of interest and only if one can after his return home say that he has seen such and such temple, castle, landscape, visual, scene, gallery, or museum then it can be said that he is satisfied.

When one arrives at a famous city, there is a desire to visit the very lot of tourist interest places which the place boasts of. Thus as soon as a travelers lodges in his place of interest and comfort, puts himself at ease, that he rushes through the city and wants to be acquainted with its principal sightseeing sights. Often he enters them in his note-book as visited or in his own phraseology ‘done’ and then hurries to another city which he treats in the same unceremonious manner.

Another traveler finds the things of tourist interest very interesting and amusing. The most of the entertaining places are often associated with historical and religious aspects. While visiting a place such as Church of Basilica of Bom Jesus, at Goa, which was built in 16th century, the most popular and famous of all. Here the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier are kept in a rich casket, are enshrined here. I found temples like Shri Bhagvati, Shri Saunsthan etc.

Very often it is seen that a thing of beauty is denigrated with vulgar slangs and graffiti. It only brings disgrace to the place and the nation. It catches the attention of visitors who laugh their ways.

Travelers leave their native lands with minds prepared to have a glimpse of an unknown and unacquainted alien land with an unquenched thirst to know more about the cultures, customs and traditions of that place besides the people and their language. They have an admiration for all the beauties of nature and art to be found in foreign lands. Their object is not to see much but to see well.

When they visit Goa or Paris, Athens or Rome, instead of hurrying through the city, from temple to museum and from museum to picture gallery, they allow the spirit of that place to sink completely into their minds and only visit such monuments as the time they have at their disposal allows them to contemplate without hurry or haste.

It is very delightful to observe the natural beauty and the art the structure holds. In this way traveler increases his knowledge of the world and its inhabitants and all the while gains refreshment and rest for their minds and perhaps satisfies their intellectual curiosity and tastes.

Source: Travelling a Hobby or Passion

What is "leisure" ?

"It is in his pleasure that a man really lives; it is from his leisure that he constructs the true fabric of self.
~Agnes Repplier"

We use this word very frequently but usually we don't think more about the meaning in details.

Wikipedia describes it:

Leisure or free time, is a period of time spent out of work and essential domestic activity. It is also the period of recreational and discretionary time before or after compulsory activities such as eating and sleeping, going to work or running a business, attending school and doing homework, household chores, and day-to-day stress. The distinction between leisure and compulsory activities is loosely applied, i.e. people sometimes do work-oriented tasks for pleasure as well as for long-term utility.

For an experience to qualify as leisure, it must meet three criteria:

1) The experience is a state of mind.

2) It must be entered into voluntarily.

3) It must be intrinsically motivating of its own merit.

The word leisure comes from the Latin word licere, meaning “to be permitted” or “to be free,” via Old French leisir, and first appeared in the early fourteenth century.

Types of leisure

Active leisure activities involve the exertion of physical or mental energy. Low-impact physical activities include walking and yoga, which expend little energy and have little contact or competition. High-impact activities such as kick-boxing and soccer consume much energy and are competitive. Some active leisure activities involve almost no physical activity, but do require a substantial mental effort, such as playing chess or painting a picture. Active leisure and recreation overlap significantly.

Passive leisure activities are those in which a person does not exert any significant physical or mental energy, such as going to the cinema, watching television, or gambling on slot machines. Some leisure experts discourage these types of leisure activity, on the grounds that they do not provide the benefits offered by active leisure activities. For example, acting in a community drama (an active leisure activity) could build a person's skills or self-confidence. Nevertheless, passive leisure activities are a good way of relaxing for many people.

Examples of leisure activities

A woman relaxes in an urban park and enjoys a book during her lunch break.People who work indoors and spend most of their time sitting and doing sedentary office work can add physical activity to their lives by doing sports during their leisure time, such as playing a ball game, going camping, hiking or fishing. On the other hand, people whose jobs involve a lot of physical activity may prefer to spend their free time doing quiet, relaxing activities, such as reading books or magazines or watching TV. Some people find that collecting stamps, postcards, badges, model cars or ships, bottles, or antiques is a relaxing hobby.

Free time is organized in many schools and institutions. Schools offer many extracurricular activities including hobby groups, sports activities, and choirs. Other institutions such as retirement homes and hospitals also offer activities such as clubs and meetings for playing games.

Most people like socializing with friends for dinner or a drink after a hard day at work. For many young people, having a regular night out a week is a normal part of their free time, whether it is joining friends for a drink in a pub, dining out in a restaurant, watching a film, playing video games or dancing the night away at a club.

Some people do leisure activities that also have a longer-term goal. In some cases, people do a leisure activity that they hope to turn into a full-time activity (e.g., volunteer paramedics who hope to eventually become professional paramedics). Many people also study part-time in evening university or college courses, both for the love of learning, and to help their career prospects.

Source: Wikipedia

And few quotes about "leisure" from 'Quote Garden':

* Leisure only means a chance to do other jobs that demand attention.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
* The real problem of leisure time is how to keep others from using yours.
~Arthur Lacey
* He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul's estate.
~Henry David Thoreau
* Any notion of the serious life of leisure, as well as men's taste and capacity to live it, has disappeared. Leisure [has become] entertainment.
~Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind, 1987
* Leisure: A fancy word for people who don't want to admit they're bored.
~Gene Perret
* If you are losing your leisure, look out; you may be losing your soul.
~Logan P. Smith
* I would not exchange my leisure hours for all the wealth in the world.
~Comte de Mirabeau

Related posts:

* Recreation, hobbies and leisures providing refreshment to life

* Benefits of hobbies and leisures