KEEP IT IN THE PHAMLY

Hobbies are for people with time and money. It's something that came up with us Phamlings while dating and now in our relationships because people we dated didn't understand why we didn't have hobbies. What do we do when we're not at work? Free to air TV - it's FREE! Sports cost money, arts & crafts cost money, even TV costs electricity but thankfully Mum Pham was good with budgeting and would keep the power on even if it meant eating rice and lettuce for a while.  

Now that the Phamlings have well paying jobs and disposable incomes, we have upgraded to Netflix. A shared account with Little Sissy, of course - we signed up when we lived together and even when it was $6.50 each instead of the wild $8.50 each a month it was kind of a big deal. We committed very reluctantly.

Phamlings didn't have hobbies growing up because we didn't have much money being on welfare. We watched a lot of television, I'd read library books, and write and draw on scrap paper that my cousin brought home from work mostly with grey lead pencils 'cause I didn't want to use up the colour pencils unless it was a particularly special picture. We didn't get fancy art supplies unless gifted from our relatives. My point is - if you can afford a hobby, you're doing alright. 

Little Sissy Pham would list TV and doing online surveys for rewards as her hobbies if she had bothered to fill that question in on her dating profile back in the day. Sub online surveys out for reading / writing and you've got me. Sub in video games and you have Big Brother Pham. 

I know what hobbies we would have liked to pursue if we had the funds. I used to do circus training once a week for $5 until Mum Pham told me we couldn't afford to keep it up. Little Sissy Pham and Big Brother Pham played tennis through school and really got into it. Big Brother Pham really excelled and was offered a scholarship with a tennis school but we couldn't afford the equipment and didn't have a car to get him to the classes. It's not like we chose to not have hobbies - life just worked out that way. We did what we could within our means. 

Next time you ask someone about their hobbies, don't be so quick to judge if it's not sports that all cost money and time and logistics, or a craft or an art which also all cost money for supplies. Some of us only got hobbies once we were older and had disposable income. 

Rei Pham is a dog cat. It's been one year since this fur ball stumbled into our life, and in that time she's showed some weird-ass cat behaviour. Though, if she were a dog this behaviour would be absolutely normal. 

First, she likes to play fetch. Her favourite toy changes but the game is the same as with doggos. She brings us a toy mouse or avocado plush or her current favourite felt ball, and drops it by our feet or on us if we're in bed, then looks at us meaningfully (I won't say pleadingly because she's a cat after all) until we notice and throw the toy for her.  She'll then  chase it down and bring it back to our feet. When she was younger, she'd drop it in our general vicinity, but she has since learned to drop it in arm's reach to speed up the game.

Rei also likes the catch variation of fetch. Catch is a fun time with a cat because they can jump so high and distort themselves into such weird and wonderful shapes before twisting and landing back on their feet. I would be worried about breaking a dog if I tried to get them to leap as high or far or awkwardly.

One dog trait that came out after she finished teething and got stronger teeth is she absolutely delights in chewing things to shreds. She does scratch like a regular cat, but her favourite activity is chewing cardboard and spitting it out. We discovered this when we got her a Kmart cardboard cat scratcher. She went to town on the cardboard chewing it until it was no more. She is half way through her second one now, with one more spare in storage along with another new cardboard toy design. 

Before Toombul flooded, I'd regularly stroll through the Kmart cat section to see what variation of cardboard toys they have. We've gotten her two cat towers and combined them into a mega-tower but she didn't tend to play with it unless we played with her. She did start to chew parts of the tower but I guess it's just not as satisfying as the dense cardboard of the scratcher. 

Holly Ransom spoke about moving out of your comfort zone into your courage zone at an SMB Digital virtual conference in 2020. This concept has stuck with me even though I didn't put it into practice while I tried my darnedest to stay in my comfort zone through COVID-19. After two years of daily changes, then weekly changes, then monthly changes, it started to feel like the worst of COVID disruptions are finally starting to ease (famous last words, right?). I found myself pondering ways to move into my courage zone after that week of devastating floods in Brisbane 'cause it felt like I finally had time to breathe.

I've kept this screenshot of a slide from Holly Ransom's talk on my desktop and revisited it every now and then. I haven't taken a big risk or tried things I've never done before or felt vulnerable in years. If anything, I've been the rock collecting stability and safety during the pandemic at home and at work. Sure I pitched an idea to set up a Project Management Office in my previous role but it was to help the organisation do more of what I'd spent the previous half decade doing.

Last month, I started a new role in a global organisation in an industry I've never worked in. I'm going to be a beginner, doing things I've never tried before, feeling vulnerable, asking questions (because I won't be the person in the room answering everyone else's questions!) and trying my best to be bold.  It's a little scary and a lot exciting to jump feet first into my courage zone after years of living in my comfort zone. Wish me luck!