One thing that’s great about living in Sandpoint is that considering it’s a small town, you have a lot of opportunities to embrace your hobbies and interests. Since I’ve moved here, I’ve gotten involved with various non-profit groups and taken classes in dog training, gardening, forestry, quilting, and probably a lot more things that I can’t think of offhand.
The other night as I was chopping up many strips of fabric with my rotary cutter for my latest quilting class, I realized that when I lived in the big city, I didn’t really enjoy the classes I attended. I remember a particularly unpleasant stained glass class where at the end of the second class, I carefully put my ugly little piece up on very high shelf and left for good. (Who knows…those ugly pieces of glass might still be up there!)
In contrast, the classes I’ve taken in Sandpoint have all been fun. For example, the Master Gardener class I took a few years ago is great. I’m not a particularly good gardener, but the class was really enjoyable. All the experts they brought in to teach were excited about their particular area of interest, whether it was organics or soils. Plus, now I have a gigantic binder full of resources about gardening here in the nippy Inland Northwest.
I’m not quite sure why the classes have been more fun here, but it might be because people are more laid back than they were in the big city. I left the unpleasant stained glass class long ago because both the teacher and the other students took the term “art” a little too seriously for my taste.
Many times people who become really involved in a particular subject become arrogant or condescending about it. But I’ve rarely encountered that type of snobbery here. I’m not sure why that is, but it certainly makes for a more pleasant learning environment. Talking about your favorite hobby or interest should be fun, not a contest. Here in Sandpoint, so far for me, it has been.