So is there a difference between active interest and passive interest? Passive interest, such as watching TV, shopping, chatting, etc., though helpful to kill time and relax, is limited in benefits to body-and-mind health maintenance due to lack of active participation. Whereas an active interest not only allows participants to be actively engaged, but also challenges and enhances their potential. Satisfaction achieved through improvement increases confidence, which in turn strengthens resilience towards adversity and pressure. The relationship between body-and-mind health and job efficiency is therefore self-evident.
Active interest can be classified into eight categories[1]:
1. Physical (e.g. fitness class, tai chi, swimming, etc.)
2. Static (e.g. writing, stamp collecting, astronomy, etc.)
3. Exploratory thinking (e.g. writing, jigsaw, IQ test, etc.)
4. Gregarious (e.g. choir, hiking, volunteer work, etc.)
5. Personal (e.g. fishing, yoga, puzzle, etc.)
6. Charitable (e.g. volunteer work, pet keeping, etc.)
7. Spiritual (e.g. yoga, art of tea making, calligraphy, etc.)
8. Creative art (e.g. painting, pottery, film production, etc.)
Current courses organized by the University are generally held within half day, with an aim to bring colleagues into initial contact with individual items and to facilitate further development on their own initiative. During such process, team spirit and friendship promoted among colleagues across different departments is yet another benefit.
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[1] CADENZA: A Jockey Club Initiative for Seniors "Active Interest Information Booklet", Hong Kong Jockey Club, January 2013
More photos on active interest training workshop: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cu_staff_training/sets/
