An Avocation

I'd like to thank an exceptionally intelligent friend and who has a superb grasp of the English language who shared his insights with me about my blog post about my interest in boots and leather being a fetish or not.

What he said, which is an accurate statement, is that my interest in boots and leather is an avocation, which is defined as, "An activity taken up in addition to one's regular work or profession, usually for enjoyment; a hobby."

That's spot on: I get into my "boot and leather thing" by building my website, participating on-line, and communicating about boots and leather purely as a personal interest, beyond my profession. My profession is in an entirely different field, for which I have won international recognition.

Further, my astute friend pointed out that the term "fetish" is further defined as an irrational obsession. You can split hairs, but I know when to spend time with my interest in boots, and when to do other things. Boots don't obsess me, though perhaps I do devote more time to this hobby than perhaps other things. But my interest isn't irrational. For example, I wear the boots and leather I have regularly; not just "have it" to have it. I don't go into debt about it; and I don't toss aside responsibilities to my partner, my family, my friends, nor my community. Therefore, I don't think my avocation represents being irrational.

My friend concluded by saying that most people are too lazy to look up a real meaning of a word, and use the word "fetish" with reckless abandon. He went on to say that some may label me with that word because they don't bother to understand what it means. And that's the trouble with many folks these days, they just repeat what they hear without really knowing the meaning of what they are saying.

I'd like to thank my smart, well educated friend for his enlightenment. I'm blessed to have people like him in my life, which make my life so much richer.