On This Is My Thing, we’re going to be talking to people about the things they do just for themselves – not because it’s their job and not because it’s a responsibility, just because they love to do it. The stuff you do because it’s your thing.
On this first episode of This Is My Thing, we’re talking with Richard Samuel about his love of flag football. Rich has the great good fortune to be talented at both art and football, two of his lifelong loves (his third great love is comic books, something he and I bonded over when we met). He played football in high school, in college, and then professionally in Europe before getting a job as a coach. All the while, art continued in his life as his primary hobby. After finding that he was unhappy in that coaching job, Rich flipped his life around, quit coaching and opened an art gallery.
But while he was unhappy making football his career, he still loves the sport. Now he’s a fulltime gallery owner and professional artist whose favorite hobby is playing flag football.
Above, you can hear Rich tell his story and talk about the importance of the hobby in his life. On this page is the on-air version of This Is My Thing. A longer version of the piece is available as part of the KUT News Now podcast feed.
We’ve talked to a lot of other people about their things and those stories will be coming in future weeks. You’ll hear from a woman who loves sword fighting, a guy who uses his metal detector to help others find lost items of sentimental importance, a group of ladies who formed a ukulele band in retirement, a curler who hits the ice right here in Austin, Texas, and a lot more. Stay tuned!
And want to hear from you about the thing you do just because you love it! You’ll find an online form here where you can tell us about the thing that brings you joy or calms your mind or feeds your soul in some way.
