Trying New Hobbies as an Adult (and Revisiting Old Ones)
When I was a kid, hobbies were my life. I didn’t realize then that someday I’d have to make an extra effort to focus on my favorite hobbies and having fun. Other than school and weekly piano lessons, my time was all mine and I was free to devote it to whatever I chose. I recently had a moment to myself where I tried to remember everything I used to enjoy. I’m a little ashamed to admit it took some effort to remember so far back to when I was 11, 8, even 4 years old, etc (I tend to keep those happy memories safe in the very back of my mind where they can’t be ‘tampered’ with). I remember I’ve always loved hands-on activities and anything creative or something that could keep me solely entertained for hours. Coloring/Crafts, Legos, Barbies, Rollerblading, Bike riding, board games, reading. I also loved when my mom would take pictures of me doing those very activities (hence my love for candid photos and lifestyle photography). There was no social media or even internet (not until I was 15) back then to distract.
As I got older, slowly, those favorite activities of mine took a backseat. Life suddenly overshadowed everything and I found myself just barely hanging onto reading books, nature walks and photography. Almost every other creative activity had disappeared from my life.
But, dear friend, slowly, I have been attempting to crawl out of my hobby-less life. All the fellow adults I admire have the greatest hobbies and there’s a certain sparkle vibrating from their soul when they speak of said hobbies. I think the whole pandemic business is what made most of us realize that without hobbies, what even is life? So that’s why I’m proud to write that in the past year, I have done some paint nights, learned how to dye silk (this was particularly fascinating to me as back in the day, I wrote a college paper on natural fabric dyes) and will soon be partaking in candle making (possibly another fascinating activity as I’ve had an interest in candles and soap since 4th grade when we studied California missions).
These few activities have pushed me in the direction I want to go. I’d like to keep trying my hand at new activities even if most probably won’t become regular hobbies (mostly due to personal time and space restrictions). The main thing is that I want to try many things at least once. Who ever said adults had to stop trying and learning things? It’s a huge disservice a person can do to their self. I know it takes effort for most of us just trying to get by the days and our endless to-do lists. But we need hobbies and hobbies need us. I like to remind myself and others when things feel heavy: “You weren’t born to just pay bills and die”. I know it feels like that more often than not, especially these days when gas is 50 bajillion dollars a gallon. But it’s up to us to avoid this super dull trap of “adulting” and whip out the coloring books once again.
In the future, I’d like to try jewelry making, crochet and watercolor painting, just to name a few. As for my childhood hobbies, the ones I’d like to revisit are rollerblading, crafts and board games. Watch this space.
