The following is a post I originally wrote for the Equanimity Blog.
One of the most common complaints I see among women, particularly busy women, is that they don’t have a hobby and don’t know what to do in order to find a hobby. There are a lot of benefits to having a hobby.
Jaime L. Kurtz, in “Six Reasons to Get a Hobby,” published by Psychology Today, cites hobbies as another disappearing relic akin to the decline in civic engagement noted by Robert Putnam in Bowling Alone. He writes:
Various things contribute to this, but for many of us, being legitimately busy simply isn’t one of them. Instead, we habitually waste time, creating the illusion of busyness. Facebook, email, Netflix – pick your poison. If you’re like me, you don’t wake up in the morning with the goal of squandering so many precious moments on social media, but it often happens, and this is unaccounted for time that can be better spent elsewhere.
As Kurtz writes in his article, there are many good reasons to find a hobby. Here are some tips for finding a hobby you love.
1. Look back at your childhood.
What did you enjoy doing as a kid? Did you like building model airplanes? Did you like drawing and painting? Did you get a kick out of school projects involving gardening? Sometimes our childhood can give us good ideas for the types of things we might enjoy in our free time in adulthood.
2. Look at your local recreation center’s class list.
Is there a gardening class available? Can you learn to paint? Is there a class for cooking an ethnic cuisine? Sign up. Classes through local rec centers tend to not be as expensive as courses through other venues, and they can give you a good taste of a variety of potential hobbies.
3. Head to your local library for ideas.
Libraries aren’t just for research or making progress on your reading list. Many libraries now have classes for learning hobbies, things like sewing machines you can check out, and club meetings. You’ll also find a treasure trove of books covering the basics of any hobby you might want to learn.
4. Check out your local coffee shop’s upcoming events.
Many coffee shops (and breweries and bars) now host board game nights, coloring nights, and trivia nights. Check out the list of events coming up for your favorite spot. You might find that heading to one of their special themedSonights leads to a hobby you love.
5. Ask your friends what they do as hobbies.
Friends can be a great resource for discovering new hobbies. From planning to scrapbooking, from journaling to sewing, there really are as many different hobbies as there are people enjoying them. You’ll find many ideas just by tossing the idea out on social media or asking your social circle on your next get together.
Check out the comments section
So, what do you do for a hobby? Share your favorite hobbies in the comments so that our other readers can get some ideas.
