Desperately Seeking Hobbies
I haven’t blogged in over three months. That might be the longest stretch yet! A lot has happened since my last post (we’ll expand on that later and no…I’m not pregnant) but for now, I thought I’d share about my newest adventure.
I’m earnestly seeking a hobby. Or three.
Rewind about two decades and you’d find an 8-year-old obsessed with hobbies. I am her. She is me. The term hobbies meant a lot of different things back then:
- I collected things like rocks, stamps, pencils, Pokemon cards and stickers
- I painted
- I played the piano
- I experimented with the camcorder
- I shot 35 film
Things I didn’t do twenty years ago: work 24/7.
Last weekend, I spent a few hours transforming a few faces for a Halloween party. I had a blast and proclaimed to Adam that maybe I had found my new career. He looked at me and said, “NO. You found a new hobby. You don’t need to work more.” And it hit me. I really do need a hobby or two. Hilariously, I’m looking to 8-year-old Allie for inspiration. I can play the piano pretty well. I can paint even better. I haven’t touched my film cameras in years. I still dream of vlogging.
For awhile now I’ve been trying to cram my own version of self-care into a life without space. Sprinkling a trip to Whole Foods and an hour of acupuncture into a work-dominated week isn’t really self-care, is it? It’s self-preservation. I’m much more interested in self-expansion.
That’s why this space got a facelift (again). I’m over the hustle. I’m over the promotions. I’m over the launches. My sidebar’s gone. No more opt-in collecting emails I’ll never use. Business shmisness.
I’m ready to play.
A Consideration
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Comments (20)
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UGH TV GETS ME EVERY NIGHT. I end up watching Seinfeld instead of reading or something better for my brain.
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YES. I totally removed all that crazy from my blog too– it’s as minimal as it could possibly be and it has opened up this new space for me to write freely. I do not feel trapped by subjects or topics or work in this space. There is a huge difference between self-care and self-preservation and I so appreciate you pointing that out. My recent non-work-related hobbies include yoga and doodle-journaling. AND READING. I’ve traditionally felt reading was only useful if it were a work-related book. No more. These hobbies leave me feeling energetic and ready to take on the busy of work… and then leave it there.
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I just visited your blog and love it! We are on the same brain waves (brain waves?). Doodle-journaling sounds so great. I need to add a physical activity that I enjoy. Now that I wear glasses, I’m more picky.
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I like the way you define hobbies – things you do purely for fun and play. So often it feels like the things I do in my spare time should always be in the service of something bigger – career, development, ‘bettering’ myself – instead of just having some fun for the fun of it.
Really like this new, clean site too by the way.
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I am totally with you! I always feel like everything should be a biz opp. But no more. Too much biz in my life. Glad you like the site :)
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Agreed! I had this revelation a few years ago as well. How I use to play around with a videocamera, paint rocks, organize neighborhood performances and so on. All of these hobbies I abandoned, forgot, or was too “busy” for as I got older. And the thought of doing them again (maybe a bit differently) made me so happy! So that’s what I did! Glad you’re creating the time and space to do so, and not putting on them the unneeded pressure of making them a business.
:)-
Neighborhood antics were the best!! I had such a solid communities as a child. I love that you brought them back!
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Best of luck to you with this! I will admit, my first thought was to wonder if you’d still do the city swap this year. :-)
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Truly inspiring. I’m a 28 year old that worked 50-60 hour weeks as an art mentor for adults with disabilities, freelanced as an illustrator, photographer, graphic designer and whatever else I could jam into my schedule… when my boyfriend gave me the opportunity of a lifetime (move to the other side of the world and focus on my own art for a year) I reacted by hyperventilating at the thought.
I quickly collected projects to do while abroad and dropped resumes at all the non-profits I could find. It’s amazing how addicting busy life can be.
I hope I can learn to slow down, do some self-expansion (as you called it) and just be me for a year.
I wish you the best. I love reading your posts!-
Dang those long weeks can take a toll. Totally get it. I like when you said that a busy life is addicting. So true. Thanks for the sweet comment. Best of luck to YOU too!
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I was just thinking last week about how I don’t have any real hobbies. I was typing up some other people’s biographies for work and they were all like “So and so likes doing XYZ in their spare time.” And I thought to myself…I’m not really sure what I would say if someone asked me what I liked to do in my spare time! Probably because I have a baby and “spare time” is a thing of the past. But also because I don’t have hobbies like I used to. I’m lucky if I even finish a book nowadays! I think something needs to change, for sure.
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That happens to me too! I try to write my own bio and I have no hobbies so it’s like “Allie works…all the time.” But for what it’s worth (coming from someone without kids), you’re doing amazing things raising a kiddo. I admire it!
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I struggle SO HARD with this. My hobbies always turn into business/hustle ideas (blogging, web dev, budgeting, and podcasting), then I get burnt out and watch tv for hours instead. When did things stop being about fun and start being about trying to make money or get followers? Sigh.
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nikkiana
Totally feel you on this. When I think back on when I was a kid, there were so many creative things I did just for fun… and as I grew older so much of that fell by the wayside in favor of more passive pastimes, like watching TV. As I’ve been putting more effort into doing the things I love to do in my free time, I definitely feel better about my life.