Is a hobby of waste of time?
Did you know that January is National Hobby month? I didn’t. January is normally the time of year we set New Year’s resolutions or new goals. But this year I wanted to do something a little different. I started thinking about ways to have more FUN. And when I started to ask others what they did for fun, people mentioned all their hobbies. Then I got the question what are your hobbies? I had a hard time answering this.
When I think of a hobby, I think of something you do for fun on a regular basis. I take my dogs to the dog park for fun on a regular basis, but I don’t consider that a hobby. I call friends for fun, but I don’t consider that a hobby.
I started to think I didn’t even know what a hobby actually was. “Hobby is an activity done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure”, according to the dictionary. A hobby is an activity you may complete in your free time that brings you pleasure.
Articles go on to describe some ideas of what hobbies are – collecting items, participating in a sport or activity or working on creative projects.
Further defining a hobby as “When you’re actively pursuing something outside of work hours, you’re participating in a hobby”. This got me thinking more about the things I enjoy and are they hobbies? I definitely having trouble defining exactly what my hobbies are, I knew how I want them to make me feel.
I wanted to do something I enjoy and had fun with. That fun could just be fun to me. I was hoping that a hobby would stretch me or help me grow a little. I wanted it to feel like a challenge but at the same time a mental break from the “work” and “daily life”, so I wanted to feel less stressed or overwhelmed when I was part of this hobby. And for good measure, I am circling back around to having more fun!!
Now I know how I want to feel when I’m search for and being a part of a hobby. I believe, like so many, in my pursuit of a balanced life I have neglected hobbies or things that truly bring me joy. Watching children and dog play reminds me that play and joy and even hobbies don’t have to have the perfect structure of my calendared life. 
I’m at the beginning of this journey of development and finding new hobbies, but come alone with me. Let’s experiment and play. Let’s find joy in things outside of work and if we want to create hobbies from them wonderful, if not, we tried them that’s great too!!
So, in honor of national Hobby Month, I encourage you to get out, do your hobby, create one, re-design one or rekindle one you had forgotten about. There are so many benefits to having these activities outside of our norm. You don’t even have to call it a hobby but find something that bring your pleasure outside of work and ENJOY!
Stay tuned as I start to find and share some of my new hobbies.
