The Importance of Hobbies

Growing up, I felt like I didn’t really have any hobbies. I disliked sports and wasn’t athletic, and I enjoyed the arts but didn’t feel I was good enough to truly pursue them. I didn’t have something I felt passionate about. I decided when I was about 19 that I wanted to change this - I wanted to purposefully choose a hobby that could fill my free time, rather than watching TV or going on my phone. I set my sights on crafts and after researching different modalities, I decided to try hand embroidery, which ultimately started a whole new journey for me. I fell in love with embroidery, which later evolved into sewing as well. After making this conscious decision, I realized I actually had many more hobbies than I had thought, for example, reading, writing, and drawing. In my mind, hobbies were something you devoted significant time to and that you excelled in. I was missing the whole point of hobbies: spending whatever desired amount of your leisure time doing something you love not because you’re perfect at it or because you’re trying to make money or impress other people but because you enjoy it. With this shift in mindset, my time spent on hobbies became almost sacred. It was time I was committing to lose myself in an activity I wanted to do. I considered many times about trying to make money from my embroidery and sewing but ultimately decided that would take some of the magic away. In today’s society, it’s easy to think that time spent not making money is time wasted, but I implore you to fight against this. The whole point of hobbies is to do something outside of work! It shouldn’t feel like a chore. Hobbies are not necessarily meant to be productive - they’re meant to be fun.

I find having hobbies to be an incredibly important aspect of living a fulfilled life. Not only can it be a way to connect to other like-minded people, but it also forces you to prioritize yourself and what brings you joy. It challenges you in a way that watching TV or other forms of mindless distractions cannot.

I encourage you to make a list of your hobbies - of anything you do in your free time that brings you joy. Be proud of your passions and carve out the time for yourself to enjoy them. Perhaps you can share this list and inspire others to try a new hobby. And as always, I would love to hear from you!

Lots of love,

Andrea

P.S. Here’s a great NYTimes article that expands on this.