4 types of hobbies to pursue

What is a hobby? Do you believe that our kids and even we have fewer hobbies than our parents or when we were growing up? Anything done in your free time for the sake of pleasure is a hobby! A hobby can give creativity, passion, interest and joy to your life! But it looks like we are all so busy in our lives these days that we really do not develop or cultivate hobbies. Who has the time, really?

Let us talk about some research. Do you know that research shows that people with hobbies are less likely to suffer from stress, low mood, and depression? According to headtohealth.gov, hobbies can be creative, athletic, academic, or something distinctly personal depending on your interest. It is emphasized that everyone especially students should have a variety of activities as hobbies to balance life which can lead to a richer and fuller life. According to Psychology Today, hobbies may help you become more successful! In addition to helping you cope with stress, having a hobby may make you more interesting, structure your time, make you actively engaged (in opposition to passive engagement like TV time), and give you more social connections. Today’s post is about exploring hobbies for self care, read on about 4 types of hobbies to pursue.

I believe that hobbies are important part of a well balanced life, and has to be something that really interests and motivates you. For me blogging started as my hobby and I am very passionate about it. When something interests you and gets you involved, you don’t think of time or efforts going into it because you enjoy every minute of it. So what are the benefits of blogging for me?

• it makes my creative juices flow
• it makes me feel accomplished
• it helps me give direction to my thought
• it improves my writing skills
• it helps me set an example to my kids that you can pursue a new venture at any age when you set your mind to it

It is a great idea to include hobbies and interests in your resume. It is also something that colleges look at during the admission and in the essay writing process. I know many teens nowadays, including my older one, a rising senior, are interested and passionate about activism. So her spare time is spent in finding and sharing resources about women rights, voting rights, under-privileged students, and economically disadvantaged sectors of society.

Some examples of hobbies include reading, playing sports, gaming, traveling, gardening, cooking, painting, singing, dancing, music, fitness and art. As parents of young kids, we let our kids explore different activities and hope that they will find one that they like which they can then pursue for life. Also called extra-curriculars, we try to balance our time by taking our kids to multiple classes and making sure they are developing not only academically but having a well rounded personality.

Many people enjoy swimming, volunteering, photography, gardening, traveling, stamp collection, bird watching and reading. Kids these days may develop hobbies different from previous generations like origami, painting, quilting, and collecting items like stamps, rocks, comic books, marbles, and coins. Whatever interest you child shows, it is very important to let them have some structured time to explore and practice.

Now due to the COVID-19 pandemic people all around the world have taken up more hobbies and interest due to the extra time. Research points to an increase in shopping and buying home gym exercising equipment, board games, gardening tools, art and craft materials as well as technology use as in watching Netflix.

In our household of four, these hobbies have been developed and consistently put to use-

1. Blogging-Yes you guessed it, that’s me! I have increased my blogging skills a lot in the last 3 months
2. Reading books- This is my 13 year old. Our local library is open for curbside pick up for few weeks now and she places order for online pick up. We diligently go to the library weekly to grab her 2-3 books on hold and return the old ones
3. Cooking/ trying new recipe- My husband has a sweet tooth. Because of being home we have tried and made at least half a dozen sweet dishes in the last couple months. For some cooking can be a stress reliever! Not for me, but I am sure that are many with this as their hobby- something they really enjoy:)
4. Driving- Not sure if this can be called a hobby but my 17 year old has been going out to drive daily for an hour or so since May. As a mom I am enjoying because I haven’t driven for weeks now, if not months!
5. Working out- this is for all 4 of us. We have been working out consistently for more than a year and so now it has changed from a hobby to a habit

Here I have made this list of 4 types of hobbies that you can pursue in your leisure hours that can give you pleasure and relieve stress. These are hobbies as self care activities.

1. Intellectual hobbies

Examples would be reading, writing, coding or learning a new language! My older one is currently trying to learn French.

2. Creative hobbies

Examples would be singing, dancing, playing a musical instrument or creative writing. Both my daughters know how to play piano and my older one also enjoys singing!

3. Artistic hobbies

Examples would be painting, sketching, sewing, weaving or art journaling.

4. Athletic hobbies

Examples would be working out, biking, hiking, or swimming.

Playing a sport is not for me but my kids have done soccer and basketball. Have your child chose what they enjoy the most and it may become a lifelong hobby for them! For me reading is my favorite hobby! I like to read and write, and as you can see that has led to me becoming a blogger! Exercising or working out consistently does amazing things to your body and mind. I can’t help emphasizing again and again that exercise is the best medicine as prevention is better than cure. Please read this blog post about my journey to becoming a fitness enthusiast.

Conclusion

To wrap up, starting and pursuing a hobby can make you happy, and help you live a fulfilled life. It can lead to creativity, social awareness and even add up to your resume. Using your leisure time to do something you love or are passionate about makes you live a more satisfied and content life. Today’s post was exploring hobbies for self care.

Dear readers, please share your ideas about a hobby or activity that you enjoy immensely and have been doing for many years. Please comment below or send an email to nishtha@dawnandhope.com.