The Importance of Hobbies

In our recent podcast, we talked about how important it is to balance your life out with hobbies. You don’t have to be amazing at them, you just need to try new things, regularly. Is there something that you are intimidated by? Is it cooking – buy yourself a fun recipe book and “dig in”. Is it reading? Ask a friend who reads to recommend a book and give it a try – or try audible and listen. I have many hobbies – baking, gardening, crocheting, knitting, sewing, quilting, reading, walking, biking, exercising, playing the piano and generally trying not to reject any idea of trying something new. I recently took up golf and I have participated in a couple of Bob Ross Paint Nights. I like canoeing and stand up paddle board. I enjoy swimming and canning and preserving. I love putting on a great dinner party and I will take on painting or staining or re-organizing drawers, cupboards or closets (I like to organize).

If your life is just work – or just parenting or just…anything…try to add a hobby to your list. It doesn’t have to be crazy or time consuming – it can sit in a corner and be ready for that moment when you need to give your life a little balance. Maybe you have 15 minutes a day that you can devote to challenging yourself to try something new…a dance class? Who knows – remember, you don’t have to be perfect at it, or even particularly good at it.

Hobbies encourage to enter a state of peace (or hygge) or a state of flow where you push out other stressful parts of your life and just run, or read, or stitch or bake.

 People who are engage in enjoyable leisure activities have lower blood pressure, total cortisol, waist circumference and body mass index. They add positively to your overall health.

It can help you be more productive on your job – it inspires you to think more creatively, have a better attitude and those with hobbies seem to experience less burnout.

It challenges us and helps us feel excited and motivated – perhaps during a time when your life is full of busy work or family stress and you can steal away for 10 minutes with a good book, or for a quick workout or bike ride.

You can enjoy the process of learning something new at your own pace. You can even try something physically (instead of mentally) challenging – like kayaking, biking, climbing, pilates, etc.

You can build relationships and make new friends.

They can allow you to connect with your spiritual side – experience some silence and just be alone with yourself and your thoughts (like meditation).

Hobbies are never a waste of time – you can avoid spending hours on Netflix and sometimes hobbies like knitting or crocheting or quilting, can allow you to watch a show and still work on a project (that you can later give away and make someone happy).

Hobbies build self-esteem and confidence.

Hobbies can provide an income but, I encourage you to do it for love first, and money second.

One of my favourite hobbies is quilting…I have started a couple new projects…a table runner and a baby quilt.