Exploring new hobbies and activities for overall wellness.

Fursian

Hi everyone

Little bit of background story for this thread's existence,

The extent of my hobbies are pretty narrow, since forever really, but once I got a PC years
ago, the only things that seem to have survived are gaming, and reading. Both of which I do still enjoy, but I really want to break out and get some variety going.

I've checked out sites like '100 of the most popular activities', and for some reason I'm
not able to take the info in or make use of it. I don't know if I can explain it well, but it's like a mental block of sorts.

So I am reaching out here to ask you what you like to spend your free time doing, both
in-doors and/or outside?

and,

To the phrase... 'I'm looking forward to'? What would you say that was for you? Something
that you look forward to every week, maybe, or month, etc.

LenGray

I have a few different hobbies. How often I do them depends on the time I have and the mood I'm in. I discovered pretty much all of them from seeking out new experiences, being curious enough to experiment with new things, and seeing what I thought of them.

A new hobby that I've found is making dollhouse miniatures. I got interested in it from artist maquettes (a 3-d representation of a setting, character, or element, used by Golden Age illustrators) and my dad bought me two cozy-style kits for Christmas. I really like how puzzle-like they are and how there are so many opportunities for personal input and customization. It's fun, good value (about $40 for what has been, so far, 20+ hours of enjoyment), and it gives me a strong sense of satisfaction.

Another hobby is weaving. I'm okay at sewing, but I would always get bored, miscount, or get frustrated with pre-made patterns and kits. At a local craft fair, I started talking to a fiber artist who mentioned hand-weaving and decided to get a basic handloom and some yarn (roughly $20). I found a few patterns and some ideas on Pinterest and really loved it. The different patterns are wonderfully clever and it's deeply meditative. I'm working on weaving a blanket right now.

An outdoor hobby I like is nature journaling. I live near a park and, after watching a wonderful documentary about micro-environments, I spent about 5 years going into the park each day with a blank notebook and marking down what flora and fauna were in the area, how their individual territories grew each year, what the weather was like, natural events like lightning strikes, and transitory events like bees swarming a particular tree in the spring or geese migrating in the fall. It was a lot of fun, cheap, and got me outside. I later donated those journals to a biology professor of mine who expressed interest in my findings.

I also bake, garden, run, lift weights, make zines, attend concerts, perform poetry, design boardgames, and play guitar. Some hobbies I'd like to try out in the future are: rock climbing, geocaching, birdwatching, furniture enhancement/modification, sculpting, and herbology.

One thing that I've found with my hobbies is that they are very specific to me. It's unlikely that many of the above hobbies would be on a '100 Most Popular' list and in many cases, they're definitely not something I would have thought I'd enjoy until I tried them. I hope that helps and good luck with trying out some new hobbies!

springlering62

I enjoy needlepoint, crochet, beadwork. A friend and I were joking yesterday about all the completed projects we have in boxes, with no use for. But it’s still satisfying to work on and even more satisfying to complete.

We’ve got several great trips planned, at two or three months intervals. Plus we’re planning to try our own version of “van life”. Just us and the High Anxiety Dog. Looking forward to those, but tbh I enjoy the planning as much as the actual events.

Also looking forward to adding regular aerial silks classes to my workout rotation, and hoping to get a couple more flying trapeze classes in when the weather warms back up.

For the short term, I’m looking forward to starting a new needlework project this afternoon and trying to figure out how to create a bargello pattern so I can use up leftover yarn.

Oh, and my new rebounder came in yesterday. Am looking forward to assembling it and giving that a whirl.

Surely something intrigues, attracts or interests you. Although I can say with honesty, when I was obese and active, the only things that held any appeal were books and a sack of M&Ms within arm’s reach. Weight loss has changed me a lot.

AnnPT77

I make jewelry, do some mixed-media visual journaling, occasionally do a few other crafts (crochet, sewing, etc.).

I have . . . too many? . . . houseplants and also collect weird plants that I grow outdoors around my house.

I do most of my "exercise" things for fun, not out of duty. For me, the key ones are rowing (on water, in those skinny boats like in the Olympics, except mine is very much slower ), biking on the paved trail system locally, and walking in walk'n'chat mode with friends. Sometimes I go for walks in the several gardens at a big research university near me.

I go through fits and starts of trying to teach myself to play bluegrass banjo.

Sometimes I travel to watch the local collegiate rowing team compete, or volunteer to work at local rowing races. I go to the occasional college hockey game, theatrical play, movie, or musical performance. I listen to recorded music (mostly Americana, but not exclusively).

I've always had way more hobbies than I have time for, and still have the tools for many that I've done but no longer do lots with, so there are options all the time to mix things up.

One way to get into new hobbies is to look at local meet-up groups, community education classes, and that sort of thing. That can be a way to learn a new thing, do it on a trial basis. There are also free online tutorials/classes for a lot of things (arts, crafts, dance, various types of exercise, etc.). Just that experimenting can be fun, even if the new thing doesn't stick as a long-term hobby.

springlering62

Hey, thanks for the prod! I signed up for those aerial silks classes today.

As Ann says, there’s great classes in unexpected places. Our local Methodist church does a massive series of community classes ranging from yoga and meditation to photography, journalling, local and Civil War history, financial planning, square and line dancing, the list just goes on and on.

The museum I volunteer at just posted their list of upcoming classes. First rate instruction in glass fusing, watercolors, drawing, and umpteen types of pottery classes. We also do an occasional community projects- murals, a chalk art festival, one time we yarn bombed the entire front of the building. That one was fun.

The local library offers a few classes and I just heard there’s a needlework group that gets together there with their projects.

Gaming? Have you gotten out and done some Pokémon Go or one of the other AR games? There’s meetups and local groups that still go out and raid, mostly on Community Days.

yirara

Exercise, hiking, geocaching, just being out and about, cooking, and traveling. Most things in combination with each others.

Sett2023

Going cinema and theatre.
I used to go cinema three times a week for many years (from 16 to 30); then family and work etc made me reduce, but still go every time I/we can and still love it.
Theatre, instead, for many years had been a rare treat because we had to go in other cities, so not more than 2-3 for year; but about 10 years ago our municipality finally restored and restarted the beautiful theatre of our town. We go very often, in the last years we made the annual subscrition and we never regret, they plays everything from Shakespeare's dramas to modern comics to classical dance to concerts to... literally everything, this year even opera!
Both when I have to go to cinema or theatre I feel excited and happy all the day, like children waiting for Santa , and ditto for the day after.

My other big hobby had always been reading (more than 100 books/year since ever, and in the last 20 years I also work in books' field, translating them), but I see you already do this, so I'm not suggesting anything new, but my point is that you too love "tales", so cinema and theatre would be your thing too.

Besides some of the the already said (cooking, cross-stitching, puzzles) I also love sightseeing and hiking (mountains, lakes), that combine enjoying nature/discovering quaint towns and walking, my other pleasure.
In the past I also did pottery painting and decoupage, but the costs are too high, don't love them enough.

zebasschick

i love reading, listening to audiobooks - it's like reading you can do while cleaning - working out and geeking on fitness gear, i love to play bass guitar, and since around 2017, i got into baking, particularly bread making. funny, as i was never even slightly interested in it before. in the past week, i made all my husband's sweet treats and my own sourdough bread.

since covid, i got back into drawing - which i used to do years ago - and got into watercolor painting, which is a joy. also discovered i love experimenting and comparing various art supplies, which has led me to artist markers, colored pencils, pen and ink, and just recently back to oil painting, which i stopped doing decades ago - the new water-washable oil paints means no solvents around the house. and then there's the doll collection... (funny thing - i was completely disinterested in dolls as a kid).

i was getting into dollhouses, but quickly discovered that dollhouses plural take up a LOT of space. i do have a book nook of diagon alley to build from a kit, and it will fit between books on my shelves.

Fursian

Thanks so much for each of your posts @LenGray, @springlering62, @AnnPT77 ! There's a lot to digest, I really appreciate it. Lots of fun things to make a note of and look up!

For the last 7 and a half months I've been navigating the world with fresh eyes, since I quit alcohol (I credit the 'LESS Alcohol' thread here on MFP in the Motivation and Support section, for the help. A really friendly mix of people working on their own goals).

Life has felt like that episode of Father Ted, where father Jack gets sober and starts remembering the names of household items, pointing to them in a child-like manner lol. A very long time has been spent where 'the event' when out or inside, was drinking. The aftermath, with fresh eyes, is that it's really painfully obvious that I've just not been progressing with life, and all that it has to offer.

With all that out of the way, I'm feeling genuinely more hopeful and able to explore and figure out what other things I might actually like, but my brain was drawing a serious blank on what people actually do for fun so I am really glad I ended up making this thread to ask and grateful for your responses!

springlering62

Fursian wrote: »

Thanks so much for each of your posts @LenGray, @springlering62, @AnnPT77 ! There's a lot to digest, I really appreciate it. Lots of fun things to make a note of and look up!

For the last 7 and a half months I've been navigating the world with fresh eyes, since I quit alcohol (I credit the 'LESS Alcohol' thread here on MFP in the Motivation and Support section, for the help. A really friendly mix of people working on their own goals).

Life has felt like that episode of Father Ted, where father Jack gets sober and starts remembering the names of household items, pointing to them in a child-like manner lol. A very long time has been spent where 'the event' when out or inside, was drinking. The aftermath, with fresh eyes, is that it's really painfully obvious that I've just not been progressing with life, and all that it has to offer.

With all that out of the way, I'm feeling genuinely more hopeful and able to explore and figure out what other things I might actually like, but my brain was drawing a serious blank on what people actually do for fun so I am really glad I ended up making this thread to ask and grateful for your responses!

That’s exactly how I feel about food.

Fursian

Thank you for the responses @yirara, @Sett2023, @zebasschick ! Appreciated Reading through these all I can feel the excitement within the posts and learning the reasons for why the hobbies came to exist, is useful as well.

I'm making a note of all these things and it is really helping I think. Last week I was looking for something calming to do in the evenings to help with sleep and thought I would checkout online Jigsaw puzzle sites, and this lead to asking the OH's parents if they still had any Jigsaw puzzles we could borrow. As luck would have it, they did, a Color Me Therapy puzzle, 500 piece.

Typing that paragraph about Jigsaw puzzles, of all things to get any joy from, still seems funny to me, but we had fun figuring out this puzzle with no colors, keeping us occupied until the early hours. We've since gotten a Cadbury's Roses Jigsaw puzzle given to us, and purchased a Christmas scene one.

@zebasschick I had to check out what a book nook kit was, they all look great! Diagon Alley will be good. I've been playing Hogwarts Legacy for the PS5, not sure what they've included in the game as I'm not that far in. The castle is huge, I've not even explored outside yet lol.

zebasschick

for sheer relation, my go-to is watercolor painting. not necessarily painting anything in particular for before bed - just moving colors on paper, making swirls and patterns. i've never fallen asleep so well as after doing that. i find painting an actual work - a flower, plant or landscape - isn't as relaxing as playing with water and paint on decent paper. a second one is doing the same thing with colored pencils. surprisingly some of this artistic noodling looks pretty good the next day. YMMV.

AnnPT77

zebasschick wrote: »

for sheer relation, my go-to is watercolor painting. not necessarily painting anything in particular for before bed - just moving colors on paper, making swirls and patterns. i've never fallen asleep so well as after doing that. i find painting an actual work - a flower, plant or landscape - isn't as relaxing as playing with water and paint on decent paper. a second one is doing the same thing with colored pencils. surprisingly some of this artistic noodling looks pretty good the next day. YMMV.

That resonates with me. One of the reasons I enjoy visual journaling is that I can play with the art supplies in whatever way I enjoy, without feeling like I must do some official art-y thing or reach an end product that other people will see or like. It's about enjoying the process, not about playing to an audience. (I do show people things sometimes, though. They don't always understand. ).