Rediscovering Hobbies

I used to think hobbies were bad and a waste of time. I shudder even writing that because I now believe hobbies are the secret joy to life. There is a famous quote by C.S. Lewis that says “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” Reading that back obviously the essence of the quote is to care for and love others which at times may require you to be vulnerable and have your heart broken (ex. Parents loving their children) instead of just only ever doing things you care about but somehow when I was younger I took that quote to mean loving and caring for others = not having hobbies. It’s so silly that I once thought that, but I had good intentions. I wanted all my time to be spent serving the Lord, involved in as much ministry as I thought possible, practically caring for others and not wasting a moment of my time. See, good intentions right? But with everything in the Christian life, there must be a balance. I still believe it is good to be vulnerable and put yourself out there to care for others and have genuine relationships instead of just solely focusing on doing a million little hobbies. At the same time, to feel so locked into serving that you don’t even think you can have a minute to spare on a hobby for yourself that simply brings you joy is legalism. We can be Christians who serve and love others well while having hobbies that make us whole and bring us joy.

Hobbies as Rest

The Bible teaches us that rest is good, but have you ever thought of rest as pursuing hobbies that give you joy and bring you life? It took me a while to think of them that way. Sometimes doing the things we love can feel restful and we leave feeling more energized than if we just sat and did nothing or watched tv or just sat and read the Bible and prayed for a whole day (I still think reading the Bible and praying is good and can be restful, but it’s not the only option). It’s really easy to think you’re too tired to pursue a hobby, not realizing that doing something you love can actually give you energy, not just take it. Especially once you hit adulthood and you spend a majority of your time working or doing chores or other responsibilities, you may think you only have energy to just sit and scroll on social media the rest of the night, or if you’re locked into a legalistic mindset like I was, think to rest you should be reading your Bible and praying. Enter hobbies instead. I encourage you to spend your free time finding something you love to do and watch as it gives you more life rather than take it.

Hobbies Allow You to Serve Better

Have you ever thought about the fact that most of the ways you serve others are skills that are derived from having hobbies. Want to bring someone a meal or baked goods? Cooking and baking could be fun hobbies to pursue. Having the ability to knit blankets for others or hem your kids pants? Those skills come from knitting and sewing of course. How do we even have musicians leading us in worship at church? Learning how to play an instrument and sing started as a passionate hobby. Giving others fresh vegetables or flowers from the garden, capturing special moments through photography or film, helping someone decorate their house with the interior design tips you learned are all ways hobbies turn into serving others. Hobbies also just allow you to be a whole person with interesting things to do and talk about with others. If someone is going through a hard time, maybe inviting them into your life and your hobby is the thing they need to just have one happy thing to look forward to that day.

Practical Tips to Start

Maybe this all sounds very obvious to you and you have a million hobbies and a fulfilled life already. If that’s the case, that’s amazing and I’m proud of you! If you’re anything like me and need to know where to start though, I’ve got you covered. First, are you addicted to your phone and social media? Only asking because that’s where I was and it was prohibiting me from doing anything creative in my free time. Those addictions sneak up on you and before you know it you are mindlessly walking through life consuming more content than you create and listening to the thoughts of others more than your own. I encourage hard boundaries for this - screen time limit with someone else you trust in control of the passcode and physically leaving your phone in another room and only checking it at set times are tactics I personally use. Next, now that you’ve felt that pang of emptiness and panic when you reach for your phone and it isn’t there it’s time to think of what you want to do. The best place to start is to ask yourself what you loved to do as a child. There are exceptions - a traumatic childhood or some kids may be screen addicted even earlier these days, but generally our interests bloom right away in childhood. As adults swept up in work and responsibilities it’s too easy to lose ourselves and what our interests are, so I encourage you to look back at what you loved when you were a child and had little responsibility and abundant free time. For me as a child, I loved reading, writing and singing which were easy places for me to start. I got a kindle and started reading whatever sparked interest for me, I started journaling out whatever I was thinking in google docs (hence the birth of this blog) and I started going to a singing teacher to sharpen that skill again. And all of these things brought me life. I even took it a step further with the music aspect and started teaching myself piano using an app. Whatever you loved as a kid or whatever sparks your interest now, just go out and start doing it. And one final tip is to make it as easy as possible for yourself. When I wanted to learn piano I got a cheap keyboard and put it in front of a comfy chair so I would be more likely to want to sit in it and practice. If you want to start reading, pick an easy reading level to get back into it. Remove any practical hurdles and just go for it!

There are no rules and you do not have to be the best

Remember the only rules for your hobby are the rules you set for yourself. I remember growing up reading and writing in school felt like there were a million rules to follow. I was told what to read, how to interpret it, how to write and what to write about (all good foundational skills that I am grateful for), but as an adult I can do whatever I want now and it’s so freeing. I don’t have to read classics or books I don’t understand or like. I can read whatever I like even if the reading level is for a middle schooler (Harry Potter got me back into my reading groove lol). It simply doesn’t matter as long as it brings me joy. Another thing that could be holding you back is the idea that you have to be “the best” at a hobby or it’s not worth doing. I used to think this with singing or anything musical. Maybe it was the cut throat competitive environment of musical theater growing up, anyone else?? As soon as I realized that I did not have to be the best at singing for myself to enjoy it or for others listening to me to enjoy it, I felt a burden was lifted. Obviously always use discretion though if you’re really not great at something still do it for your own joy but maybe don’t share it with others lol, I have a decent voice but was comparing myself to Beyonce and thinking it meant I couldn’t sing in front of anyone.

Those are my tips! While I had misguided thoughts about pursuing hobbies in the past, I now realize hobbies can be restful, allow me to serve others better and let out the creativity I had when I was a child. If you’re not already filling your time with hobbies that bring you joy, I encourage you to start knowing there are no rules and you absolutely do not have to be the best. Watch as you see the passion and fulfillment blossom in your life again. Happy hobbying!