FEMOSPHERE

“What do you do for fun?”

The dreaded question everyone seems to ask. You might smile and mention your favorite tv shows, or talk about your gym routine, or maybe you say, “I just haven’t had any time lately!” You quickly change the subject.

There are so many reasons why you should have a hobby, and so many exciting hobbies to have. Here are a few.

Social Benefits

In the opener I described a very common conversation. It’s reality that many people don’t have hobbies. How much better of a conversation would it have been if the response had been a hobby, say knitting. You’d get questions about how you learned to knit and what you like to knit. The conversation would’ve flowed with interest and creativity.

A lot of hobbies also serve as a way of meeting new people and building community. Hobbies are great for finding people who are likeminded and have similar interests.

Intrinsic Benefits

Hobbies provide so many emotional, mental and physical benefits. It helps to escape the monotony of the day-to-day life so many of us have the predisposition to fall into. In a society where mental health issues are so prominent, it’s good to have an outlet to funnel energy into. But, it doesn’t only take energy, it gives.

Hobbies provide an opportunity to get out of your comfort zone. To experience something new. The joy I feel after I do something I’ve always wanted to do but never had the confidence to try, it’s very rewarding. You have a chance to develop a new skill. You may be surprised that you have an aptitude at the thing you’ve always wanted to do. Maybe there’s a reason you’ve always longed for that.

Hobbies can improve memory. Think about it, you’re spending time working at something instead of being on the phone. You’re engaging your mind instead of turning it off. There are many mentally stimulating hobbies that promote mental and physical health.

These benefits I’ve listed are true of good, beneficial hobbies. Depending on what you pick, there are also monetary, physical, benefits.

Be Bad at Something for the Sake of it

There is something so beautiful about being bad at something. I would even go so far as to say, it’s good to be bad at something. About choosing to do something that humbles you. About knowing you suck but doing it anyway. It takes tenacity, humility and gives self-respect. I can’t find, or form, a quote that represents how I feel about the value of being bad at something for the sake of being bad, and being fine with that, but this comes close:

“He said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: ‘I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

Kurt Vonnegut

The fear of failure, of being bad, holds us back from so much. Embrace the bad and do it anyway.

Types of Hobbies

The variety of hobbies is endless.

Cooking. Baking. Bartending.

Painting. Wreath-making. Writing.

Birdwatching. Hiking. Gardening.

Swimming. Tennis. Ballet.

Chess. Crossword Puzzles. Scrabble.

Horseback riding. Ice skating. Rock climbing.

Crochet. Knitting. Sewing.

Reading. Flipping Furniture. Camping.

Floral arrangement. Canning. Theatre.

Photography. Lifting. Blogging.

Commentary. Podcasting. Acting.

There are a plethora of hobbies, these are only a few examples. You can find hobbies that make money, you can find hobbies that keep you fit, or you can just find a hobby you simply enjoy. You’re allowed to do things you enjoy without them having another purpose.

Hot girls have hobbies.