Hobbies, Everyone Should Have Some

The benefits will make you wonder why you didn’t start sooner

Last week Ellie Jacobson’s writing prompt for Flint and Steel asked what we thought about hobbies. I have so many hobbies that I don’t know if I can fit them in one article!

I love the outdoors, plants, animals, and I’m very concerned about the environment. So most of my hobbies combine elements for these things that I love.

For example, I try not to buy a lot of useless stuff that I won’t get a lot of use out of or that I don’t love. And when something gets worn down, I often try to upcycle that item either to another use or as a better version of its former self. Usually, that involves getting my husband to do the carpentry, but the designs and finishing are all on me. For example, the drawers below belong to a very sturdy desk beaten up from our move from Florida. And the desk was just too big for our new house. So I had him cut the piece into two separate pieces, and now I use both of them in my home office separately.

We have multiple items like this throughout our house. It also has helped us to stretch our budget further. For instance, when we replaced our deck, we built planter boxes with the wood we could salvage. These projects also make me happy when I keep items out of the landfill and don’t buy new ones. And everything is unique to us!

Another hobby is gardening, and because it’s cold, I’m focused on houseplants right now. I had my husband make me this little houseplant holder below for my windowsill so I could change pots out frequently, and they would be easy to care for.

Finally, one of the hobbies that I have been trying the hardest to develop since Covid started is to get better at photography. My husband made the birdhouse below from some scrap house shingles. A squirrel promptly moved in over the summer and had babies. I caught this picture; not one of my best for focus, but I love the babies peeking out and the mother standing guard on the roof. You have to look hard to see her because her coloring blends with the tree.

I used to write more about nature and the dangers of climate change, and I still think that is important. But I also think we need to remind people of the beauty of nature. Entice them to go outside and see what is worth saving. So the photography hobby can help me tell better stories and do just that.

The topic of hobbies also reminded me of my childhood. I had four siblings, and my mother loved to sew. She made outfits for us until we got older and thought it wasn’t “cool” anymore to wear clothes that mom made for us. I wish she had saved some of those clothes she made with love for us for my son.

Those are my thoughts on hobbies. Thank you, Ellie Jacobson, for this writing prompt!