Hobbies

Hey Chat!

To start this off, this blog idea came after a good gardening sesh! I wanted to talk about one of my New Year’s resolutions, and that was to be more intentional with my time. Doing things that make me happy. I think the happiest people have hobbies. Now what is a hobby? It’s anything you do regularly in your downtime that makes you happy. If someone asked you what your hobbies are… what would you say? And this isn’t to judge anyone because for some time I didn’t have an answer either. I never realized I didn’t have hobbies and because this is a safe space I will be honest and say for a while the only hobby I had was smoking. Now? I have a bunch that line up with the person I’m becoming, some I will share; others belong to me only. The first hobby that started it all for me? The gym. Something about setting time out of your day to spend an hour focused on you and you only is such a satisfying feeling. I dabble in other things, music, reading, crocheting, coloring, tarot. I think most people think that if you’re not perfect at something from the beginning it’s not worth it, I also think society has a funny way of making you feel that if you can’t turn a hobby into some sort of side hustle or something that can gain you, followers, then it’s not worth the time. Sometimes I think back to when I was a child and all the things I used to do simply because I had the free time and how I lost them along the way. And maybe you’re reading this right now and can’t relate at all and if that’s the case... why are you here???

One big hobby that I lost along the way was writing. Did you guys know I have a bachelor’s degree in English (minor in Theater we love the dramatics) … And I’m writing to ya FOR FREE (you’re welcome). I genuinely enjoy it though every time I post a new blog it makes me feel like I’m healing my inner child. To give you a little back story, one of my favorite shows of all time is Charmed and one of the main characters Phoebe worked for a paper where she had her own advice column. It was called Ask Phoebe (iykyk) and that always resonated with me. In the show, she was an empath and that’s what made her column so good. I always felt like I had similar gifts (even though Piper was my favorite) so doing this blog and connecting with people and speaking about topics that I feel others can relate to makes me happy. ALSO, it makes me feel like I’m using my degree instead of feeling like I wasted four years of my life, even though the way I write has never been grammatically correct. If my professors could read this now, they would say “And this is why she use to get C’s on her papers” I like writing how I speak, but look at me not using MLA format and not giving a f*ck. I also got way off-topic which is probably another reason I used to get C’s on my writing. The material was there, but my brain has about sixteen different things it wants to say all at once…

aNyWays back to hobbies. About 15% of people don’t have hobbies, 67% have multiple hobbies and 18% have one hobby they do regularly. What stops you from having hobbies? I always thought I didn’t have the time for them and then I realized how much of my free time is spent doom scrolling. I often think about how people lived before the inventions of cell phones and social media and how much of my time is spent online consuming other people’s lives instead of living my own, and fyi just because you don’t post often doesn’t make you any less guilty of this. I think that’s what I find so fascinating about this blog, it has easy access while simultaneously being productive. Instead of SCROLLING, you are READING, look at us helping each other be better ;]

I’m sharing this because having hobbies has made me feel aligned. We all wear so many titles in our day-to-day lives; we are different things to different people. We work, care for our families, friends, partners, and kids, and often neglect ourselves. If you are feeling lost or sad, especially during the winter, try picking up a new hobby. Having activities that I simply do for my benefit only has done wonders for my mental health. Things that help me grow and expand into this new version of myself while connecting to past versions of me. What are some hobbies you guys have or have been wanting to pick up? I hope this week’s blog inspired you to dig a little deeper and to spend more intentional time with yourself. As always thank you for reading and sharing.

With love and gratitude always,

Your Earth Angel,

Amethyst