What are your hobbies?
I don’t remember having hobbies growing up, or even in my early 20s. Maybe I was too financially strapped to invest my resources in something I deemed frivolous at the time. Or it could just be that I have a terrible memory. Both could be equally true.
The rest of my family have always been avid readers; my slow pace and short attention span got in the way of that. I’m far from coordinated so sports in general never interested me. Baking is probably the closest thing to a hobby I had when I was younger, and still do to this day.
It started with the easy bake oven, which I quickly bored of considering the results were inconsistent and those tiny cakes never seemed to satisfy my raging sweet tooth. No, I wanted the real thing, and I’m still not entirely sure why my mother allowed me to use the oven from such a young age. I like to think it’s a testament to my amazing baking skills. The glorious confections I produced outweighing the risk of injury. Probably more of a testament to her being a single mother raising three stubborn daughters, and her not having the energy to fight me on it.
Fast forward to present day and you’d think I’m heavily invested in opening my own Hobby Lobby. Which, by the way, started as a couple making miniature picture frames out of their home. So really I may not be too far off.
I’ve learned to knit from a YouTube video, taken enough pottery classes to master making a mug with a decent handle (which is actually way harder than you’d think), grew my own garden this past summer, whittled spoons, made wall sized art collages, and recently ordered a kit for weaving wall tapestries.
I’ve come to realize that I love being a maker. There’s something incredibly rewarding in the ability to take raw materials - be it wood, clay, wool or seeds - and make it in to something beautiful or functional by simply using my hands.
My hobbies have taught me more about patience than spending every day with a toddler, hard to believe, but true. They’ve opened my eyes to the intricacies and details in the world around me, especially in the everyday objects we use and often overlook. By far my favorite part of making has to be giving away the things I’ve created. It brings me so much joy to know that something I’ve made will be in someone else’s home, hopefully bringing them as much happiness in using it as I’ve received in the process of making it.
Header and thumbnail images from Melanie Abrantes - maker of the book and carving kit responsible for my new addiction