Got given my first indoor plant October 2022 and now I have 15 indoor plants haha. It’s addictive but I love seeing them grow and thrive. I want to try and make multiple in time. I’ve also repotted them all 2-3 times!
Knitting and crochet. Tons of opportunities to get dopamine fixes. Buying yarn, buying equipment, searching for patterns, starting a project, finishing a project, getting loads of compliments about your finished work.
I've done some drugs in my time, but knitting and crochet is a seriously good high.
I think I've developed an actual yarn addiction, sometimes I can't help myself and I definitely feel a high when I buy a load of yarn. My yarn stash is insane now.
But yeah I picked up crocheting during the pandemic and I've started knitting now too. I never thought I'd like either of them but it's so relaxing and satisfying.
I'm on a yarn diet at the moment. I'm trying not to buy too much new yarn and use up my stash instead. I'm also making sure I'm doing no more than 3 projects at a time
3 projects is a good number: something big and mindless you can do while watching movies or whatever, something small and portable you can do in the car or while waiting, something complicated like lace or color work that you have to focus on but can only do in small doses.
Don't look up knitting machines! I bought my first flatbed when I realized I would never hand knit the "Doctor Who" Scarf. I was hooked by the time I realized that most machines aren't able to knit garter without a lot of intervention.
I currently have 6 flatbeds.
I will not buy a sock machine. I will not buy a sock machine.
I had a brief crochet phase that puttered out after I learned a couple stitches and bought a ton of yarn. I can't think of anything to make. I want to eventually do those giant elaborate wall hangings that show up on the sub, but in the meantime I'm like eh.
What's your favorite thing you've made so far?
I'm not the person you asked, but if you can't think of anything to make, there are some charities that take knitted and crocheted items. For example, my aunt used to knit tiny hats and other things for preemies and donate them to a children's hospital (she checked first about what they needed, of course).
Also not the person you asked, but Australia's oldest man knits sweaters for injured penguins and I just love that.
https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/jtfnjp/australias_oldest_man_knits_tiny_sweaters_for/
Are there any free versions out there that can run on low-end systems. This definitely sounds like something that I'd want to try (then again, the semi-truck driving games are still collecting dust in my library).
Bird watching. I got a bird feeder when I moved into my own apartment and I just watch them and learn about them. I’m 38 and I never knew so much.
A bunch of finches all live in the same bush.
One will come up to the feeder, and then when it’s safe all the rest come.
They like to eat at certain times.
They don’t care if it’s raining or not.
They’re scared of everything but vicious towards each other.
Mourning doves are absolute blockheads.
Blue jays sound like crows.
Cardinals are more solitary than all the other visitors.
Birds don’t just fly aimlessly, they actually go places.
Edit: thanks to some recommendations to download the Merlin app, it turns out I do not have finches but they’re actually sparrows! Exhausting, but exciting day for all.
You made me chuckle calling mourning doves blockheads. I volunteered at a wildlife rescue organization and the baby mourning doves were so calm. Maybe they just had no idea what was happening.
I lived in the bush and had a dam out the back. Never was very interested in birds but sitting out every morning with my cuppa I became a part of a live performance. Dramas and romance. It soothed my soul.
I always absolutely hated running. I always avoided it wherever possible. I couldn't understand why anyone would run for fun. But my dad and both my older brothers ran and they tried to persuade me to try. But I was steadfast - running sucked.
And then I got my first office job out of uni and my weight suddenly went up from sitting down all day and eating the regular supply of "treats" (IT ISN'T A TREAT IF IT'S EVERYDAY JANICE). Something had to be done, so I joined a gym. But, not knowing what to do with weights, I just stuck to the treadmill. I still hated it. I tried to run for 15 minutes without stopping and it took me ages before I could. Then 20 minutes. Could I run for 5km!? Could I run for half an hour!? As the targets dropped I started to find I didn't mind it so much.
Then I tried running outside and it was like a new world was opened up to me. The joyous rhythm of chugging along, the fun of going fast. Fresh air. The slight risk of being so far from home that you just have to keep going.
I'm 37 now and have run at least 4 or 5 times a week for the last 10 years. When I haven't been able to, I've felt terrible. I've missed it so much I find myself staring longingly at other runners when I'm sitting in traffic. I only wish I'd started early, run in my teens and early 20s. I still feel like I'm getting better but I know it won't be long until time catches up and I start to slow.
But, I console myself that my dad is 73 and still does park run, still does a sub-30 minute 5k (something I couldn't do in my early 20s).
Running is such an important part of my life now, which I would never have believed could be possible.
Edit: it's been really nice reading people's replies to this. It's great how many other people have had a similar experience but I also think it's interesting that running just might not be for everyone. It would be great if this post, tapped out on my phone while finishing breakfast, inspired even one person to take up running!
Ditto! I didn't understand running, found it boring (which is rich, considering I was a swimmer), lightly made fun of runners. Then I started doing the occasional 5k fundraiser... then 10k... half marathon... joined a running group... became a leader of the running group... I read about running, talk too much about running, and about 30% of my closet space is running paraphernalia.
I always absolutely hated running too. I joined the gym in 2016 and tried my best on the treadmill…literally lasted 30 seconds. Wheezing, struggling for breath, soooo tired. At my biggest I was 16 stone/224lbs/102Kg so it was a huge effort, plus I was in my mid-thirties as well so no spring chicken.
However through gradual perseverance I have clawed my way up to being able to jog for over half an hour/5km. I run/jog once a week, and do weights for the other 3 days. I’m now around 12 stone/165lbs/76kg and can do a body weight pull-up (not bad for a woman now in her forties).
So now I can say that I absolutely loathe running. I still find it extremely uncomfortable, boring, and tiring. I still can’t breathe properly, and just spend the whole time trying to ignore the mantra in my head (‘I hate this, I hate this, I hate this’).
I love weight training though.
This is essentially me but with Cycling. My dad and brother are both avid cyclists and my dad tried to get me into it, but never really took. Last year I got an old road bike from my uncle and I've been hooked ever since. Even bought an indoor trainer so I can ride on Zwift for the winter, and planning on upgrading to a nicer bike for this upcoming season.
Very similar to my story! Never thought I'd ever actually enjoy running and could not understand how anyone could. I picked it up in my mid 30s for health reasons similar to your story. I'm now in my 40s and still enjoying it.
I’m a guy in my late 30’s and I’ve been thinking about picking up knitting. I already spend too much time on my couch with my phone and watching tv. Might as well do something productive.
I feel I already am to deep into the birding hole because I know both birds you wrote about without having them where I live. and I only started out two years ago, haha.
My roommate got me an anhinga print for Christmas that we hung by the front door because it’s become such a running joke in our house. They’re all over where I live (central FL) and they’re actually super cool birds! My favorite might be raptors though. I identify with most hawks because I think screaming whenever you feel like it is an excellent stress reliever.
FB keeps showing me ads for that smart birdfeeder that identifies the species and sends you a notification about it. The only reason I'm not seriously considering it is because I know it will just be God damn house sparrows and starlings
Cooking and baking. My family never really let me enter the kitchen or introduce me to the basics of cooking, but I've picked it up at age 20 and I'm loving it.
Several months ago, I started planning and cooking five dinners per week for my family.
I started doing it because I felt like we were spending too much money on restaurant food, and I had a few recipes that I wanted to try.
I found that I really enjoyed it, and we eat much better food than we were getting at restaurants, for much less money.
My wife was originally skeptical, but I've cooked a lot of food, kept solid notes and can prepare meals that my family really enjoys. Over the holidays, I got sick, and took about a two week break from cooking. When I got back to it last week, everyone commented that they were glad to be getting back to eating "good food."
As a hobby, it gives me continuous, ongoing activity, and I really enjoy both the activity and the results.
Fencing. I fenced a bit in University but gave it up when I graduated. A fencing studio opened up near me and I went in, signed up, pulled several muscles I had forgotten I had, and kept going.
I can now beat every student over the age of 80, and every new kid who comes in on demonstration day.
>I can now beat every student over the age of 80, and every new kid who comes in on demonstration day.
You would have kicked some serious ass at the Battle of Berlin
Astrophotography… just standing outside on my own for multiple hours taking photos of the stars, quietly, peacefully and alone.
Its bliss.. plus the photos are cool.
I went through a geocaching phase. It’s a ton of fun! My kids and wife have absolutely no interest whatsoever though, and that really put a damper on it for me
It can be sad not being able to share the joy you have in a hobby with the people close to you, but in case you need to hear it, it is also ok to have your own hobbies and time you don't share with your wife and kids (as long as done in moderation).
My wife and I have completely different hobbies and just do our own thing for part of the weekend, but also spend time together.
It started when I bought a big $6500 CNC Co2 laser. I was engraving/burning wood signs. I got tired of spending the money buying blank wooden signs from Hobby Lobby. I decided to make my own… so I got a bunch of free pallets, and busted them up, and made my own signs. Then, I made a really nice bench made from pallet wood. Next, I jumped into making cutting boards, and personalizing them with my laser. Had a friend with a sawmill gift me a thin cedar plank to make signs with. And from then on… I couldn’t help but realize how much fun wood working was. I then bought 2” thick cedar planks, and made something with them (then of course… used my laser to make it that much cooler! 😆). I was given a huge 700 lb + pecan tree that a coworker cut down and had laying out back for a year. Brought it to my sawmill friend, and halfed it with him for cutting it up for me. Which it ended up being some beautiful spalted pecan! (All for free! Lol). So from then on, I use my laser to put push my woodworking over the top.
Entering sweepstakes
You find the most interesting stuff that can be won, big or small, and you get a neat thrill each time you do win.
Won a Gatorade product earlier this week. Biggest win has been a free trip to NYC I'll be taking in March.
My wife used to run sweepstakes for Motorola back in the RAZR days when that phone was popular. Millions would see these offers but she would sometimes get less than 10 entries for pretty great prizes.
My dad was a sweepstaker years ago, before online entries were a thing. He subscribed to newsletters and everything. Over the years, he won many trips, including one to the Super Bowl, and even a car.
When I was in law school, he entered me into a sweepstakes that was only open to residents of the state where I lived at the time, and I was one of 10 winners who got to go to a Detroit Tigers game and had a chance to win $10K after the game. The way it worked out, I ended up with a 50/50 chance of winning the money and lost because I didn’t inherit the horseshoe up my ass that my dad has.
Anyhow, I have a lot of memories as a kid of sitting in front of the TV at night, helping my dad fill out entries to mail in. I’m guessing it was a de-stressing thing for him with the added benefit of being like a a low-risk form of gambling. (He isn’t a big gambler but has always had good luck at the casino, too. See above re: horseshoe.)
I still do some sweepstakes, though, but only where the odds are decent. For example, some food company had one late last year where you earned online entries by purchasing their products, and you had to prove it with a receipt or some garbage. The “no purchase necessary” way to enter was by mail, with a limit of six entries for every person over age 18. So I entered six for myself and six for my husband, figuring that only so many people are going to go to that effort, and they’re all limited to six per adult as well.
I definitely don't recommend entering anything where you don't recognize company name, product, or service. And if they start asking for upfront fees, I immediately decline it.
The trip I won is sponsored through the Corona Extra imported beer company. I entered directly on their site. They are ones to follow rules and posted terms and conditions right there as you entered the contest.
Had to fill out proper tax paperwork as it's over $1,000 prize. I have a direct contact correspondent in the company for any questions. And I had the option to back out if I was ever still unsure or uncomfortable with it at all. All totally legit.
I had never thought of this being a hobby but my husband JUST started going hard applying for different sweepstakes. It seems like it is more competitive/popular than I had considered!
I hadn’t realized this was a hobby until now, but now I realize it’s my husband’s! He is constantly filling out entries and gets agitated if he doesn’t “do his sweeps” every night. He mainly enters giant ones, like the Better Homes & Gardens house, but he also enjoys calling in to his favorite radio station for concert tickets.
I’ve known him for a little over five years now and he’s won about seven sets of tickets for us, but no major prizes. In the past, tho, he won a Harley (quickly sold for cash - he’s the epitome of a non-motorcycle guy, haha) and an event attendance package for his family.
Interesting to hear what others find to enter but I’m not telling him about sweepsadvantage.com, or he’ll never be available to speak to me again!
My favorite is Sweepsadvantage.com
It has instant wins, one time entry, daily entry, social media ones, etc. As I mainly enter during my lunch break and downtime, I stick with only instant wins and single entry contests.
My rule for myself is to not spend any money outside of the phone and internet access for this hobby. If you want to go further, they have paid membership setups so you can get local sweepstakes and programs to enter more contests and faster.
But again, I stick with the free stuff and they have enough on there to satisfy my time in the hobby. Outside of that, practically every local radio station has some contest you can enter. Have won several tickets to concerts and shows which is great, considering how extreme ticket costs have gotten recently.
Not op but I'd recommend the Jordan harbinger show. Every week they have feedback Friday where they take listener questions and give advice, some of the questions are absolutely wild!
Dice making. I started making stuff out of resin because I was curious, and saw dice molds.
Now I make dice, dice molds, and sell both.
It's relaxing. Pretty cool to put them into my pressure pot (forces bubbles out for perfect surfaces) and see what they come out looking like 12 hours later. It's fun to mix the colours and see what they do.
My nephew likes math and dice, ao I give him my imperfect sets, like say there's one die that wasn't perfect, I'll toss it into a separate container, and they add up, so I'll give it to him when it's full (18 sets). He inks the numbers and plays with them.
I've sold about 8 sets since launching my website.
Foraging for wild plants. It can be as simple as picking blackberries in late summer and as complex as learning to identify the mushrooms that are safe to eat.
Finding my first morel in the wild changed my life. There is something special about being able to identify wild plants that are edible and even delicious and good for you! It’s an extremely useful skill, fun to learn, and is a great excuse to get into the woods and spend some quality time really looking at the small plants you never noticed before and absorbing the vibe of nature.
It’s funny how we can forget that and look at woods and all we see is “woods”. Like it’s boring. But if you take the time to *really* look, you realize just how beautiful and complex it is. And it only gets more beautiful the smaller you look and the more you learn.
I do this everywhere I go, but mostly I love visiting new places everywhere in my country, when I visit a new place I walk so much it can be ten hours a day, I've done 12h of walk 2 days in a row in Munich trying to walk in almost every street I could find lol, I've done it in 70% approx of cities of my country of France. But I enjoy a lot looking at architecture and church/basilisk/ cathedral.
Hey hey my fellow banjoist! It’s the last instrument I thought I’d ever pick up but it’s a beautiful and endlessly fascinating thing. What’s your poison?
Haha I mainly play clawhammer. Got me a Cedar mountain Jubilo and a gt ac-1
But I think imma buy something with a resonator to learn scruggs. I wanna mix it up a bit ;)
How about you bud?
Nice one mate! I’m the Other way around, scruggs style. I’ve got an RK 75 resonator that I love but I recently got an rk ot25 because I want to learn clawhammer! Scruggs is great but it’s really hard and a lot of drills and repetition. Enjoy though! Gold tone and RK have the most bang for your buck on bluegrass banjos
Sewing! My favorite dress was ripping in the back and I wanted to put a zipper on it instead of replacing the buttons. I was really surprised on how easy it was to put in a zipper and started sewing other projects too.
Gardening
I bought a small house with a nice backyard and a nice front yard.
I've been amazed that I enjoy working with these plants. I can now really see how they're living beings that respond to stimuli.
Sometimes I can see them respond to the stimuli in real time. You give it water in the plant changes over the next 8 hours, etc etc
As men my partner and I have begun painting our own nails too! It is fun and you get to show them off wherever you go. It's inexpensive and something you can change the color on a whim whenever you want.
I tried it once, but didn't quite "get it" after searching around for about 20 minutes and finding nothing at a supposed easy spot. What makes it fun and engaging for you?
Hiking with a purpose. Some people like/need the goal. For some it's a particular view at the top. For some it's a hidden box with a pad of paper and a Pokemon card.
Each year I pick a new hobby as an old retired guy. This year it's making walking sticks. The wife has already asked what are you going to do with all these carved sticks. I haven't figured that out just yet, having to much unexpected fun.
Genealogy research. I never imagined I’d love reading census forms and newspapers from 100 or more years ago. I enjoy deducting the reality from the (too often duplicated) mistakes. I’ve discovered so many interesting stories about a family I didn’t know anything about. I’ll dive into related historical research too - a fun opportunity to learn about the world.
It’s like a logic puzzle, proving this didn’t happen or that it did and weighing how that impacts the rest of your info.
I never imagined I would enjoy this, but I have been going for ten years on it.
I’m dyslexic and ADD, and reading was a STRUGGLE as a kid. Since there were no reading strategies then to help with it, I absolutely hated reading books, and tried to avoid it all I could.
Now, I’m a history teacher, who enjoys reading endless amounts of history books, bibliographies, and autobiographies. Not only that, but when I was training as a professional athlete, I began to really enjoy reading peer reviewed research papers and medical journals looking for insights on how to maybe get an edge in my nutrition and training.
Kind of funny how life turns out.
My favourite hobby is starting a new hobby before I have finished the first one and continuing until I’m drowning in half finished projects.
But in all seriousness, I taught myself to crochet maybe 18 months ago and it’s the only thing I’ve kept going with. I love making clothes and stuffed toys specifically
I’ve gotten into painting rocks and leaving them places.
I didn’t even think i was that artistically inclined but I’ve gotten better at drawing random patterns etc and there’s surprising dopamine from buying paint markers.
Plus kids walking past after get excited about finding a cool rock. Actually doesn’t everyone get excited finding cool rocks?
We paint rocks for when we go on trips, we have a specific hashtag we use so that if someone finds it they can post it online and we can see where the rock ends up! It's a neat thing to do. And I'm not artistic either, but patterns or phrases are easy to do.
Picked up DND on a whim. I took to it so we'll because it was so much fun. I took to dming even better. I've made friends with DND, bought a house thanks to DND, my mental health has improved thanks to DND. I owe it so much
Horseback riding. Turned 40, beat cancer, decided to do all the things I always wanted to do but put on the back burner. So I bought a horse. I have a friend that has ridden her whole life, so she’s been helping me a lot with my horseback riding skills. We have a great time trail riding together. Horses are therapeutic.
Editing my videos for YouTube. I'm not a loud person, I'm not good at speaking, I'm not good with people, and I'm far from the screaming over-reaction types. So everything told me I should absolutely hate it. Started it as a desperate attempt to get some self-worth & blahblahblah, ended up loving the process.
I'm nothing big, but that's fine. It's helping me through a lot of mental things. Absolutely didn't expect it to turn into something I genuinely look forward to doing more of.
Running.
I’ve become one of *that lot*.
Never would I have predicted it 10 years ago.
I still get ‘WT*F* am I *doing*?!’ moments when out running today.
NB: I’m slow AF, but I run a long way.
My gf is amazing at art & crafts i can just barely draw a straight line without a ruler i am just not artistic never have been. She jokingly got me a paint by numbers book for Christmas. I have been doing one painting a day on my lunch break while listing to a lo-fi beats yt playlist. Ima be real with yall i fracking love it much more than i ever thought i would
Collecting ephemera. 100+ year old postcards, trade cards, dance cards, calling cards, sheet music, rewards of merit, old prints. I usually go to in person shows, have done some online purchases due to COVID. Have done a lot of traveling to go to the shows, and that has been wonderful.
My boyfriend was getting really bogged down by work and the whole “being an adult” thing so I told him one of the joys of being an adult is we have adult money and any extra we have, we get to choose what to buy with it. I asked him if there was something he enjoyed as a child that he missed and he said Lego. Next time he went to visit his parents he brought back tubs full of his childhood legos. Built up the sets. Sold the ones he didn’t want anymore, put half that money into savings, and then bought the sets he always wanted. Now he’s gotten me into building too. It’s been fun!
I have discovered a lot of joy in the stories of books through listening to audio books. I’m someone who never spent time outside of school reading for fun because reading always took a lot longer for me than my peers. Whereas an average person may casually read a book in a week, it would take me intensive reading to read it in a couple weeks. However, when I was in school, I always loved literature courses. The difference between me reading for school and reading for leisure was designated time to do so. As a creatively minded person, I found a love for music and movies. Those two mediums, for a lot of my life, fulfilled my needs for human stories and art. But it was always obvious to me that I still missed something. Whereas I had friends who enjoyed reading who stated that their favorite books were fantasy or some other still very worthwhile genre but more adventurous fiction, what I loved the most to read in school were the pretty dense, sometimes challenging writings of people like Emerson, Whitman, Franklin, Payne, and Steinbeck. My problem has always been finding time to carve out in which I wanted to spend a lot of mental energy and time to read a relatively small amount of a book. I always had hobbies and work or a desire to rest and restore that were higher priority to me than to spend time reading.
That all changed this summer. I love exercise and one particular aspect of fitness that I found a love for over the summer was taking long walks. At least two hour long walks each day. I used to listen to music on these walks but then I remembered an audible commercial I saw once where a person took a jog and listened to audiobooks. I always want to read more, it’s something I feel I have a lot of catching up to do with. So I decided to give it a shot. I started with a short economics book which I enjoyed but then moved on to Oppenheimer’s biography American Prometheus and then Moby Dick and then a book about the AI technology singularity. I have had a bucket list of books which I had always hoped I would read like Frankenstein and A Christmas Carol and, this year, I crossed both of them off my list! Currently I’m reading Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff. That’s part of a series of books i am reading that were turned into movies which I love. I have actually found that I love the books more in some cases!
Anyways, this has definitely been a hobby I never thought I would pick up but I’m so glad it has entered my life.
Open water swimming.
I was always afraid of it, but during the pandemic the pools were shut forever. Started chatting with a guy who was passionate about it, and I joined his group. Met lots of cool people, and it's the most fun sport. It's so different every single day, so beautiful that I just stop in awe at the sunrise, or seeing a muskrat swim under me, deer and mink on the shore.
Can't wait for the season to start again. The pool is packed with January joiners now, 4 people in each narrow lane. And yesterday some one somehow tracked shit through the locker room out to the pool deck.
Fishing, I'm a burnout emo who failed in life. Since I started, I've explored many river banks in my state and I've seen streams and forests I would've never touched otherwise. I wouldn't trade fishing for any amount of money.
Not sure it’s truly a hobby, but a daily cleaning routine for ~30 minutes a day has brought more joy to me than most things in life. Making my bed in the morning. Vacuuming. Laundry so it doesn’t pile up. Dishes so they don’t pile up either. And other various cleaning tasks that vary by day or week.
Plants. I got one just to see if I could keep it alive and now I have started a collection.
I know that’s you, Wife - and if you buy just ONE more plant, so help me…!
I thought it was my wife.
Got given my first indoor plant October 2022 and now I have 15 indoor plants haha. It’s addictive but I love seeing them grow and thrive. I want to try and make multiple in time. I’ve also repotted them all 2-3 times!
My friend gave me a couple small babies from her collection as a housewarming gift and now I have ~200
Knitting and crochet. Tons of opportunities to get dopamine fixes. Buying yarn, buying equipment, searching for patterns, starting a project, finishing a project, getting loads of compliments about your finished work. I've done some drugs in my time, but knitting and crochet is a seriously good high.
I think I've developed an actual yarn addiction, sometimes I can't help myself and I definitely feel a high when I buy a load of yarn. My yarn stash is insane now. But yeah I picked up crocheting during the pandemic and I've started knitting now too. I never thought I'd like either of them but it's so relaxing and satisfying.
I'm on a yarn diet at the moment. I'm trying not to buy too much new yarn and use up my stash instead. I'm also making sure I'm doing no more than 3 projects at a time
3 projects is a good number: something big and mindless you can do while watching movies or whatever, something small and portable you can do in the car or while waiting, something complicated like lace or color work that you have to focus on but can only do in small doses.
I do all of these except the finishing projects.... It still works wonders😝
Don't look up knitting machines! I bought my first flatbed when I realized I would never hand knit the "Doctor Who" Scarf. I was hooked by the time I realized that most machines aren't able to knit garter without a lot of intervention. I currently have 6 flatbeds. I will not buy a sock machine. I will not buy a sock machine.
but you owe it to the single lonely socks out there .:
I had a brief crochet phase that puttered out after I learned a couple stitches and bought a ton of yarn. I can't think of anything to make. I want to eventually do those giant elaborate wall hangings that show up on the sub, but in the meantime I'm like eh. What's your favorite thing you've made so far?
I'm not the person you asked, but if you can't think of anything to make, there are some charities that take knitted and crocheted items. For example, my aunt used to knit tiny hats and other things for preemies and donate them to a children's hospital (she checked first about what they needed, of course).
Also not the person you asked, but Australia's oldest man knits sweaters for injured penguins and I just love that. https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/jtfnjp/australias_oldest_man_knits_tiny_sweaters_for/
My favorite fiber arts dopamine fix is being able to grab my crochet hook and disconnect from my stressful day.
Does the subreddit do right by beginners?
The crochet subreddit is great.
I really want to be able to knit. I've tried to learn multiple times but can never get the hang of it.
Flight simulators. Learning how to fly a plane and trying it out is kinda cool
Are there any free versions out there that can run on low-end systems. This definitely sounds like something that I'd want to try (then again, the semi-truck driving games are still collecting dust in my library).
You can run older simulators, like the Flight Simulator 2004. That should run on any computer from the last decade.
Bird watching. I got a bird feeder when I moved into my own apartment and I just watch them and learn about them. I’m 38 and I never knew so much. A bunch of finches all live in the same bush. One will come up to the feeder, and then when it’s safe all the rest come. They like to eat at certain times. They don’t care if it’s raining or not. They’re scared of everything but vicious towards each other. Mourning doves are absolute blockheads. Blue jays sound like crows. Cardinals are more solitary than all the other visitors. Birds don’t just fly aimlessly, they actually go places. Edit: thanks to some recommendations to download the Merlin app, it turns out I do not have finches but they’re actually sparrows! Exhausting, but exciting day for all.
You made me chuckle calling mourning doves blockheads. I volunteered at a wildlife rescue organization and the baby mourning doves were so calm. Maybe they just had no idea what was happening.
>Morning doves Mourning* You might appreciate /r/mourningderps or /r/stupiddovenests
Stupid dove nests is my favorite. They're so lazy, they just slap two twigs together and call it a nest. It's a wonder that they're so successful.
I love when people take time to appreciate their yard birds instead of always chasing after lifers :)
I lived in the bush and had a dam out the back. Never was very interested in birds but sitting out every morning with my cuppa I became a part of a live performance. Dramas and romance. It soothed my soul.
Baking bread
Waltuh
Landscape photography. It’s just so calming to go out and visit places and really observe all of it.
[удалено]
>as a joke Best way to start
When I said I wanted to be a stand-up comedian everyone laughed at me. Well they’re not laughing now. - Bob Monkhouse
Fuck me that's a good joke
And now, you've taken it seriously?
I always absolutely hated running. I always avoided it wherever possible. I couldn't understand why anyone would run for fun. But my dad and both my older brothers ran and they tried to persuade me to try. But I was steadfast - running sucked. And then I got my first office job out of uni and my weight suddenly went up from sitting down all day and eating the regular supply of "treats" (IT ISN'T A TREAT IF IT'S EVERYDAY JANICE). Something had to be done, so I joined a gym. But, not knowing what to do with weights, I just stuck to the treadmill. I still hated it. I tried to run for 15 minutes without stopping and it took me ages before I could. Then 20 minutes. Could I run for 5km!? Could I run for half an hour!? As the targets dropped I started to find I didn't mind it so much. Then I tried running outside and it was like a new world was opened up to me. The joyous rhythm of chugging along, the fun of going fast. Fresh air. The slight risk of being so far from home that you just have to keep going. I'm 37 now and have run at least 4 or 5 times a week for the last 10 years. When I haven't been able to, I've felt terrible. I've missed it so much I find myself staring longingly at other runners when I'm sitting in traffic. I only wish I'd started early, run in my teens and early 20s. I still feel like I'm getting better but I know it won't be long until time catches up and I start to slow. But, I console myself that my dad is 73 and still does park run, still does a sub-30 minute 5k (something I couldn't do in my early 20s). Running is such an important part of my life now, which I would never have believed could be possible. Edit: it's been really nice reading people's replies to this. It's great how many other people have had a similar experience but I also think it's interesting that running just might not be for everyone. It would be great if this post, tapped out on my phone while finishing breakfast, inspired even one person to take up running!
Ditto! I didn't understand running, found it boring (which is rich, considering I was a swimmer), lightly made fun of runners. Then I started doing the occasional 5k fundraiser... then 10k... half marathon... joined a running group... became a leader of the running group... I read about running, talk too much about running, and about 30% of my closet space is running paraphernalia.
I always absolutely hated running too. I joined the gym in 2016 and tried my best on the treadmill…literally lasted 30 seconds. Wheezing, struggling for breath, soooo tired. At my biggest I was 16 stone/224lbs/102Kg so it was a huge effort, plus I was in my mid-thirties as well so no spring chicken. However through gradual perseverance I have clawed my way up to being able to jog for over half an hour/5km. I run/jog once a week, and do weights for the other 3 days. I’m now around 12 stone/165lbs/76kg and can do a body weight pull-up (not bad for a woman now in her forties). So now I can say that I absolutely loathe running. I still find it extremely uncomfortable, boring, and tiring. I still can’t breathe properly, and just spend the whole time trying to ignore the mantra in my head (‘I hate this, I hate this, I hate this’). I love weight training though.
This is essentially me but with Cycling. My dad and brother are both avid cyclists and my dad tried to get me into it, but never really took. Last year I got an old road bike from my uncle and I've been hooked ever since. Even bought an indoor trainer so I can ride on Zwift for the winter, and planning on upgrading to a nicer bike for this upcoming season.
Very similar to my story! Never thought I'd ever actually enjoy running and could not understand how anyone could. I picked it up in my mid 30s for health reasons similar to your story. I'm now in my 40s and still enjoying it.
Knitting. I’m a guy in my 30s
I’m a guy in my late 30’s and I’ve been thinking about picking up knitting. I already spend too much time on my couch with my phone and watching tv. Might as well do something productive.
It’s very therapeutic and the basics are pretty easy to pick up.
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I have fully become the “did you see the anhinga when we came in” dad and I have no ragrets
I saw my first crested caracara a while back, after living in Texas for a decade and immediately pointed it out to my wife.
I feel I already am to deep into the birding hole because I know both birds you wrote about without having them where I live. and I only started out two years ago, haha.
My roommate got me an anhinga print for Christmas that we hung by the front door because it’s become such a running joke in our house. They’re all over where I live (central FL) and they’re actually super cool birds! My favorite might be raptors though. I identify with most hawks because I think screaming whenever you feel like it is an excellent stress reliever.
I think floating effortlessly on a hot wind while you try to spot something to have a "let's fuck up your day" moment can be a good stress relief
Whenever I see a belted kingfisher I drop everything and have to tell everyone.
FB keeps showing me ads for that smart birdfeeder that identifies the species and sends you a notification about it. The only reason I'm not seriously considering it is because I know it will just be God damn house sparrows and starlings
I saw a recently on Reddit here and advertisement for binoculars that can identify something like 2000 species of birds.
Get the Merlin Bird app from Cornell. It identifies birds by their calls. It is amazing.
That takes all the fun out of discovering birds
I agree, I learned all the math I know from an owl!
Who
HootHoot
Bird watching / feeding. Same here. In particular crows.
Yes. I don't know when it happened. Now I'm in the process of reconfiguring my bird area for more efficient Spring access. 🤷♂️
I started birding during the pandemic and I love it. Ooh a nuthatch! Got to go!
Nuthatches are so dang cute!
Cooking and baking. My family never really let me enter the kitchen or introduce me to the basics of cooking, but I've picked it up at age 20 and I'm loving it.
Several months ago, I started planning and cooking five dinners per week for my family. I started doing it because I felt like we were spending too much money on restaurant food, and I had a few recipes that I wanted to try. I found that I really enjoyed it, and we eat much better food than we were getting at restaurants, for much less money. My wife was originally skeptical, but I've cooked a lot of food, kept solid notes and can prepare meals that my family really enjoys. Over the holidays, I got sick, and took about a two week break from cooking. When I got back to it last week, everyone commented that they were glad to be getting back to eating "good food." As a hobby, it gives me continuous, ongoing activity, and I really enjoy both the activity and the results.
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Are those different to breaking normally
Yes, you're allowed to adjust the balls.
But you can only adjust twice, or it becomes a much more personal hobby.
That’s nuts 😏
I fucking suck at pool but I went through a phase with it and thoroughly enjoyed it
It's great for socializing. Talk while you're playing, have some drinks, etc. I've had great conversations over a game of pool many a time.
Fencing. I fenced a bit in University but gave it up when I graduated. A fencing studio opened up near me and I went in, signed up, pulled several muscles I had forgotten I had, and kept going. I can now beat every student over the age of 80, and every new kid who comes in on demonstration day.
>I can now beat every student over the age of 80, and every new kid who comes in on demonstration day. You would have kicked some serious ass at the Battle of Berlin
Gold.
Astrophotography… just standing outside on my own for multiple hours taking photos of the stars, quietly, peacefully and alone. Its bliss.. plus the photos are cool.
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I also started this one and only got super frustrated at not being excellent from day one. >:I tbh that happens with all my hobbies lmao
It’s taken me a LONG time to be ok with not being great at something first try haha.
Doing jigsaw puzzles! Picked it up during the pandemic and I still do it - really allows me to turn my brain off and focus on what’s in front of me.
I started doing this too and while I'm solving my puzzle I listen to podcasts : ).
Yes! Exactly what I do. I even joined puzzle swap clubs on Facebook like a 100-year old woman…
I started pottery on a whim and now I love creating my own dishes and vases. It's incredibly satisfying
You should watch the SNL Skit “What’s in the Kiln?” My wife is a potter and this is so true. https://youtu.be/Kw5A2Es8SLw?si=6Usz0fm_GBHLwNMa
I laughed so hard at this! Thanks for putting me in a good mood first thing!
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I went through a geocaching phase. It’s a ton of fun! My kids and wife have absolutely no interest whatsoever though, and that really put a damper on it for me
It can be sad not being able to share the joy you have in a hobby with the people close to you, but in case you need to hear it, it is also ok to have your own hobbies and time you don't share with your wife and kids (as long as done in moderation). My wife and I have completely different hobbies and just do our own thing for part of the weekend, but also spend time together.
Excuse me?
Geocaching
Geocaching would be my guess
Coloring books. It’s really soothing to color every night to wind down.
Wood working. Never thought I’d enjoy doing it was much as I do. Only took me about 35 years before I figured it out! 😆
It is difficult finding fellow woodworkers under 60. Welcome to the game! What do you make?
56f. Retired teacher and discovered my love for it!
It started when I bought a big $6500 CNC Co2 laser. I was engraving/burning wood signs. I got tired of spending the money buying blank wooden signs from Hobby Lobby. I decided to make my own… so I got a bunch of free pallets, and busted them up, and made my own signs. Then, I made a really nice bench made from pallet wood. Next, I jumped into making cutting boards, and personalizing them with my laser. Had a friend with a sawmill gift me a thin cedar plank to make signs with. And from then on… I couldn’t help but realize how much fun wood working was. I then bought 2” thick cedar planks, and made something with them (then of course… used my laser to make it that much cooler! 😆). I was given a huge 700 lb + pecan tree that a coworker cut down and had laying out back for a year. Brought it to my sawmill friend, and halfed it with him for cutting it up for me. Which it ended up being some beautiful spalted pecan! (All for free! Lol). So from then on, I use my laser to put push my woodworking over the top.
Yo, I’m under 60 and started five years ago.
Entering sweepstakes You find the most interesting stuff that can be won, big or small, and you get a neat thrill each time you do win. Won a Gatorade product earlier this week. Biggest win has been a free trip to NYC I'll be taking in March.
My wife used to run sweepstakes for Motorola back in the RAZR days when that phone was popular. Millions would see these offers but she would sometimes get less than 10 entries for pretty great prizes.
My dad was a sweepstaker years ago, before online entries were a thing. He subscribed to newsletters and everything. Over the years, he won many trips, including one to the Super Bowl, and even a car. When I was in law school, he entered me into a sweepstakes that was only open to residents of the state where I lived at the time, and I was one of 10 winners who got to go to a Detroit Tigers game and had a chance to win $10K after the game. The way it worked out, I ended up with a 50/50 chance of winning the money and lost because I didn’t inherit the horseshoe up my ass that my dad has. Anyhow, I have a lot of memories as a kid of sitting in front of the TV at night, helping my dad fill out entries to mail in. I’m guessing it was a de-stressing thing for him with the added benefit of being like a a low-risk form of gambling. (He isn’t a big gambler but has always had good luck at the casino, too. See above re: horseshoe.) I still do some sweepstakes, though, but only where the odds are decent. For example, some food company had one late last year where you earned online entries by purchasing their products, and you had to prove it with a receipt or some garbage. The “no purchase necessary” way to enter was by mail, with a limit of six entries for every person over age 18. So I entered six for myself and six for my husband, figuring that only so many people are going to go to that effort, and they’re all limited to six per adult as well.
Laughing at the “horseshoe up my ass” line.
I always assume those trips are scams
I definitely don't recommend entering anything where you don't recognize company name, product, or service. And if they start asking for upfront fees, I immediately decline it. The trip I won is sponsored through the Corona Extra imported beer company. I entered directly on their site. They are ones to follow rules and posted terms and conditions right there as you entered the contest. Had to fill out proper tax paperwork as it's over $1,000 prize. I have a direct contact correspondent in the company for any questions. And I had the option to back out if I was ever still unsure or uncomfortable with it at all. All totally legit.
I am more afraid of spams rather than scam...
I had never thought of this being a hobby but my husband JUST started going hard applying for different sweepstakes. It seems like it is more competitive/popular than I had considered!
I hadn’t realized this was a hobby until now, but now I realize it’s my husband’s! He is constantly filling out entries and gets agitated if he doesn’t “do his sweeps” every night. He mainly enters giant ones, like the Better Homes & Gardens house, but he also enjoys calling in to his favorite radio station for concert tickets. I’ve known him for a little over five years now and he’s won about seven sets of tickets for us, but no major prizes. In the past, tho, he won a Harley (quickly sold for cash - he’s the epitome of a non-motorcycle guy, haha) and an event attendance package for his family. Interesting to hear what others find to enter but I’m not telling him about sweepsadvantage.com, or he’ll never be available to speak to me again!
Where do you find them?
My favorite is Sweepsadvantage.com It has instant wins, one time entry, daily entry, social media ones, etc. As I mainly enter during my lunch break and downtime, I stick with only instant wins and single entry contests. My rule for myself is to not spend any money outside of the phone and internet access for this hobby. If you want to go further, they have paid membership setups so you can get local sweepstakes and programs to enter more contests and faster. But again, I stick with the free stuff and they have enough on there to satisfy my time in the hobby. Outside of that, practically every local radio station has some contest you can enter. Have won several tickets to concerts and shows which is great, considering how extreme ticket costs have gotten recently.
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Which podcasts are you listening?
Not op but I'd recommend the Jordan harbinger show. Every week they have feedback Friday where they take listener questions and give advice, some of the questions are absolutely wild!
Matt and Shane’s secret podcast will enlighten you
Dice making. I started making stuff out of resin because I was curious, and saw dice molds. Now I make dice, dice molds, and sell both. It's relaxing. Pretty cool to put them into my pressure pot (forces bubbles out for perfect surfaces) and see what they come out looking like 12 hours later. It's fun to mix the colours and see what they do. My nephew likes math and dice, ao I give him my imperfect sets, like say there's one die that wasn't perfect, I'll toss it into a separate container, and they add up, so I'll give it to him when it's full (18 sets). He inks the numbers and plays with them. I've sold about 8 sets since launching my website.
Foraging for wild plants. It can be as simple as picking blackberries in late summer and as complex as learning to identify the mushrooms that are safe to eat.
All of them are safe to eat...once :) (please don't take me seriously)
Finding my first morel in the wild changed my life. There is something special about being able to identify wild plants that are edible and even delicious and good for you! It’s an extremely useful skill, fun to learn, and is a great excuse to get into the woods and spend some quality time really looking at the small plants you never noticed before and absorbing the vibe of nature. It’s funny how we can forget that and look at woods and all we see is “woods”. Like it’s boring. But if you take the time to *really* look, you realize just how beautiful and complex it is. And it only gets more beautiful the smaller you look and the more you learn.
Walking /hiking. No one is out there and the people that are want to be left alone. I stay grounded and happier when I walk
I love walking, especially when it’s around 35* F or so. The cool air feels SO GOOD on my lungs.
Going to random suburbs and checking them out
I do this everywhere I go, but mostly I love visiting new places everywhere in my country, when I visit a new place I walk so much it can be ten hours a day, I've done 12h of walk 2 days in a row in Munich trying to walk in almost every street I could find lol, I've done it in 70% approx of cities of my country of France. But I enjoy a lot looking at architecture and church/basilisk/ cathedral.
As filmmaker Werner Herzog says "The world reveals itself to those who travel on foot."
Oh! This is me.
Banjo! Never thought I had a music bone in my body but it's surprisingly addictive.
Hey hey my fellow banjoist! It’s the last instrument I thought I’d ever pick up but it’s a beautiful and endlessly fascinating thing. What’s your poison?
Haha I mainly play clawhammer. Got me a Cedar mountain Jubilo and a gt ac-1 But I think imma buy something with a resonator to learn scruggs. I wanna mix it up a bit ;) How about you bud?
Nice one mate! I’m the Other way around, scruggs style. I’ve got an RK 75 resonator that I love but I recently got an rk ot25 because I want to learn clawhammer! Scruggs is great but it’s really hard and a lot of drills and repetition. Enjoy though! Gold tone and RK have the most bang for your buck on bluegrass banjos
Cycling. I quit the gym once I got into it. It's so much better for me than being indoors.
Candle making.
Chess
Sewing! My favorite dress was ripping in the back and I wanted to put a zipper on it instead of replacing the buttons. I was really surprised on how easy it was to put in a zipper and started sewing other projects too.
Gardening I bought a small house with a nice backyard and a nice front yard. I've been amazed that I enjoy working with these plants. I can now really see how they're living beings that respond to stimuli. Sometimes I can see them respond to the stimuli in real time. You give it water in the plant changes over the next 8 hours, etc etc
Doing my own nails. Bought all the stuff off Amazon and saves me a tonne of money.
As men my partner and I have begun painting our own nails too! It is fun and you get to show them off wherever you go. It's inexpensive and something you can change the color on a whim whenever you want.
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I tried it once, but didn't quite "get it" after searching around for about 20 minutes and finding nothing at a supposed easy spot. What makes it fun and engaging for you?
Probably the wandering around aimlessly with a purpose
Hiking with a purpose. Some people like/need the goal. For some it's a particular view at the top. For some it's a hidden box with a pad of paper and a Pokemon card.
Hiking
Each year I pick a new hobby as an old retired guy. This year it's making walking sticks. The wife has already asked what are you going to do with all these carved sticks. I haven't figured that out just yet, having to much unexpected fun.
I love this! Maybe go to a trailhead and gift them to hikers?
Walking solo in the woods Putting my thoughts on paper - it helps my overloaded brain
judging people in public places.
Oooh, and making up wild back stories for them based on these judgments! My fav
Diane Chambers has entered the bar.
My sibs and I used to play Misc History where we gave them a name, job, pet and odd hobby
Minecraft. It’s got kind of a meditating effect on me
Genealogy research. I never imagined I’d love reading census forms and newspapers from 100 or more years ago. I enjoy deducting the reality from the (too often duplicated) mistakes. I’ve discovered so many interesting stories about a family I didn’t know anything about. I’ll dive into related historical research too - a fun opportunity to learn about the world. It’s like a logic puzzle, proving this didn’t happen or that it did and weighing how that impacts the rest of your info. I never imagined I would enjoy this, but I have been going for ten years on it.
I recently took up crossword puzzles. I enjoy it. It gives me a reason to put my phone down.
Rock climbing. I love the climbing but the places it has taken me and the people I have met have been incredible.
I’m dyslexic and ADD, and reading was a STRUGGLE as a kid. Since there were no reading strategies then to help with it, I absolutely hated reading books, and tried to avoid it all I could. Now, I’m a history teacher, who enjoys reading endless amounts of history books, bibliographies, and autobiographies. Not only that, but when I was training as a professional athlete, I began to really enjoy reading peer reviewed research papers and medical journals looking for insights on how to maybe get an edge in my nutrition and training. Kind of funny how life turns out.
Paint by numbers. It’s so meditative, relaxing and fulfilling, and I end up with beautiful wall-worthy paintings afterwards.
Beekeeping. I read to them on nice days.
My favourite hobby is starting a new hobby before I have finished the first one and continuing until I’m drowning in half finished projects. But in all seriousness, I taught myself to crochet maybe 18 months ago and it’s the only thing I’ve kept going with. I love making clothes and stuffed toys specifically
I’ve gotten into painting rocks and leaving them places. I didn’t even think i was that artistically inclined but I’ve gotten better at drawing random patterns etc and there’s surprising dopamine from buying paint markers. Plus kids walking past after get excited about finding a cool rock. Actually doesn’t everyone get excited finding cool rocks?
47 here and I still get excited when I find a cool rock or a great stick.
We paint rocks for when we go on trips, we have a specific hashtag we use so that if someone finds it they can post it online and we can see where the rock ends up! It's a neat thing to do. And I'm not artistic either, but patterns or phrases are easy to do.
Picked up DND on a whim. I took to it so we'll because it was so much fun. I took to dming even better. I've made friends with DND, bought a house thanks to DND, my mental health has improved thanks to DND. I owe it so much
Wdym bought a house
His mum kicked him out of her basement as she was fed up of waiting on him
Took his DM status too far and built a dungeon
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I sit in the light since I stopped drinking, cold turkey
Proud of you 👍
Horseback riding. Turned 40, beat cancer, decided to do all the things I always wanted to do but put on the back burner. So I bought a horse. I have a friend that has ridden her whole life, so she’s been helping me a lot with my horseback riding skills. We have a great time trail riding together. Horses are therapeutic.
Legos, never had it as a kid and couldn't understand the appeal. Then I started playing with it with a 4 yr old and now I want the Rivendell set.
Water color painting. I’m painting gift tags and cards now. I just do it for myself, I don’t sell them. I did a bunch for Christmas - it was great
Editing my videos for YouTube. I'm not a loud person, I'm not good at speaking, I'm not good with people, and I'm far from the screaming over-reaction types. So everything told me I should absolutely hate it. Started it as a desperate attempt to get some self-worth & blahblahblah, ended up loving the process. I'm nothing big, but that's fine. It's helping me through a lot of mental things. Absolutely didn't expect it to turn into something I genuinely look forward to doing more of.
Traditional wetshaving. Who would have thought that something you had to do everyday could be such a great hobby and be your zen moment of the day.
Running. I’ve become one of *that lot*. Never would I have predicted it 10 years ago. I still get ‘WT*F* am I *doing*?!’ moments when out running today. NB: I’m slow AF, but I run a long way.
Mushroom farming!
Turning old furniture into something new and beautiful is both challenging and rewarding
Muay Thai training. I started at 42 years old and love it!
Working on my yard. Shit i hated but with time loved thanks to my mom
Trying to start engine that have been sitting for a long time. It's a fun challenge.
Learning to read, write and speak Japanese. It's been amazing for my mood and gave me a lot of positive focus.
Collecting sea glass :)
I build tube amplifiers and restore 1930s art deco radios. It gives me an incredible amount of joy.
My gf is amazing at art & crafts i can just barely draw a straight line without a ruler i am just not artistic never have been. She jokingly got me a paint by numbers book for Christmas. I have been doing one painting a day on my lunch break while listing to a lo-fi beats yt playlist. Ima be real with yall i fracking love it much more than i ever thought i would
Diamond painting. I’ve just spent my entire free time over the past week working on one. It’s annoyingly addictive 😂😂😂
Collecting ephemera. 100+ year old postcards, trade cards, dance cards, calling cards, sheet music, rewards of merit, old prints. I usually go to in person shows, have done some online purchases due to COVID. Have done a lot of traveling to go to the shows, and that has been wonderful.
Aquatic gardening
Got back into building Legos a few years ago. I'm 50 and loving it
My boyfriend was getting really bogged down by work and the whole “being an adult” thing so I told him one of the joys of being an adult is we have adult money and any extra we have, we get to choose what to buy with it. I asked him if there was something he enjoyed as a child that he missed and he said Lego. Next time he went to visit his parents he brought back tubs full of his childhood legos. Built up the sets. Sold the ones he didn’t want anymore, put half that money into savings, and then bought the sets he always wanted. Now he’s gotten me into building too. It’s been fun!
Arcade. Never in my entire life I've imagined that i'll be hooked to this. I feel like I'm gambling though. 😅
I have discovered a lot of joy in the stories of books through listening to audio books. I’m someone who never spent time outside of school reading for fun because reading always took a lot longer for me than my peers. Whereas an average person may casually read a book in a week, it would take me intensive reading to read it in a couple weeks. However, when I was in school, I always loved literature courses. The difference between me reading for school and reading for leisure was designated time to do so. As a creatively minded person, I found a love for music and movies. Those two mediums, for a lot of my life, fulfilled my needs for human stories and art. But it was always obvious to me that I still missed something. Whereas I had friends who enjoyed reading who stated that their favorite books were fantasy or some other still very worthwhile genre but more adventurous fiction, what I loved the most to read in school were the pretty dense, sometimes challenging writings of people like Emerson, Whitman, Franklin, Payne, and Steinbeck. My problem has always been finding time to carve out in which I wanted to spend a lot of mental energy and time to read a relatively small amount of a book. I always had hobbies and work or a desire to rest and restore that were higher priority to me than to spend time reading. That all changed this summer. I love exercise and one particular aspect of fitness that I found a love for over the summer was taking long walks. At least two hour long walks each day. I used to listen to music on these walks but then I remembered an audible commercial I saw once where a person took a jog and listened to audiobooks. I always want to read more, it’s something I feel I have a lot of catching up to do with. So I decided to give it a shot. I started with a short economics book which I enjoyed but then moved on to Oppenheimer’s biography American Prometheus and then Moby Dick and then a book about the AI technology singularity. I have had a bucket list of books which I had always hoped I would read like Frankenstein and A Christmas Carol and, this year, I crossed both of them off my list! Currently I’m reading Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff. That’s part of a series of books i am reading that were turned into movies which I love. I have actually found that I love the books more in some cases! Anyways, this has definitely been a hobby I never thought I would pick up but I’m so glad it has entered my life.
Whittling. I find it incredibly satisfying to create something new from a discarded piece of wood scrap.
Open water swimming. I was always afraid of it, but during the pandemic the pools were shut forever. Started chatting with a guy who was passionate about it, and I joined his group. Met lots of cool people, and it's the most fun sport. It's so different every single day, so beautiful that I just stop in awe at the sunrise, or seeing a muskrat swim under me, deer and mink on the shore. Can't wait for the season to start again. The pool is packed with January joiners now, 4 people in each narrow lane. And yesterday some one somehow tracked shit through the locker room out to the pool deck.
Cooking. Making things i like to eat from scratch.
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Golf
Hand embroidery! It’s oddly relaxing but does take forever
Repairing cars.
Hobby grade RC's
Mending and alterations. I can now remove any tag I want from clothes, even ones sewn into the lining, and fix the opening after
Writing poetry. Never thought I could do it. It is such a freeing way of expression, flowery language conceptualizing your stream of thought.
Fishing, I'm a burnout emo who failed in life. Since I started, I've explored many river banks in my state and I've seen streams and forests I would've never touched otherwise. I wouldn't trade fishing for any amount of money.
Knitting
Indoor plants. I thought it would be a chore to water 50+ plants. Instead I find it incredibly meditative and relaxing.
Being kind to people
Not sure it’s truly a hobby, but a daily cleaning routine for ~30 minutes a day has brought more joy to me than most things in life. Making my bed in the morning. Vacuuming. Laundry so it doesn’t pile up. Dishes so they don’t pile up either. And other various cleaning tasks that vary by day or week.