Remember back in high school when you had to introduce yourself to the teacher and tell everyone about yourself and your hobbies? I always dreaded that part of going back to school after summer… Slightly petrified on one hand because I had to share my grandma hobbies with people I had never met before. On the other hand because I hated having to speak in class, afraid to be judged. Anyway, I grew up, got over that phase in life. I went to university and people didn’t really ask me about hobbies again. So I never really thought about it after that. Occasionally someone would ask me about my hobbies, but I never really knew how to answer that question anymore, because I didn't really know what mine were as a grown up. That got me thinking. Is losing sight of your hobbies or feeling like you don’t have one or multiple hobbies part of growing up? Or has it become part of the culture we live in today? These days we are always busy All. The. Time. And It’s hard to make time for hobbies when you barely have time to sleep. But I'm done with the excuses. I want to change that this year, I want to fall in love with my hobbies again.

This post has been on my to write list since the beginning of January actually. It has been on my to-write list since my mum got hospitalised after having her stroke. They asked her about her hobbies and she could so easily sum them up. Just like that. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous of her being able to share all of her hobbies with strangers within the blink of an eye. That really got me thinking about what my hobbies are and why I felt like I had none as an adult.
Back in September I came back from my summer holiday with my parents and handed in my dissertation. This huge weight of university related stress lifted off my shoulders and for the first time in four years I had all of this time left over. I did not have any exams to study for, assignments to hand in or group projects due. While it felt amazing, I also felt a bit lost. I was no longer a student, so I couldn’t identify with that anymore. I wasn’t, and still am not a fulltime blogger, so felt like a fraud. But because I had so much time left over now that I didn’t have a proper grown up job, I didn’t know what to do with my days. How to even spend my days while trying to figure out what my next step in life was going to be. I basically struggled with that from September until December of last year while doing some freelance work here and there. So I did some things I used to do as a kid when I got bored during my summer holidays: I picked up more books to read. Started cooking dinner for me and my parents and I even did some baking if I felt like it. Those were all the hobbies I had when I was younger. I told you: I am an actual grandma at heart. But while doing those things, I felt so calm, at piece and like myself. I did not worry about Instagram, my blog or anything else to do with social media. I was present in time focusing on doing the things I loved doing: reading, cooking, baking.

It might sound cliché but while I was racking my brain to try and figure out my hobbies I noticed this pattern. The activities that used to be my hobbies while growing up: writing and photography have become part of my life in my blog and my Instagram. I have blogged for nearly ten years now, so I basically grew up blogging. It has become such a part of my identity, that I sometimes don’t even know who I am if I am not a blogger, because people often think it has become my side hustle. What if I did not want to be seen as just a blogger? What if I go back to basics and don’t have money or a side hustle in mind. What if I strip my hobbies down and just have fun doing it? This is probably why I have fallen back in love with my hobbies. It’s basically another flip you have to switch in your mind.

I love cooking and baking and hanging out with people. So cooking and baking are my hobbies and I love to share my food with family, friends, basically anyone who will have it! Just as I like to read. I like to read by myself and share the books I am reading on my Instagram and Goodreads accounts because I love the feeling it gives me it when I have read a book that I love and want to share with people!
Writing and photography are also hobbies of mine. And this is where it gets a bit tricky. Because my blog is my so-called "side hustle". Sometimes I feel this pressure to post, to be active, to share. That’s the moment passion exits the group chat and you’re only creating content for the sake of it. Now that I have a lot more free time on my hands as I am working as a part-time freelancer, I have fallen back in love with writing again. Some days I sit behind my desk and have all these ideas and topics to write about for the blog. Other days I have this extreme hunger to go outside with my camera and take some photos. The next day I feel excited to shoot lots of photos inside. And that’s the thing. You shouldn’t push your writing and photography skills when it’s your hobby.

What is important for me to realise when it comes to these hobbies related to my blog, is that it’s not about the amount of likes or comments I get on my Instagram. The likes and comments I get are from a close-knit community I have build around me throughout the years and I appreciate them dearly. I don’t worry too much about the page views I get on my blog anymore either. Because writing and photography: they are hobbies of mine and my blog is the outlet of those hobbies. As soon as it's about likes, comments, pageviews I feel pressure to deliver and it's no longer a hobby.

It’s important to always feel this spark of excitement whenever you work on your hobby. It should never, ever feel like a dragging task. If your hobby starts to feel like that, it’s time to take a step back and rethink it all. Think of your hobby as something magical and exciting. Something that brings you lots of new found energy. If there’s one thing I would say it’s that we all need to slow down in our lives and find time for our hobbies again.