You want to know something astonishing? I know people who have no hobbies.
I know, I can’t believe it either. I have a shit life, but imagine having no hobbies. Wow. What do you do with your life? Don’t you even follow a sport or like photography, or some kind of art? I’ve seen the social medias of people who do nothing but take selfies and go out all the time and I fall into the most depressive mood. For them. Then I appreciate the fact that I’m not a talentless, goalless and boring airhead. I might be ugly. And weird. But that’s better than being the former.
So, I thought I’d compile a list of how easy it is to gain a hobby, because I realised I never feel unfulfilled simply because I have a number of hobbies. Pause – gain a hobby, that sounded funny. Unpause. I meet people who feel bored, or who feel unsatisfied with their life, or are simply waiting for something to happen to them. If you had hobbies, my friend, you wouldn’t have this issue. Fortunately, your favourite ugly is here to help give you some inspiration. Here are mine, but remember; to thine own self be true*. (*Famous tumblr quote).
1) Playing music
If there’s anything you must know about me by now, it’s that music is a massive part of my life. So it’s only natural that making music is also a big part of it. I play piano and guitar, although due to my increasingly stressful lifestyle, I’ve set the keyboard aside and have really only been showing love to the strings. And even more honestly, I like singing. Notice I didn’t say I can sing. But that doesn’t matter. I like belting out Bon Jovi in the kitchen. When I play piano, I tend to now just play the music and lean towards learning classical (whereas I once upon a time played and sang simultaneously. I’ll pick that up again when I have the time. Rufus Wainwright, I’m coming back for ya). But since I’m lazy now, the guitar is my go to. One of my favourite things now is grabbing the guitar and performing to my invisible audience in the living room. Yep. I’m serious about this hobby; it’s why I never have long nails and my fingertips are often rough. Hashtag dedication.
2) Writing
You don’t have to be a writer to write. You’ll automatically become that when you continue writing… if you want. Writing doesn’t have to mean dedicating yourself to a piece, or thinking of a massive, complex plot. Writer doesn’t equal ‘author’. It could mean writing poetry, writing whatever weird, inappropriate and even, er, illegal (whatever floats your boat), thought comes up in your mind. Writing also means writing in a journal. It doesn’t have to be creative; I find writing, writing anything, to be a useful outlet for me because my brain overheats so often due to the overwhelming number of useless thoughts I have in there, for example the lyrics to Total Eclipse of the Heart. WHY WON’T YOU LEAVE MY HEAD?????
3) Reading
Read something, read anything. I stopped reading so many books because my goddamn degree made me hate it, and, being the rebel I am, I’ve now started reading again since nobody is forcing me to. I like long reads, I love short reads. It doesn’t have to be a novel. I like reading news articles on the iPhone news app, I even like reading buzzfeed, de gasp. I LOVE reading other peoples blogs, I like reading peoples instagram-blogs. Any sort of reading. I’ll read anything. Write something and ask me to read it, and it’ll make my entire week.
4) Exercise
Lol. I enjoy exercise because both types have their benefits. Morning cardio allows me to clear my head, gives me energy for the rest of the day, and I get to just listen to music without thinking about anything else. Also, I only do HIIT, so I really do feel great for the rest of the day. Evening/night weight training is my favourite though. I reserve TV for when I train, and I can get about 2 episodes of a show in, and it’s perfect. It’s a win any way you look at it. I feel healthier, I feel stronger, both physically and mentally, I look better, I get to refuel (I love food), AND I get to watch tv. Why would you not make exercise a hobby????
5) Actively learning about new things
Didn’t they tell you I was a nerd? I like learning about things. Advancements in various industries, a serial killer I might have missed, how something so small and uninteresting was invented. I love documentaries. I like knowing about the motor industry, so I try to keep up with that. I like reading articles. I like knowing things about things, about everything around me. I’m an English grad who loves writing, but fiction isn’t my only forte. I often write based on real events, I take inspiration from real things that have happened. I love history. I want to know what’s going on with the environment. Weirdly, though, I’ve distanced myself from politics because, honestly, I can’t be bothered with it. I like knowing about everything else. Tell me everything about you, but tell me personally because I don’t care to hear it from someone else.
6) Bonus: F1.
I don’t need to explain this.
Forever's gonna start tonight [5 hobbies you should pick up]
