In Praise Of Hobbies, And Rediscovering Them In Your 20s

It’s probably been a little while since ‘what are your hobbies’ felt like a legit question to be asked. For me, I’d left that sort of talk way back in my school years. French oral exams and UCAS applications, at a push. Back then, though, those extra-curricular activities felt super important. Growing up, we were encouraged to experiment; to try and fail and discover ourselves in efforts to make it into our adult years as balanced, rounded human beings.

But then we got to adulthood, half realised that time is a luxury and with the internet in our hands and the world’s back catalogue of films and TV shows only a few clicks away, the societally fortified function of the hobby slowly faded into the background.

It’s a little bit different if you went to university, I suppose. For the majority, getting pissed up on £1.60 doubles was the only way to spend your free time in-between missed lectures and last-minute dissertation writing. For the dedicated few who took the advice of student advisors and fresher’s leaflets, there were clubs, societies and sports teams to sign up to. Ready-made communities to be initiated into as an incidental means of having an extra group of friends on hand and something productive to do a few times a week.

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Dance has always been my ‘thing’. Trained in the holy trinity (ballet, tap and jazz) as a kid, stopped for a bit when mum uprooted the family and moved us down to London and then picked it back up again at university where I eventually went on to teach and perform regularly. After having eventually realised that there’s only so much fun a £7.99 bottle of Glens Vodka can provide, of course.

But then I dropped it again. I went to on to do a masters degree and finally found myself scrambling and galloping along with everyone else trapped in the London rat race. I was so consumed by the unspoken expectation that if I was truly dedicated to my career, then that’s all I would do both in and out of office hours. And what’s of the little time left after late nights at my desk? A few hours to sit, often in isolation, swiping through social media and idly watching re-runs of something I'm not even interested in on telly.

We then find ourselves stuck in an ironic vicious circle of not actually helping ourselves. We can’t move for reports of millennial social media addiction, how it's making us lonely or how our Instagram habits are having a negative impact on our mental health. We’re also told that we’re increasingly anxious, burnt out and having to take unpaid internships to wedge our feet in the doors of jobs that can't afford to pay us properly anyway.

It’s no wonder that self-care quickly became the mantra of a generation. But perhaps re-embracing the humble hobby – no, I’m sorry but pub drinks don’t count in this instance - is the component that's been missing from the elaborate equation of twenty-something happiness.

For Jessica, knitting started as a low-cost attempt at mindfulness. ‘I needed something when I got home from work to help me to de-stress’, she tells me. ‘After my MA I started a 9-5pm job and I wasn’t used to not having something to do in the evenings when I was normally writing essays or research and things. I was going home and not being sure what to do with myself. I started looking around for hobbies on Instagram/Pinterest and knitting was the one that stuck’.

Now, Jessica says that she goes to local meet-ups and is part of a really supportive online community. ‘It may not be seen as the most interesting (or even cool) thing to do, but its fun, helps me to feel fulfilled creatively and taking half an hour at the end of the day to relax and focus on something has really supported/improved my mental health’, she says.

Fulfillment outside of work is so important. And while its something that we all know deep down - the mindful colouring books trend didn't appear out of nowhere - do we ever properly address it *before *we're already tired, stressed and anxious? The mantra that's been deeply engrained in all of us is to power forward, stay late and do more. But the correlation between having another 'thing' outside of work and job performance has long been drawn.

Research published by San Francisco State University psychologist Kevin Eschleman back in 2014 found that those who had and used personal time to engage in creative activities that allowed them to recover from the stresses of the work environment, would often go on to actually perform better in work. So even if career commitment is your prerogative, perhaps it's time to make time for something unrelated.

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Saying that, while I'm sure no one needs to be told that binge-watching does not count as a creative activity. But considering the amount we're so committed to consumingthese days, it's probably worth taking stock and acknowledging that the comforting glare of a laptop screen can only serve us for so long, right?

Bethany made the decision to occupy the limbo that's too easily filled with swiping and telling Netflix that 'yes I'm still watching' between work and sleep with embroidery. 'The main reason why I started it, is because when I get home from work I will binge watch a series and I felt like it was just a waste of my time. Also, they were series that I have already watched! So, I just had an idea to embroider a cactus', she explains. And the rest, as they say, is needlework history.

Prior to joining and subsequently running a local netball team, Ellie was very much the same. 'To be honest I just used to get home from work and crash, watch a bit of TV and chill out. I suppose thinking about it I probably watch less TV now than I used to', she said. 'I was never really the athletic type but I love it, it's so much fun, and doesn't feel like sport because it's just messing about with friends for an hour'.

I don't know about you, but it feels like so many of us have forgotten how to have a life. An IRL life that isn't solely orientated around career goals and double taps. The irony is that it's perfectly achievable and takes up so much less time than our frazzled, impatient minds imagine it will. So heres' to having something else to do outside of work, booze and social media. Because turns out real fulfillment might be actually be found in *doing *something for yourself as apposed to watching other people do it online.

Follow Jazmin on Instagram @JazKopotsha

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.