After starting my first 9-5 job last year, one thing became suffocatingly obvious: I no longer filled my days with the hobbies that I considered to define my very existence in college. Writing for the newspaper, singing in choir, sifting through poetry submissions — I no longer had any of it. And who was I without such joys? Just a blob of a person sitting at my desk waiting for the clock to strike 5 so I could shut my laptop, and turn to my smaller technological device, and waste the evening away. 

I knew that something needed to change. And it started with this very blog. It was soon after turning to put my words on paper (or, screen, I guess) that I began to feel like myself again. Suddenly I felt a passion reignite somewhere within me — suddenly there was something that I could build into my routine that was different from work and allowed me to process the ways I was feeling about life at this stage. And other people related, and felt it too, which made me feel less alone. 

As it turns out, everyone has hobbies — whether you practice them now or once did or are still waiting to find yours. Last week, as I spoke to my grandmother and my grandfather’s cousin, I learned about their hobbies from long ago and hobbies that they would soon be starting again. My grandmother told me she would be enrolled in a  college class next semester, and I heard from my grandfather’s cousin that he once majored in forestry — despite his career having nothing to do with that. It was amazing to see their faces light up when they spoke about the past and the future. 

More than my blog, I am starting to find other hobbies of mine, and feeling more like myself while doing so. After joining a local choir, and being around people and music, I now feel more motivated to bring singing back into my life — slowly but surely. It’s something that I did not believe could co-exist with my day-to-day as an adult. But just because I am no longer in an institution where endless clubs and like-minded people exist, does not mean I can’t find those things again. I just have to do a little more searching. 

Every aspect of adulthood can be put on a spectrum of effort. Things aren’t just going to fall in place for me. If you put in the work, and allow yourself the mental freedom to find the things that bring you joy, breaking up the monotony becomes easy. 

Sorry if this blog only makes half sense. I am simultaneously watching Love, Actually while writing it and am fully engrossed in the British love affairs!

Anyway, my point is that just because we are adults does not mean we have to give up the things we enjoy. And just because something like art — writing or music or anything — does not always equate to a monetary value, does not mean it does not have value. So, if you’re telling yourself that you don’t have time for something or that it won’t add substance to your day or that you’re just too tired, take it from someone who has once thought all of those things: Bringing hobbies back into your life is so worth it. And starting is the hardest part. 

I may write before Christmas, I may not, who knows. I thought paying for this domain would bring some urgency into my writing, but alas…

Hope everyone has a great holiday season 🙂 you too, random Belgium reader.