Get real hobbies
Why the death of hobbies is worse than you think
Design by Claire Wang
Claire Wang, Managing Editor
On the first day of school, your teacher may ask a series of dreaded questions known as the treacherous trio.
What's your name?
What are your hobbies?
What's a fun fact about yourself?
You can dig as hard as you want through the empty rooms of your mind, but you still will never find the right words to make you interesting without oversharing by the time it's your turn. Why is this? Because the average person is not interesting. It's true! Let's look at your average Joe. What hobbies does he have? Consuming media? Listening to music? Those actions contribute nothing to the world. If all you do is look at what other people have made and say "that's good" or "boo, boring", you are wasting the gift of life. Get some hobbies. Use your own two hands and create! It sounds a bit mean, but my point is: your life is precious. Spend it doing something worthwhile.
It just seems like suddenly, people who did stuff just for the sake of it disappeared. They became an endangered species. The people who learned needlepoint embroidery to craft with their own hands. People who spent 20 years of their lives planting magnolia trees from seed just to see them bloom. Where did they go? And the rest of us were left behind without the answers. What gives life fulfillment? Is it spending as much time as possible on your phone? Is it watching the most reels you can every day? I don't think so, but I get it. It's easy to scroll mindlessly. Your phone has everything in the world on it, it seems—a million things to do at your fingertips. But what do you end up doing with that freedom? Nothing. Technological advancements have made creating easier than ever, but we barely do anything with it.
Think about it: even when we're unwinding—doing things to take our minds off our busy day-to-day—we're usually just consuming things other people have made for us. It'd be much more rewarding to create something with those four mindless hours. The pursuit of hobbies used to be a sacred activity. People would bake bread from scratch just because they liked the way fresh bread smelled. People learned to play the guitar because they wanted to play their favorite songs. Do something because you want to, not because it's what you usually do.
Having a hobby is actually scientifically tied to greater happiness and well-being. A study published by Nature Medicine on Sept. 11, 2023, combined five studies involving over 93,000 people across 16 countries and found that those who had hobbies reported better mental and physical health, happiness, and life satisfaction. Hobbies can literally make your life better and have practically no downsides.
Finding a hobby can at first seem daunting, but the barrier to entry for most hobbies is relatively low. You can start by exploring different activities that seem fun or joining community groups for motivation. Book clubs and running groups are also just great ways to exercise your mind and body while meeting and making new friends. You can join a friend in their hobby or return to something you enjoyed in your childhood. You can pick up something entirely new and exotic or something simple and mundane. Any step forward, no matter the size, is a step in the right direction.
Break the habit of scrolling and reclaim your hobbies. Stop sitting and start doing. The world doesn't stop spinning, so make the most of your time here on earth and create. You might fail or make a mess, but you'll be learning something in the process. There's always a place for more creators in the world. And hey, maybe you'll find an answer to those treacherous questions on the first day of school.
