I Need A Hobby // Meditation

Happy December everyone! How are we already at the end of this year? This year flew by (and admittedly dragged on at times too)! Today I’m here to share my final hobby check-in post!

That is, my final hobby post ever. I’ve decided to discontinue this series in the new year, even though I do plan and hope to reattempt the hobbies I flaked on this year (including Photography, Painting, Sewing, Bullet Journaling, and Hand Lettering), among other new ones, in 2020. The pressure and feelings of failure each month isn’t good for my mental state, lol– this was supposed to be fun after all! But I definitely did enjoy (re)discovering a love for reading, cooking and gardening.

Let’s see how I did with my hobby list this past month, shall we…?

Reading…last month I read Woman Last Seen In Her Thirties by Camille Pagán. And I finished it rather quickly I might add! I think I read it within the first 10 days of November, if not less!! I will admit it wasn’t about what I thought it would be about (in all fairness though, I didn’t read a synopsis), but I’m a woman in my thirties so the title intrigued me and I had enjoyed Pagán’s I’m Fine And Neither Are You from last month. And this one did not disappoint! I’m adding her other books to my To Read list right now! Since I finished it so quickly I started re-reading a book I began YEARS ago: All The Money In The World by my favorite time management writer Laura Vanderkam and I’m just about halfway through. This month I plan to continue with Vanderkam’s book and also read The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking.

Photography… whomp whomp, nothing more than random iPhone snaps… AGAIN!

Cooking… I resubscribed to Hello Fresh and am also trying Home Chef and have been enjoying cooking again. It’s so much easier when you don’t have to think about it too hard haha… even if I’m tired after a long stressful day at work, I still feel motivated to take out all the ingredients and follow the illustrated instructions. I choose options that are around 25-35 minutes to make and I think that helps. Still not loving all the packaging waste that accompany these meal kit services so will probably discontinue soon. And I still hate doing the dishes, which is an unfortunate side effect of cooking.

Gardening… everything has shriveled up (well, except my pachysandra and maybe my ivy which is now halfway up the trellis!) for the year, so now my gardening consists of keeping my houseplants alive…

Jewelry Making… nothing to see here!

Painting I moved my easel to make room for the Christmas tree. Maybe I will try to put some paint on the canvas…

Sewing… I have been tasked with fixing the pocket on my mom’s favorite spring/summer/fall jacket. This is not sewing for fun… but it’s something!

Bullet Journaling… negative!

Hand Lettering… the workbook and my sketchbook and my markers are still sitting at my dining table, waiting for me to get motivated… or to just start!

Crocheting… I started, can you believe that?! Two days ago, lol… I have about a 9″ x 9″ square, the beginnings of a scarf that I probably won’t have enough yarn for, but it’s something! I want to crochet a blanket by the end of the year but I’m not sure how realistic that is… I do enjoy it though, it’s so cool to see how the stitches become chains that magically appear with a few maneuvers of the crochet hook.

And finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for… the final hobby reveal of the year: Meditation! My thought in making this my December hobby was that the holidays always end up being stressful, even if it’s self imposed stress, and that I could benefit from slowing down and taking time to turn inward this month. Of course, knowing now how difficult this whole year (or at least since March/April) ended up being, I should have made this my January goal, but alas, hindsight is 20/20. And I could have switched up my schedule at any time but chose not to… because the truth is I have attempted meditation once or twice before, without seeing much success. But I really want to focus on making it a part of my life, honing the skills needed this month and into next year and beyond. I’ve lost any ounce of confidence I may have once possessed, and my mental state is very fragile anymore. Maybe it’s just part of the territory, maybe it’s an effect of the circumstances I’ve been through this year, but I need to do something. So I’m starting with meditation. Wish me luck!

Will you try any new hobbies in 2020?

Many thanks and much love,
laf


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