When we take part in an activity we enjoy, our brain releases a hormone called dopamine which is also called “the happy hormone”. It is responsible for our experiencing happiness. It also drives us towards the actions that inspire us, excite us, and motivate us. Passion is a strong feeling of enthusiasm and excitement for something or about doing something. It is deeply rooted in our subconscious.
Even though the saying goes “do what you love and you will love what you do”, it does not always play out in our career choices. People are not always able to turn their inherent passions into their livelihood because many a time it is not a viable option. This is where hobbies come in. They are a great way of pursuing a passion in our lives.
The way a person’s eyes glimmer up when you discuss a hobby with them speaks volumes about following a passion in one’s life. It keeps one stimulated and constructively occupied. Having a free hand and no pressures keep the creativity flowing in all directions and can give immense satisfaction and also amazing results at times.
Pursuing your passion as a hobby has many benefits. Hobbies help you detach from your day to day worries and help declutter your mind. Hobbies like sports and yoga keep you physically fit and active. Reading, writing, painting, doodling act like meditation and improve your concentration and focus. One’s love for cooking and gardening brings a happy vibe to the household. A passion for trekking and hiking takes you outdoors and helps you be one with nature. Some hobbies also put you in touch with groups of like-minded people. This broadens your social and interactive circle positively. It opens a wide new world to you, that may even harbour many new opportunities for growth.
It is very important to schedule time for our hobbies. Taking time off from work and focussing on an activity that we love help us recover from the stresses and exhaustion of the day. It also gives our subconscious mind space to keep working and increases our productivity the next day. Here are a few tips to take out time for your hobbies.
Have intent and assign a time for your hobbies in your busy daily life. Hobbies take an effort to start so you have to fit them into your daily routine. If you love to exercise or do yoga daily then wake up half an hour early. Mornings are a great time for gardening, exercising and maybe writing and painting too. If you are not a morning person then schedule time after work. A little bit of hobbying daily can go a long way.
Squeeze in time between your work. A catch up read or a quick doodle in the small breaks that you get during your work freshens you up instantly. You can utilize this time to have a quick nip at your hobbies.
Utilize the weekends for the hobbies that need more time and dedication. This works great if your weekdays are super busy and you get time only during the end of the week.
Use an enforcement method that will keep you committed to the activity. This may include being a part of a group or involving a friend in the activity or maybe enrolling in a class and taking the help of an instructor.
Last but not least keep off from passive activities that involve a screen, like binge-watching or scrolling endlessly through social media. Also, look for other time wasters that eat into your me-time and utilize that time more productively for your hobbies.
Hobbies are a great way to open yourself to the world and vice versa. They are also a great way of connecting with people. Apart from pursuing the usual hobbies, the concept of pursuing a hobby has come of age and people are exploring a range of new era hobbies. They may include individual or group activities. A few of the hobbies that people are exploring are:
Sports like rock-climbing and boulder-hopping have become a weekend staple for people residing in and around Hyderabad. The local topography also supports this super healthy and super fun activity.
Travelling as a hobby has taken a three-sixty-degree turn. As opposed to touristy travel, people are travelling to explore the culture, food, people and natural bounties of a place. They are backpacking, travelling solo, going in biking groups or travelling in women-only groups. Travelling as a hobby today has become a self-actualization tool.
Hobbies that provide relaxation and healing are a big rage these days, as this is what the overworked generation strives for at the end of the day. Yoga, meditation, reading, reiki, listening to motivational podcasts, trying new sleeping techniques, learning how to cook healing foods are a few examples of such engagements.
Some people find their catharsis in social and environmental issues. They pursue this passion in their free time and join various groups and work towards raising awareness about sustainable living and other causes.
Foraging is an old passion that has been revived by the new age hobbyists. This involves looking for food that grows wildly in natural places. This hobby can be pursued in a group or individually and it takes you outdoors and keeps you constantly engaged. It is a great way to connect with nature and also with your fellow foragers.
Gardening is again an age-old hobby that has undergone a metamorphosis. People are exploring the concepts of permaculture, biodiversity, and organic farming in their home gardens. They are growing exotic fruits and vegetables in their backyard and also foraying into the world of microgreens. They also find joy in passing these skills and knowledge to the younger generation of the family
Hobbies are a great happy way of developing various life skills. When people get together based on a hobby, they form a happy cohesive and harmonious huddle. Group activities like foraging or even trekking or hiking improve critical thinking, communication skills, as well as cultural awareness. Pursuing a passion together as a family brings the members closer as they can spend quality time together interacting at various levels.
Taking time out to pursue your passions help you disconnect from work. It helps to reduce, stress, fatigue and burnout. This in turn helps in the greater engagement at work and also improves the quality of life. The fact is that Hobbies create eustress – the healthy kind of stress that keeps us excited about life. So, let’s give a heads up to eustress and keep the passions alive in our life by taking time out to do what we love.
We are Studio Organo
We are a cross-functional and research-focused team of architects, engineers, and technical experts, who ideate, refine and detail eco habitat products, components, and solutions. Our core intent is to co-create and manifest apt rurban lifestyles across all eco-habitat components to celebrate the living for respective user groups. If you’d like to know about our design explorations, please email us at studio@organo.co.in
