Looking for a hobby

My wife came home the other day exhausted and drained. She works as a special education teacher and the days can sometimes be tough. Her students were especially rambunctious and were in no mood to be pent up all day. They whined and complained and didn’t want to listen.

She came home with her head down.

If it had been me, I would’ve spent the rest of the night on the sofa, glazed over watching TV. I would’ve whined and complained, walking through everything that had gone wrong with my day. By the time we went to bed, my wife would’ve had a close-up, front row seat, look at my day.

Miles to go before I sleep!

What did she do? She spent much of the evening bent-over night working on a Diamond Art Craft Project. It’s a craft where you apply tiny, resin “diamonds” (called “drills”) to a color-coded, adhesive canvas. This creates a mosaic-like picture. 

She’s completed several diamond paintings. It’s not just Diamond Art. When she needed a break last year, she worked for a week on a puzzle of Redwood Trees. She would spend twenty minutes or so each night on the puzzle. She’d start off annoyed and frustrated. After a short while trying out different pieces she would be a completely different person: cool, calm, and collected.

She ended up framing the puzzle and it’s hanging now in our living room.

Take that stress

Hobbies help us to reduce our stress, boost mood, and foster a sense of accomplishment and connection. Engaging in enjoyable activities releases endorphins, which have mood-boosting and stress-reducing effects, improving focus, concentration, and even brain function. 

My wife has hobbies galore. Me? My only hobby is this blog if you can call it a hobby. I guess I need to be more like her. Oh, I like to watch sports, but when the Philadelphia Eagles lose to a rival team like the New York Giants and look embarrassingly bad like they did last week, my heart rate starts to climb and I’m left shaking my head.

Yea, I need to find a better hobby.

What hobbies do you have? What hobbies help you relax?

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73 thoughts on “Looking for a hobby”

  1. First of all – your wife’s creation is just beautiful! Love that she can escape into something and free her mind. I am not an artsy girl (unless writing is artsy then ok yes I am) so I appreciate creativity and style! My hobbies are my blog, researching/creating a comedy series, spending hours at the gym each week, and exploring music to expand my playlists. I don’t have much free time but when I do that’s where you will find me. Please thank your wife for what she does. As the mother of a son with a disability I give her a standing ovation for what she does!

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  2. Hats off to your wife for being a special ed teacher. My sister did that for over 30. I think there’s like a cap of 10 years for that specialty before switching it up and not burning out. My sister was burnt out, had no hobbies, and it wrecked her physically and mentally. So right on for this – we need hobbies to help us destress and enjoy life. Mine mostly evolve around exercise to help ward off depression- walking, biking, and weight lifting. I also take adventures exploring on my dual-sport motorcycle and out in my van. I get a lot of satisfaction from detailing my vehicles, organizing my garage, and reading is right up there too.

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    1. Yes, she is better at de-stressing than I am. Maybe that’s why woman live longer. Ha, ha. Maybe I need to check out dual-sport motorcycle. That sounds like fun. On second thought, knowing me, I would be adding more problems. I’m a klutz. I can just imagine the problems I would get myself into. Ha, ha, thanks Dwight.

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  4. I love reading (my to-read “menu” has over 5000 books on it so I’m never without options). I’m also a mood reader so I usually have 3-4 books on the go at any given time which I switch between depending on how I’m feeling and what I need. Always gets me out of my head! I also enjoy yoga and puzzles and with the latter I combine two different hobbies because I usually listen to an audiobook or podcast while I puzzle! Never fails to cheer me up.

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    1. I’m trying to do what you suggest: have a book with me at all times. Some weeks I do good, some others not so good. Ha, ha. You hit the nail on teh head . . . “get me out of my own head.” We all need that. Thanks Erin.

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  5. Kudos to your wife for managing her stress through her beautiful hobbies. My daughter and her daughters love diamond art. I enjoy engaging in anything that helps me to keep physically active. I also love doing jigsaw puzzles, but I don’t really have the space to do them in our house.

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  6. I love how she handled the pressure of her day and what is really really crazy is that my wife is currently doing almost the exact same puzzle! That’s how she unwinds from the pressure of making 180 hours of television in 9 months!

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    1. Relaxing, but she was complaining about her back . . . bending over so much. Of course, I made fun of her!!! She reminded me that the time it takes me to find a puzzle piece she’s already completed the puzzle. Not everyone is a smartypants. Ha. ha.

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  8. There is no doubt hobbies are a great stress-buster. I spend way more time on fantasy football than anyone should, and I also listen to a bunch of podcasts now while doing chores at home. We love going to the theatre to see movies. That’s a great stress-reliever…even if the movie sometimes doesn’t live up to expectation. Together time at the cinema is a wonderful, shared hobby for us.

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  9. Your wife is far more ambitious than I am. Many years back, I would decorate bookmarks. Some of them were really good, others not so much. The problem is, I couldn’t give enough of them away, and now I still have, well, too many to count. I’ve gotten back to knitting. Problem there is, I have dozens of sweaters I don’t wear anymore…so maybe I need a new hobby.

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  11. I worked for 3 years with Special Ed students. Very stressful, especially writing IEPs. They are always trying to get me to work again but the offer and setting would have to be fantastic!! Hobby is writing-since July, I have been working full time on my second novel-follow up to the Bayou Heist. Hobby is walking the pug, enjoying cooking, and exercising through YouTube to strengthen the hip.

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  12. Wow, the diamond art project looks pretty cool. I didn’t know those existed. It looks very calming. I have a few hobbies, reading is the main one, but gardening is the one that helps me relax.

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    1. I want to garden. There are times I think I would like it. My parents were big gardeners. But . . . then I get caught up in the work or remember the oh so not great moments when we got booted out of bed early on a Saturday morning to help weed and work our vegetable garden. Ugh. Maybe one of these years though. I definitely have an urge.

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      1. Well, start small, like I’m doing, a few indoor plants just to keep myself entertained. I started with a couple of plants, and now I have a couple of tomato and pepper plants. I also have basil, and they are really low maintenance.

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      1. My summer assignment was to learn PS for my fall class. I use it only for cropping, brightening and changing the exposure to lighten a photo that’s under exposed. I’ve tried different backgrounds and touch ups, but my focus is on improving my skills with the camera. There’s so much on
        PS I don’t know or use yet. Maybe I will someday.

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  16. I’m glad your wife has an outlet! I can only empathize and understand too well how hard her job can be. We appreciate teachers like your wife! 💕🙏

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  17. Your wife sounds like an amazing woman, sending her support for all she does. 💞 I recently heard of diamond art, although I haven’t tried it yet. Hobbies I have include trying to garden, I’m not a good plant-parent but am amazed how things can grow with so little care. I create homemade cards. I belong to a nature book club and enjoy reading and learning about new things. I get outside, yardwork, walking, tai chi, punching bag, motorcycle, driving… Each stressor requires a different approach.

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  18. Teachers deserve so much love from us and especially special ed teachers. Their impact in shaping the future generation is severely undervalued. I had an economics professor who made it so fun that many of us in his class secured better scores. My hobby is learning astrology and then panicking that maybe it’s all make-believe.

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  19. Hi Brian
    Our hobby is book collecting, especially first editions and signed copies. We have quite a big library in our house, and organising and keeping up this library of 15,000 books takes quite some time and effort. We see it as our real hobby.
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Hi Brian
        You are right, I would only sit in my rocking chair reading, if not Hanne-Dina and Siri & Selma wouldn’t lure me out. Their argument, it’s unhealthy to sit the whole day reading and organising our library.
        Thanks for your comment
        Klausbernd
        The Fab Four of Cley
        🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Shhh, we can’t let all these compliments go to her head. Pretty soon she’s going to be onto me and realize that she only needs these stress reducers because of her crazy husband! Can’t let that happen. Ha ha. 😊😊🤣🤣🤣😎😎😎

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  21. So fascinating! Miss O has tried diamond painting – it is a precision art. But I connect with you point that it helps to provide a meditative activity. How cool! I’ve colored, puzzled and made mosaics alongside my kids and those have all been very restful activities. But I’ve found throwing the ball with Mr. D to be equally as restorative. Love this post, Brian!

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  23. I’ve never heard of diamond painting, Brian, but hers is beautiful. She is talented. I don’t think I’d have the patience for that. I think it’s healthy to have hobbies, one or more to distract us from anything that causes stress. I view blogging as a hobby, like you mentioned. My writing and reading does the job, along with blogging. But there are other interests on the list for getting outdoors, like hiking, cycling, camping, and backpacking, if our bodies allow again. 🙂

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  25. That is so pretty! My daughter has some kid craft sets that are similar – they are much smaller of course, and I think the beads are bigger for tiny hands – but I didn’t know they made those for adults too! The end result is so impressive (and I often end up stealing my daughters, so I really need to look into that). It’s amazing what your wife does for work, that is probably one of the hardest jobs out there. And it’s work where it takes years and years to see all of the effort you put in come to fruition, so it must be refreshing to work on a hobby where you can make visual progress each time you sit down!

    I think blogging is a legit hobby, too. And you definitely do a lot of writing, so I’d say you’re on it!

    When I think of the hobbies that have stuck for me they are the ones that give me something that my workday or rest of my life doesn’t naturally provide. Like when I was working at a desk for long hours, I got really into weightlifting, because I didn’t get much physical activity otherwise, and it was so invigorating. When I was managing dozens of people, reading, yoga and meditation were my jam because it was so nice and quiet and alone. So, if you’re experimenting with hobbies, my advice is find one that feels different from what the rest of your day feels like. Good luck!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. “…my advice is find one that feels different from what the rest of your day feels like. Good luck!” I think that’s good advice. I still write a lot for my job, but it’s still good to write for myself. Everything esle . . . yes, I think it helps when it’s different from what I’ve been doing during the day. Keeps things new and fresh!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  26. Hey, you know who didn’t lose to the NY Giants over the weekend? THIS guy’s team! (Took a miracle comeback though.)

    I have two hobbies: aquariums/tropical fish and meteorology. Tara’s is obviously gardening, as well as crocheting. Between the two of us, there isn’t a single idle hand.

    Liked by 1 person

  27. Loved this post! Your wife sounds like such an inspiration…turning stress into creativity is honestly goals. 💫 I recently wrote about staying focused and balanced as a student and your post totally reminded me why breaks and hobbies matter. Would love if you checked it out… [https://free91783.wordpress.com/]

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    1. Thank you! I know I needed hobbies/breaks in college. When the going got tough — when I had three exams and a ten-page paper due all on the same day — I needed to know that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I needed something to look forward to. I still need that in my life. Love your ideas on keeping focused. My go-to tip was the 5 min rule. Just study for five minutes and see where things went. Of course, it was all I needed. I had an ancillary rule to that one. I would think of the worst outcome I could for a class. What’s the worst that could happen. I would then ask myself if it would make a difference in my life ten years into the future. Would I care about it? The answer most times was that it wouldn’t. That would help let out the pressure that I put on myself and allow me to put my best foot forward. Thanks for stopping by.

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