Get a Hobby (or ten)

I once almost dated a man who’s only interests were AFL, movies and women. I could never understand what he did with his time, especially after his “career-ending” ACL injury (cliche, I know). See, I do so many different things. I draw and paint and sing and play guitar and write and run and read and play netball and go to the gym and more and more and more. My life has always been filled to the brim with hobbies. It’s been funny discovering that not everybody’s life operates this way.

For me, there are different kinds of joy to be found in so many different activities, and I think people are missing out on that. As adults (and particularly, women), we’re pushed to choose one facet of life to pursue and to succeed in. Doing things just for fun is deemed childish and frivolous when in reality, it makes us happy and well-rounded. 

There’s shame involved, too, when you do something that you’re not already good at. I started playing guitar when I was fourteen and already I thought I was “too old” to start learning my first instrument. It was embarrassing to me to be 16 and struggling to play bar chords. In the years that have followed, I have played countless gigs and I still find so much joy in just sitting down and playing a couple of songs on my bedroom floor. It’s a type of joy that cannot be found elsewhere.

I am not the best guitarist, nor am I the best painter or athlete or writer, but I can say that I am very rarely bored. We only get a little bit of time on this beautiful planet and I, for one, am trying my very best to use it wisely. My life in retrospect will be a mosaic of art, sport, fashion, music, academics, travel, laughter and love, all because I have tried (and failed and then occasionally succeeded) at every single one of them.

So draw a terrible picture, butcher a foreign language; just keep learning. Try things you’ve always wanted to try and, although I have no authority to be saying this, I promise it’ll be worth it. Go have some fun.

xx Rose