Questions to ask yourself before starting a hobby
When I was 15 I was forced to take a ceramics class to make up an incredible unit in my High School Certificate.
The six months I spent moulding and kneading and massaging bits of clay into various formations proved the most stressful of my high school life. My attempts at pottery culminated one Wednesday afternoon in a devastating explosion when my ceramic salad bowl blew up in the kiln, destroying several other bowls, including one that had been painstakingly fashioned into a swan.
I vowed never to do ceramics again.
Several other attempts at developing hobbies have also gone awry. I quit gymnastics in a huff because I couldn't immediately do a backflip. I tried and failed at playing the piano (at least that's the story I tell myself when in accurate fact I never really tried at all). I set fire to a very expensive tea towel attempting a ragu. The truth is I've never really cared for hobbies and they've never really cared for me.
Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and suddenly with workplaces on hold, bars shut, gyms closed and winter slowly setting in, I found myself in desperate need of something to do (a hobby, if you will) and not just to pass the time but to possess my sanity.
Sue Jackson is a Brisbane-based psychologist who says hobbies are a great way to do both.
"Focusing your attention on what you're doing for a period of time, letting go of past and future and really just getting connected to what you're doing is going to result in a better quality of experience," Dr Jackson says.
Think of hobbies as a form of meditation (my words not hers) because they help you achieve a state of flow. That feeling of completely losing yourself in a task.
"When we're in this particular state, all of our attention goes to what we're doing," Dr Jackson says.
There are all sorts of hobbies that will help you achieve a state of flow, some more intensive than others.
Just ask 30-year-old Emilie Patteson from Canberra whose hobby has taken over her home.
Emilie's rental apartment looks like a mini jungle. She has more than 100 plants, many of which she has propagated herself, some of them up to 2 metres tall.
"You have to duck around them to get through doorways," she says.
Every day she sets half an hour aside to tend to her plants — watering them, making sure they have enough savory, pruning them and sometimes even talking to them.
And if you're wondering how or why talking to plants counts as a legitimate hobby, it's because it helps get you into that state of flow.
"You just get in the zone and you're not thinking about all the things you have to do. You're just in that moment and focusing on that one plant and how much water it needs and is it getting enough light?" says Emilie.
"You're not getting stressed, thinking about the bigger picture. It's just those little details."
Emilie says she took up plant rearing because she lived in a small spot but wanted a garden. She also wanted an activity that she could do on her own time and one that wouldn't be too demanding skill-wise (and yes, she has killed a few plants in the process).
Time, space and anguish are all things Dr Jackson says one should consider when exploring a new hobby. So if you're planning on taking one up, here are questions to ask yourself:
1. What will work for me?
Find an activity that fits your time, schedule and lifestyle.You can start small while you figure this out.
"Maybe just do a small puzzle or a word puzzle," says Dr Jackson.
"If you're going to do a prankish, maybe choose something that doesn't require a lot of preparation, equipment and particular environmental conditions that have to be right."
Things like swimming, tai chi, bushwalking, jogging, or soccer in the park.
2. Am I ready to fail? (It's a good thing)
"Rather than seeing failure is a permanent thing, [see it as] just part of learning and growing," says Dr Jackson.In other words, don't expect to do something well the first time. Don't have expectations at all, actually.
It's fine to be terrible at an activity and it's not always about the outcome. Sometimes it's about — and forgive the cliche word I'm about to use — the journey.
3. What will give me the right challenge/skill balance?
This is about finding the right balance between your existing skills and the challenge you've set yourself."Some people prefer to feel comfortable and feel like their skills are greater than the challenge [but] if you stay in that comfortable area, then you're not likely to experience flow," says Dr Jackson.
Alternatively, if the challenge is too hard, that may prohibit you from experiencing flow as well. So if something doesn't go well the first time, ask yourself: What do I need to adjust? Do I need to make this challenge easier or do I need to upskill by, say, watching a YouTube tutorial?
And if all else fails, take up playing chess against a computer which is what I've done in lockdown and I can happily confirm that I'm absolutely rubbish. Thing is, I only realise how awful I am at playing chess after I've spent two and a half hours in a savory state of flow, which really means I'm a winner.
Sincery All Tips collection
SRC: https://www.abc.net.au/life/questions-to-ask-yourself-before-starting-a-hobby/12384672
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