Throughout my life, I remember I would always have the hardest time whenever I’d get asked about my favorite hobbies. I am a very multi-passionate individual and always had a worry of being misdefined by my answer to that question. Now that everyone (not me) is starting to take up new hobbies during their quarantine, it really got me thinking about redefining my hobbies and ensuring that I make time for them in my daily life.
Too many times to count, I have gone through various phases of having what I would mistakenly think was my hobby, but that would really be something I felt obsessively interested in for a short while but eventually would move on from fairly quickly, never to be spoken of again- horseback riding, karate, gymnastics, even skating to name a few.
Or, on the flip side, I would mistake the term “hobby” for my values and passions. For example, I love spirituality and meditation for the soul, personal development and psychology for the mind, nursing and yoga for the body, volunteering and family time for my heart, and balancing work and play all with a passion, and I partake in some action towards these aspects regularly for my personal and professional life.
But I am not sure if these would be considered hobbies, as these are my passions, purpose and necessities; they are each part of my daily routine or things I personally feel I need to do in order to live my happiest, healthiest and most successful life. Hobbies, to me, are fun or relaxing activities that I am by no means an expert in, but that I enjoy partaking in when I have downtime. They come with little pressure and great pleasure.
“Find three hobbies you love: one to make you money, one to keep you in shape, and one to be creative.”
After all this time and all that being said, I am still unable to choose a favorite hobby. However, after a bit of reflection, I was able to come up with my 3 main hobby categories.
1. Blogging.
This hobby stems from my love of reading daily for hours as a child, and writing in my journal nearly every single day for as far back as I can remember. What comes to mind when one thinks of a “blogger” has changed drastically from what it used to be back in 2010 when I started, referring now to more of a lifestyle influencer model role. For me personally, blogging also means placing an emphasis on writing, and creating an online platform to bring together other skills and art forms as well. Since I’ve been blogging, I’ve also gotten more interest and practice in painting, photography and videography/YouTube, all essential and creative parts of my blog today.
2. Music.
This deserves a category of its own and is rooted in my childhood as well, growing up as a choir member in my elementary school and partaking in local Bollywood dance classes as a child. At the end of elementary school and all throughout high school, I was an active member of the concert band as a clarinetest, making the most of our camps, concerts and national competitions. In my college days, I started off as a DJ at our local radio station and worked at a performance arts center while I pursued my minor degree in music with an emphasis in piano. As a young adult, I spent my free time after work taking adult dance classes at my local dance studio, including contemporary and ballet. Music is something I can never get enough of, so when I’m not creating music, I love to enjoy music in all its forms, have my own car dance parties, and go to Zumba classes. My newest venture is attempting to finally learn to play my acoustic guitar (I’ll let you know how that goes).
3. Travel.
Last, but certainly not least, there is my love for traveling around the world. When I was a child, my family made an active effort to do some sort of travel and long vacation every year. Before I turned 30, I had accomplished my goal of visiting every continent (except Antarctica because I’m chronically cold), but I have so many more places on my list that I can only hope to be blessed enough to continue experiencing. I love taking relaxing vacations with family, adventure packed trips with friends, and solo-volunteer trips around the world. My favorite places always end up being the local hotspots over tourist destinations, but I cannot resist a picturesque beach or getting lost in nature. To me, it doesn’t matter if I travel near or far- the main point is to either relax and escape the pressures of daily life, or explore whatever interesting venues are around me as long as I am having fun, experiencing new things, meeting new people, and feeling free and alive!
PS- Blogging makes me money, music keeps me creative, and traveling helps me stay active and in shape. But I feel it fair to include that when I am not actively creating, I also love consuming other forms of art and entertainment such as videos, books, film, television, audio and more!
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