Text by Isabella Antonette Vargas
Upon my scrolling through the depths of the Internet, I have discovered a new hobby, junk journaling. Junk journaling is filling a book (aka a journal) with recycled materials (aka junk) and making creative arrangements out of them. This so-called junk can be sourced from drink cup stickers or paper napkin logos, travel brochures, show tickets or whatever ephemera you can collect that commemorates a certain point in time. Basically, it’s a hybrid of scrapbooking and journaling.
I started doing this because I wanted to craft something with my hands. I wanted to do junk journaling for the feeling of being engulfed in the creative process. My junk journaling does not look artistic or nuanced. I do not wish it to. Certainly, I want my skills in this endeavor to improve but my primary motive was never to perfect this craft. In fact, one of my motives was to simply escape boredom. But mostly, I wanted to do something and not just waste my time aimlessly.
Hobbies are not immediately productive or profitable which is why it sounds pointless to take up one. Hobbies are not a necessity. They are a beautiful yet efficient and meaningful way to use your free time. The direct definition of a hobby is “an activity done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure”. You pursue your hobby with the intention of indulging in the act of it, of deriving pleasure from doing it. You don’t need to have the intention of making the next, best thing. You pursue a hobby because you enjoy doing just that. And that is reason enough to do it. Activities become intimidating once we intend it to always have purpose.
When you start pursuing your hobby, do it in a child-like manner. When we were children, we would play, all day long if we could. We did not attach the need of benefiting from it. We did not think of play as wasteful. We just played. We played because we wanted to play. So do your hobby in this manner. Do not immediately attach the intention of gaining anything from your hobby. For a short fraction of time, deviate from the idea of productivity and slow down.
The benefits of the hobby will come – the relaxation, the optimism, the creativity. The advantages of a hobby will follow but only if you do it.
My personal hobby recommendations:
- Walking: Take a stroll outside. Maybe bring your friend or your pet along with you
- Gardening: Imagine all the beautiful plants and flowers you could grow.
- Embroidery: Stitch and sew away your troubles to make art.
- Photography: Use the camera that you already own. Be it your phone or a point and shoot camera, use that.
- Nail art: Ladies, make your hands an ornamental work of art.
- Drink-making: Learn how to make your morning coffee or afternoon tea or weekend soda better.
- Writing: Start a commonplace book or a journal to document your thoughts and memories.
I get tired of the pressure to be productive all the time. I do not think that we always need to
function at our highest caliber. It’s nice to have an endeavor that does not require prolific or
deliberate thought. I believe that life should have small windows left for enjoyment. I believe
that mindless and thoughtless actions can be rewarding.
So go get a hobby now, you.