There is certainty in the familiar, and what it affords us is a sense of security that’s hard to come by these days.
Ask your friends what they do with their free time and it would sound like a list of hobbies from before the internet and its infinite scroll.
Working from home has left virtually enabled employees to set their own schedules. Studies show that workers are even putting in longer hours now at their home setup, keeping their online status throughout shorter lunch breaks and even unplanned illnesses. With many gaining back the time lost from pre-COVID long commutes — which had them spending about an hour and a half per day in traffic, not to mention the struggle of finding parking spots — employees are still at a loss with how to best spend their downtime.
Apart from killing time, maintaining hobbies has been shown to provide multiple benefits — especially for mental health, as it can help lower anxiety and stress levels. Creative activities like drawing or playing music can get us so wrapped up in what we’re doing that we experience a “runner’s high,” which is a quick and relaxing sense of extreme joy. A 2020 survey showed that watching TV and movies, reading, and working out emerged as the most popular hobbies during lockdown. This list also included baking and cooking.
However, even the most comforting hobbies can still feel tiring at times.
Looking for a new pastime to pick up is one way to keep things moving. In a longitudinal study, participants who engaged in a wide variety of activities over the course of ten years were found to be at a lower risk of having impaired memory and other cognitive problems. It could even be a hobby skipped out on several years ago, thinking there would always be a next time that just never came. That is, until 2020 happened.
Building Hobbies around the Sense of Touch
“In this time of uncertainty and instability, and a world and existence we no longer recognize, people need an anchor to familiarity and what once brought them comfort, stability, safety, and happiness,” says clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gandere.
These cornerstones could be anything from doodling, to assembling puzzles, to even learning to play an instrument, among other creative activities — pastimes from our childhood, or part of the long list of things to do next time, which help us decompress.
That many of these hobbies involve tangible objects may not be as coincidental as we think. Our sense of touch is one of the first senses to develop, akin to a “mother of all sensory systems” that even single-celled organisms have. As neuropsychologist Chris Dijkerman highlights, “It’s not like vision, where you close your eyes and you don’t see anything. You can’t do that with touch. It’s always there.”
Neuroscientists call this tactile memory. This occurs when we touch things and our brains store them as representations, which we then turn to when we need them again. As such, these references help drive our future behaviors. We experience the world through touch, picking up and storing representations along the way.
Hobbies help us unwind, which in turn helps us make positive associations.
This is made manifest when we go out of our way to find physical mementos on virtual platforms, like bookshops on social media platfoms or knitting clubs, when things become more stressful. That’s because we’re unconsciously reaching out for the things that made us happy once upon a time, when life was much simpler and less daunting. It is in looking back that we find an overwhelming sense of comfort that the present has unfortunately stolen from us.
Moreover, nostalgia is commonly felt in “times of loss, anxiety, isolation, or uncertainty,” according to psychology professor Krystine Batcho. Given how nostalgia is defined as “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations,” this feeling can help keep us grounded in the things we cherish instead of being overwhelmed by things out of our control.
Old Hobbies with Fresh Eyes
If you’ve gone through a couple of hobbies (as well as some positively minded purchases from every attempt at making a pastime stick), then you might be wondering why, at times, it’s simply not clicking. Hobbies are meant to make us happy when we face setbacks and need support.
Still, not having a hobby at the moment shouldn’t add another layer of pressure to the already heavy stack of responsibility “hats” we all wear as children, partners, colleagues, and citizens. According to Penn State professor of kinesiology and human development David Conroy, finding pockets in our day to dedicate to any fulfilling habit is a common challenge in itself. “I think it’s hard for everybody to fit new things into their lives, because it’s a zero-sum game, where in order to create time for a new activity, you have to take that time away from doing something else,” he says.
Deciding to introduce a hobby is like stacking and pulling out a block on the precariously built Jenga tower that is your day. To check if the leisurely activity you’re thinking of integrating into your daily schedule is as feasible as it is interesting, Conroy suggests asking the following questions:
- Is it easy?
— Do you learn new things?
— Does it challenge you to grow and try?
2. Is it enjoyable?
— Does doing it make you feel good?
In contrast with the idea of having something to do just because, columnist Katie Heaney put it succinctly, “Wanting to like something and actually liking it are two different things.”
So whether it’s solving Rubix cubes, baking bread, or building PCs, doing something we like keeps us human. Trying things allows us a breather from the tension of our circumstances in any area of our lives that puts pressure on us. Moreover, it helps us gain a sense of control over the things that we can’t.
Nostalgia, in the form of our hobbies, brings us back to a time when peace wasn’t in scarce supply, even if just for a short while, helping us wrap our fingers around memories that afford us comfort.
This article was written by our contributor, Pia Salazar.
