When you have some “Me Time,” what do you usually do? Better yet, what usually comes to mind? For your average person, it’s scrolling on their phone. Well, for others, it’s all about being productive, be it making money from something, learning a skill (and labeling that a hobby), something for work/ their career, something for someone else (like their kids or spouse).
But yeah, you basically get the idea. It’s like nowadays Me Time is not for clearing the mind, it’s for other purposes, it’s not necessarily for decompressing, being idle, or whatever else. But most people in their free time have hobbies, and just like what was stated, it’s usually about being productive, scrolling on their phone, doing something that benefits others (cooking is a great example, actually), spending money, or maybe stressing you out.
Hobbies like these aren’t necessarily bad for you, but they’re not like they’re great for you either. Sometimes you really do need hobbies that don’t stress you out, that don’t give you adrenaline, basically, ones that calm you down.
Not Everything that Distracts You Actually Helps You Chill
There’s this thing where you sit down thinking, “Ah, yes, time to unwind,” and then… nope. Your “fun” hobby just flips on you. Nowadays, that seems to be the problem, and it’s common, and to a degree, it really does seem to be pressed on as well. While cozy video games are super popular, a good chunk of video games (be it the game itself or other players) just make it very stressful. If you’re on the internet scrolling (which a lot of people will tell you is not a hobby), then you’ll always be met with bad news because bad news gets more engagement, well, that and ragebait.
You need distractions; everyone needs some distractions outside of work, school, life, and just general daily responsibilities. But keep in mind that being busy isn’t inherently the same as being calm, and you need to be calm. Life for the average person is already hectic; do you really want to push it on yourself to be stressed in what little free time you have?
It’s Time to Look into Something that Slows Down Life
Like, okay, relaxation shouldn’t feel like a competition. It shouldn’t feel like a battle or a race. Real relaxation is more like that moment you take a deep breath and go, “Oh wow, okay, this actually feels nice.” Sometimes that looks like reading (a calm story), or listening to music with zero responsibility attached, or staring out the window doing absolutely nothing productive. T
hat totally counts. A lot of people garden, have house plants, or even try a magic mushroom grow kit, like growing oyster mushrooms from those little containers and boxes. Some people will propagate supermarket herbs; the choice is yours, really. But sometimes, just do something that’s slow and calm.
Keep in Mind Find Doesn’t Need to be Loud
Sure, it can be, and yeah, that’s fun too. But overall, hobbies shouldn’t make a person feel exhausted or be in a bad mood or anything like that. The whole point of Me Time and hobbies is to feel good, to feel like yourself, just to be connected with yourself. It’s seriously not worth it if you’re going to feel bad or stressed, or whatever, afterwards.