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Make hobbies a conversation starter



Image by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay

This is how I start a conversation with a person I sort of know, or have never spoken to ... after the initial... Hi, I am Mel... etc etc. 

"Do you have a hobby?" I ask.

It is a simply question and one that generally sparks a surprisingly response. It honestly surprises me when people say, they don't have a hobby. This is intriguing to me. Because, if you don't have a hobby (and absolutely no judgement here) but if you don't have a hobby ... what do you do with your spare time? 

I also find it interesting, reading in retirement Facebook groups (and no, at this stage I am not retired) ... but so many people say... I don't have a hobby. I am extremely bored. I don't know what to do with my time. And this is the case for many people. Many people just do not have a hobby.

A hobby can be anything, I wrote a blog post, about what is a hobby. Have a read after you read this blog post to spark some ideas, if you don't have a hobby and would like to start one. A hobby doesn't have to be arts or craft. It can literally be anything that sparks you joy. Read my what is a hobby blog post for some inspiration. 

So when I hear, "I don't have a hobby." I find that if I just mention one hobby of mine and explain that it's me time and how much joy I get from it, you can see the other person's mind ticking ... You might move the conversation over and move on. Then a week or two goes by and they come up to me... "Mel, I have been meaning to tell you. I started this hobby..." The light shines bright through their eyes as they share what they are working on. What resources they bought to support it or changed their room to make room for it. They start to share with me, everything that I love about the healing and relaxation of hobbies and how it makes you feel good for even trying something new.

 I smile in happiness for them. Because I know that hobbies are filled with excitement, challenges and creativity. It can be about problem-solving. It can be about relaxing. It can just be what you want it to be in that moment. 

And if at the end you are able to gift something you made from your hobby to someone ... then that feels even greater.

So yes, I do make hobbies a conversation starter ... One because I love talking about hobbies. So if we share a common interest, we have so much to talk about. But also, I love to help other people who don't have a hobby think about ... should I get a hobby? What hobby will I choose? What will I gain from doing a hobby? And then over time, watch that person grow in their hobby, talk about their hobby more in conversations and just find who they are. To me this is special and I want meaningful conversations with people. 

I hope you enjoy reading my blog posts and look at my Etsy store for some inspiration. 



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