Workout Your Brain With Hobbies!

Humans are meant to create.  Hobbies are cultivated from what a person enjoys doing when they could be doing whatever they want.  I have found, especially with my peers, that hobbies are disappearing.  If any hobbies are engaged in at all, they tend to be athletically driven like running, hiking or cycling.  I workout for endorphins, health and clarity; however, if I could have a fit and toned body without working out?  Those 45 minutes would most definitely be spent doing something else.  Therefore, for the sake of this post, I'm referencing creative hobbies.  I'm talking about painting, singing, photography, writing, baking, gardening, playing an instrument, wood-working or party planning.  Something that makes the left side of your brain ramp up and start firing on all cylinders.

Creative hobbies can benefit your professional life, too.  There has been a plethora of papers and articles supporting the connection between having a creative hobby and increased mental dexterity in the workplace.  Evernote's Phil Libin wrote a piece for Inc. magazine about teaching himself piano in his 40's:

"When you learn a new skill, you learn new patterns. And then you start seeing these patterns interwoven into the familiar world. The impenetrable becomes less so. Things you always knew, you now know better […] I feel the effects at the office.  I'm smarter than I was a few months ago, with new ways of seeing things, a new mental vocabulary, and greater cognitive dexterity.  I feel more creative than ever, and I get more done every day."

I feel this myself.  Knitting during busy season quiets my brain.  My head no longer spins about how many audit reports I need to issue, how I can get my team to have more attention to detail, or when I'm going to have that difficult conversation with the client.  If I focused on those things instead of my knitting, I'll screw it up.  Knitting is repeating patterns, math, and a balance of tension… basically a mental workout that hones skills I use in the workplace.  Plus, in the end, I created something and creation taps into your four year old self's "look what I did!" pride.

So try it - for ten minutes build a city in the original Sim City game you haven't touched since you were nine (or maybe you were a Rollercoaster Tycoon kind of kid?).  Find some colored pencils and just doodle.  Bake a cake even if it isn't someone's birthday.  Our society is craving creative outlets - why else would Pinterest and Etsy be booming?  You don't have to share it with anyone… you don't have to be good at it.  View it as CrossFit for your brain.

Delayed Crafted Gift Reveal

Engagement Picture vs. Portrait

For the past month and a half, all I wanted to do was blog about the following topic.  However, I had to keep my keys quiet because it needed to be a surprise.  More specifically, it was to be joint birthday surprise for my brother and future (less than three months!) sister-in-law.  Because both birthday’s are in early March, I had to wait to blog until later in the month.

As a side note, I have decided to refer to my future sister-in-law as my ToreSIL.  I haven’t run this past her quite yet, but it distinguishes her from my other sister-in-law when the time comes when I can no longer call her “future sister in law”.  Toresil it is.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally mailed the surprise to my brother and Toresil and they were thrilled.  Hurray.  Commence blogging!  However, it is hard to blog about something when one goes out of town for a week and forgets to save the necessary blog pictures for the post to the laptop that was packed.  Whoops.  Hopefully my weekly post wasn’t missed too much.  Actually, it probably is worse if the missed post went unnoticed because that means no one is reading this but Toresil, my Mom and Kerry at work… and all three of them knew I was out of town.  Sigh.

I think I like Charlie best.

Moving on – the delayed and heavily “built up” surprise reveal:  cross-stitched family portraits!  Cross-stitching is the new knitting – you’ve heard it here first!  Great entrepreneurs sell modern and quirky (!) patterns on Etsy and through various websites.  My favorite has to be Wee Little Stitches on Etsy.  Check the store out.  There also was a “how to” in a Martha Stewart Magazine about a year ago.  I decided to take on the challenge and designed a little pixel brother, Toresil and Charlie the dog.  Since the lovely couple’s nuptuals are right around the corner, I designed them wearing the outfits from their save the date picture.

On its way to Chicago!

The designing of the pattern is what took the longest.  The easiest way is to block out your stitches on graph paper.  I found out that perfecting the hair color and layout is the most important aspect of making the pixel people recognizable.  After the design was solidified, I ran out to JoAnn Fabric’s for embroidery floss (at 10 cents a color, it is such an economical project), an embroidery hoop, and aida cloth.  The design stitched up quickly, which was a requirement for a project tackled during busy season.  I would assess it as a 10-hour project.

Toresil also loves personalized and unique stationary, so I put a picture of the cross-stitch portrait on the front of some postcards.  I like to think they will have this for years to come.  Who says cross-stitch has to be frumpy and old fashioned.  I think I am hooked and plan on making more!

Phew - I'm glad I got that post off my chest.  On a related note, I'm home for the weekend before going back out of town next week.  Stella was pretty peeved at my absence and was wary regarding my return (see below).  Who wants to tell her I'll only be home for two days?

That's it!  I'm raising the drawbridge!

What are some good gifts you have given recently?