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.

A Few Things I'm Excited About

Spring Has Sprung in Cleve!

After busy season ends, there is always this period of a few weeks where the fact that free time is available again takes some major getting used to.  My first instinct to all invitations and suggested outings is "no"; however, then I remember I can have fun again.  I believe this period of reacquainting with my life has thrown off my blogging schedule.  Oh well, no point in feeling guilty about something I choose to do!

For my first blog post in a few weeks, I wanted to share a few things I am very excited about.  Nothing like me finding new products that I decide I need when I really should be saving my monies. I think spring does that to me - reinvention comes with restocking of the closet and beauty cabinet.

Clare Vivier Flat Clutch in Cobalt

My first new obsession is Clare Vivier handbags.  I treated myself to her flat clutch, which has been a staple among celebs for quite some time but appears to just be trickling down to girls like me in Cleveland.  Her goods are handcrafted entirely in L.A. and offers unique monogramming options, which keeps your handbag unique to you and in line with trends.  Her clean and simple designs suit my style to a "T" and I love the soft and buttery feel of the leather.  It took me a good five hours to decide what color to get.  Now I want a foldover clutch, the laptop size clutch, and the (out of my price range) large duffle in navy.  I just want to pack it up and take a trip.  Doesn't matter where... because I just want to pack it.

Dry Texturizer and Foundation Mist

My next new obsession is Oribe hair products.  For those of you that know me know that I try to get away with washing my hair twice a week.  Oribe's dry texturizing spray helps me get there while providing texture and volume options.  Also, the smell is to die for.  Oribe's foundation mist offers heat protection and helps dry hair faster, softer and sleeker.  I am ever on the hunt for ways to make my thin and stringy hair a bit more manageable and pretty... and I think I'm on to something.  Check out the company's website for some "how to" video tips.

Lastly, I am on a sock knitting kick.  I can't get enough of the Madelinetosh hand dyed sock yarn I chose for my first pair.  The colorways from this highly regarded company are mesmorizing.

I had to restart this sock multiple times due to some blunders: forgetting how to work the pattern, attempting to knit drunk and dropping stitches, turbulence on a plane causing me to mess up.  However, I think I'm on a roll now!  I sit at home after work and knit while watching Season 4 of Ally McBeal on Netflix.  Her quirkiness makes my quirkiness appear slightly tame.

Any new obsessions on your end?

Bunny

Every child has "it". At some point very early in one's life, an object is selected to become "it". A child could have many objects with similar or even superior qualities to "it"; however, all of these objects were passed over, discarded or ignored in favor of "it". There appears to be no rhyme or reason to the selection process but, once made, the choice is definitive and everlasting. I am speaking, of course, about a kid's soother. Most people fit into either one of two categories: stuffed animal people or blankie people. There are unique circumstances of other types of objects becoming "it", but we will focus on the two mainstays. What was I, you ask? Stuffed animal class... Musical variety... Bunny division.

Out of the three children in my house, two were stuffed animal kids and one was a blankie junkie. It's funny, but just over the holidays, I learned that Blankie Brother found the love of his life in a fellow blankie child. The wedding is in June. If there was a study of the human race that looked at what a person's "it" was compared to the "it" of his or her mate, do you think we all typically stay amongst our kind? If two people cross contaminate, is one class more dominant than the other in terms of the "it" of their offspring? These are important questions! I need to know if "blankie or bunny" is an important question for first dates!

Bunny (name as well as description) is bluish purple, sporting a smooshed head that perfectly fits against my face and, upon winding, sweetly plays "Teddy Bears' Picnic". I have no idea why a bunny would play a song about bears. It's a weird toy, but apparently that doesn't matter because I picked it as my "it"!  Bunny has made his way into my adult apartment and I'm not ashamed.

I was pondering these things while knitting a baby blanket for a friend's bun in the oven. The blanket is based off a pattern available on the Purl Bee blog called "super easy baby blanket". It is a simple blanket that showcases the colors chosen in chunky non-repeated blocks. I chose Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino yarn that is scrumptiously soft with a gorgeous selection of hues. While knitting the sixth of seven colors, I wondered if this blanket would be chosen as the "it". Each little nub my needles produced brought a new wish: maybe this blanket would be the calm during thunderstorms, the roof of a fort, the carpet of a playhouse, the cape of a magician, the secret stashed under a pillow at college and the first thing unpacked in a first apartment. It could be all of these things. Or it could be none of them... passed over for some cheap stuffed animal with polyester stuffing that plays songs about an entirely different animal species. One can never predict the future "it". But let us be real: it most likely won't be "it" because stuffed animals are way better than blankies anyway.

What was your "it"?