I can’t say with 100% certainty that I have the answer for exactly how to help millions of adults feel happier, more fulfilled and more hopeful about their future… but I have a theory!
You need a hobby.
Not a side hustle. Not a “productive use of your downtime.” Not something that makes you more optimized or efficient or marketable. Just something you do because it lights you up.
I know, I know... You’re busy. You’re tired. You barely have time to eat a meal sitting down, let alone pick up a new passion. But here’s what I’ve noticed, both in my own life and from talking to thousands of people at events every year: the busyness is the problem. We have filled every single hour with work, obligation, and scrolling — and in doing so, we’ve slowly hollowed ourselves out.
We are burnt out, in a way that no vacation can ever fully fix. But you know what might fix it? Actually doing something that makes you feel alive.
We were not designed to live our entire lives on a screen!
Our brains, our hands, our bodies? They crave making things, moving through the world, connecting with other humans in real time. When all we do is work and carpool and make school lunches and doom scroll? We slowly lose touch with the part of ourselves that knows how to play. How to be curious. How to try and fail and laugh about it and try again.
Think about a five-year-old. They throw themselves into everything — they’re a dinosaur expert, they’re an astronaut, they’re a chef who only makes mud pies. That capacity for wonder doesn’t disappear when we grow up. We just stop feeding it.
A hobby feeds it!
Not because it’s productive, not because it makes you money, not because it helps your kids or your spouse or your career — but because you are allowed to do things just for yourself.
So if it’s been a minute since you explored a new passion, here’s a list of 23 hobbies to try. Some are creative, some are active, some are great for introverts, and some will make you new friends. But they all have one thing in common: they’ll remind you that life is meant to be explored.
1. Experimenting in the Kitchen I’m biased, but there is something deeply satisfying about experimenting in the kitchen when it actually pays off. Watching your own homemade kimchi, sauerkraut, or sourdough starter come to life (or making pasta from scratch that’s actually delicious) makes me feel like a rockstar. If you love to cook and love to eat, consider going deeper with your kitchen skills. This one is the hobby that keeps on giving.
2. Long-Distance Walking or Hiking My family loves a long walk. OK, to be fair, the kids will start whining at some point (but they’re always happier and in better moods when we get good exercise out in nature) and hiking is our favorite way to do that. Cez and I even walked part of the Camino de Santiago, which reminds me: any hobby you can turn into a vacation is a 10/10.
3. Learning an Instrument It’s never too late to learn an instrument or relearn something you used to play when you were younger. Ukulele, piano, drums, guitar… there are endless free tutorials online. Just imagine the moment you sit down at a party and casually play a song. Instant main character energy!
4. Embroidery or Cross-Stitch This is a great meditative hobby that lets you work with your hands while creating something beautiful. Also, modern embroidery patterns are hilarious (think: “Don’t Be a Jerk” stitched inside a floral wreath).
5. Volunteering If you feel lost or like life lacks meaning, go help someone else. Walk dogs at a shelter, deliver meals, or tutor kids who need it. It is an instant mood booster and a reminder that we’re all connected.
6. Gardening (or Just Keeping a Single Plant Alive!) Even if you don’t have a backyard, try keeping a little herb garden in your kitchen or a snake plant in your bedroom. The act of nurturing something living is surprisingly fulfilling. And if the plant dies? You try again. That’s actually also a good life lesson.
PS – The joy I got growing my first batch of carrots? Unmatched!
7. Pottery or Clay Work There’s a reason every rom-com has a pottery scene guys… it’s therapeutic, creative, and a little bit messy in the best way! This is another favorite for our whole family. Check out local classes!
8. Learning a New Language Maybe it’s Duolingo. Maybe it’s an actual class. Maybe it’s just watching telenovelas and K-dramas with subtitles. Either way, expanding your brain in this direction is deeply rewarding and it opens up an entire world of people you can now talk to.
9. Birdwatching Okay, hear me out. It’s free. It gets you outside. And once you start paying attention, you’ll realize your neighborhood has a whole secret world of tiny, dramatic creatures. My husband loves birds and birdwatching! He even has an app that will listen to birdsong and tell him exactly what kind of bird is singing. Are you curious about something? Lean in!
10. Calligraphy or Hand Lettering Beautiful handwriting is an art, and once you get the hang of it, you can make your own greeting cards or personalized gifts. Look for online tutorials or a local class to get started.
11. Collecting Something Fun Stamps? Vinyl records? Funky thrift store mugs? Having a collection gives you something to hunt for in your downtime, and it makes your space more you. I “inherited” my collection of vintage cake stands and used that to kick start a hobby of adding to it. It gives me something to hunt for at flea markets and thrift stores and it means my dessert tables always look amazing.
12. Going to Concerts and Enjoying Live Music There is something electric about live music. Whether it’s a giant stadium show or a local coffee shop performance, music has the power to make you feel alive again. If you love live music but can’t think of the last time you went to a show, make a plan to remedy that ASAP.
This pic is of me seeing Eric Clapton live for the third time… that man ages like a fine wine, every single concert has been better than the last!
13. Joining a Book Club (or Just Reading More in General) If you haven’t fallen into a book obsession lately, it might be time to change that. Find a genre you love and go all in. And the book club piece matters more than you think, because again, community. Showing up somewhere every month where people are excited to see you? That fills something up.
14. Community Theatre Go watch a local theatre performance, volunteer backstage, or if you’re feeling brave, audition for a show! Theatre people are some of the most fun and welcoming humans on the planet. And I should know… once a theatre kid, always a theatre kid!
15. Thrifting to Refurbish and Flip Finds If you love a good treasure hunt, start hitting up thrift stores and flipping your best finds. Need inspiration? Go watch how people are thrifting and flipping on YouTube. It is so satisfying to watch someone strip 40 years of paint off a decades-old side table and turn it into something beautiful.
16. Cooking Through a Cookbook Instead of randomly cooking whatever’s easiest, pick a cookbook and commit to trying every recipe (like Julie & Julia, minus the blogging pressure). Need a cookbook recommendation? Nights and Weekends is one of my recent favorites!
17. Cake Decorating Even if you have zero plans to start a bakery, learning to pipe icing or make fondant flowers is just plain fun. I took a cake decorating class at the local Michaels when I was a teenager and I still know how to ice a cake and make roses all these years later. Worst case? You get to eat the cake!
18. Crafting Knitting, scrapbooking, jewelry-making, even getting into coloring books with fancy markers — whatever calls to you. Craft stores are dangerous in the best way.
19. Photography Even if it’s just with your phone, learning to take better photos is a genuinely great use of your time (and will make you everyone’s favorite person when it’s time to get the shot). Lighting, composition, storytelling… there’s so much to learn, and tons of free resources to help you get better.
20. Amateur Food Critic Eat your way through your town! Make a list of the best taco spots, the best bakeries, the best coffee shops. Rank them. Become the undisputed food expert among your friends. This hobby is delicious and I will not apologize for recommending it.
21. Taking a Dance Class I don’t care how “bad” you think you are at dancing. Salsa, hip-hop, ballroom… whatever gets you moving, grooving to the music and working up a sweat is a big win. It is joy in motion, full stop.
22. Learning to Make Something from Scratch Pasta. Candles. Natural skincare. Homemade soap. There is something deeply satisfying about making something with your own two hands instead of just buying it. It reconnects you to a slower, more intentional way of living and right now, we all need more of that.
23. Joining an Adult Sports League Pickleball? Softball? Ultimate frisbee? Not only is it a great workout, but you will also meet new people and get some accountability around actually showing up for yourself. Win, win, win.
Final Thoughts (And a Tiny Pep Talk)
If you’re feeling stuck, uninspired, or like you’ve lost yourself somewhere along the way — this is your permission slip to try something new!
Not to sound overly dramatic but “big tech” wants you exhausted and scrolling. It wants you to believe that your worth lives in how productive you are, how much you accomplish, how perfectly you’re managing all the things. But a life lived entirely in service of output is a half-life. You deserve the whole thing.
Pick something on this list. Try it badly. Try it awkwardly. Try it even if you have no idea what you’re doing. The point isn’t to be good at it. The point is to feel like yourself again.
And who knows? Maybe that hobby you pick up today is the thing that becomes a cornerstone of your life.
