I’ve discovered that creating things is part of who I am. When I’m creating something—an article, a painting, a model ship, or whatever—I’m fulfilling a personal need. It’s a big part of why I chose writing for a career, and as that career winds down, I plan to resume creative hobbies including photography, landscape painting, and writing books and short stories.
The thing is, it can be a challenge starting or getting back into a hobby. In my case, photography is relatively easy because I just need to take out my iPhone and snap away at whatever looks interesting.
Writing and painting are a bit more challenging. I’m working on a science fiction/fantasy book, but it’s been a slow process. Not so much from writer’s block but from a lack of motivation. I’ve discovered that writing fiction, while enjoyable, requires a completely different mindset than non-fiction, which is what I’ve been writing for the past 45 or so years. I hope as I get farther into writing the book I’ll be more inspired to see it through to the end.
Getting back into painting has been an even slower go. I took up acrylic painting about 15 years ago, and for the first two or three years I was churning out pictures at a fairly rapid pace. Some of the paintings were gifts for people, others are hanging on the walls in our house. Most of them are landscapes based on nature scenes I find appealing.
For a variety of reasons after the prolific start I slowed down. I just got out of the habit of setting up a painting space, putting out the paints and brushes, and getting into it. But I want to start again, because I know there are benefits to this hobby for me.
The physical act of painting can serve as a kind of mindfulness, allowing me to focus entirely on what I’m doing in the moment. I get so lost in the act that I’m not aware of time passing. Painting gives me a new appreciation for the world around me, whether it’s places near where I live or others far away that I might never travel to.
There’s also the opportunity to come up with ideas for content, mixing paints to get just the right color for the sky or a tree, and making changes to get the composition to work the way I want it to. While these tasks can take time and require patience, in the end they are well worth it. The final result is the satisfaction of having created something.
Painting gets me away from screens for a while, which is a good thing. It has been found to reduce stress hormones and boost the “feel-good” hormone dopamine. With all these potential benefits, I will definitely aim to get back into this hobby.
I’m not trying to push painting as a hobby. There are dozens of other hobbies you can take up. And whether or not they result in creating things, they can provide a great way to unwind and reduce stress. They can help you find joy.
Have you been thinking of starting or resuming a hobby? I hope you feel compelled to take the plunge.
Here are a few examples of paintings I’ve done:
Be sure to check out my new author website: https://bobviolino.com
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