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When your hobby is no longer relaxing

There are many reasons you might lose the desire for your hobbies that once gave you joy. How can we get that feeling back?

By Rachel Pieper DeckerPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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When your hobby is no longer relaxing
Photo by Soraya García on Unsplash

It’s probably mid-January and you just don’t feel it anymore. There are project bags in a few areas; more than you’d like to see and you’d cringe at the number if you actually counted them. You have a to-do list that you’ve written, re-organized, divided up and re-written two or three times now. Some of those projects are almost complete! But you know it will be awhile before anything gets crossed off. Where did all that motivation go?

It could be crafting burnout from the holidays or just pushing yourself too hard with unreal expectations that you’ve set for yourself. Maybe you aren’t hitting certain goals in other areas of life that are creating frustration overall. Or maybe it’s just time for a little change. It can be really disorienting to have no desire for something that once gave you pleasure or an escape.

What can you do?

First of all, don’t panic. In all seriousness, the best thing to do is not to worry about it. I know, it’s easier said than done, but if you’re looking to regain your relaxing hobby, stressing about it is really just going to compound the issue. I ran into this terrible catch-22 when I was having problems sleeping. I’d wake up hours before my alarm and then fret about how I needed to sleep and there was only X amount of time, and all the things I needed to do at work and that all led to the type of stress that prevents one from going to sleep. A vicious, exhausting cycle. We don’t want to create stress by wondering why we don’t want to do the thing if we aren’t ready to deal with it.

Next, depending on how busy the rest of your life is, maybe you can take some time to evaluate what is going on. Not just with the crafting, but perhaps there is something bigger that needs your attention. Maybe you are so burnt out that even the thought of thinking about doing the hobby more is just enough to make you just go, “Ugh!” and immediately go do something else. That’s fine! And looking at the first point, if we aren’t ready to deal with it, it's just not time to resolve that specific aspect.

After some evaluation, if the desire to create is still flagging, maybe it's time to take things in a new direction. One of the pieces I’ve recently read regarding creativity is that it feeds itself. The more media you consume, the more knowledgeable you can be and the more connections are made and ideas start flowing. I feel that this could also be extended to crafting. If one hobby seems to have lost your interest, perhaps starting another, related one can spark crossover ideas or you might even discover a new relaxing outlet. The alternative to this is that maybe you do have the desire to create, but perhaps going back to basics is the key. Remember what it was like when you first started this craft. Rekindle that energy and excitement of learning it new and succeeding at something, even if it is simple.

Lastly, I’m going to suggest is to go easy on yourself. That may sound really odd, but all the thinking about the whys and the hows and the why-nots can be detrimental in the long term. Losing the desire to do something that could have been not only relaxing and confidence-building, it may have also been a piece of your identity.

I am currently going through this. I love crochet. I love making things and coming up with unique items. However, life has been rough for the past 6 or so months. All of those major stress markers have been severely shaken--job, relationship, housing situation...each of those has had some serious changes in a short time. I have projects I need to do for clients. They are complex and require a lot of focus. However, right now, I need something easy and simple that I can just space out and let my brain think the thoughts it needs to think. In peace, without being interrupted. For this, I still do crochet, but I have a simple 2-stitch blanket that I don’t have to count and I don’t have to create something completely new. I feel a little like a poser and I’m “taking the easy way out,” but this is a self-care blanket and while I haven’t completely lost my desire for the hobby, I have never made a blanket before. It’s been years since I’ve done such a simple project with basic stitches.

Those recommended steps above? Those are the things I’ve had to remind myself. I have taken the back-to-basics route and it is helping to rebuild that confidence and calmness that I enjoyed when first learning this craft.

self help
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About the Creator

Rachel Pieper Decker

Displaced Minnesotan in Southern California.

Gamer, streamer, fiber arts enthusiast, Web3 dabbler, aspiring Notary Public

Connect with me: twitter.com/HyperZenGirl * twitch.tv/HyperZenGirl

Affiliate links: https://linktr.ee/HyperZen

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