Hustle with your hobbies
While I was swamped in work the other day, my mind called out for a cup of tea. As I sipped my worries away, I happened to take a look at some of the newest creations of a few of my favorite artists and they didn’t fail to bring a smile on my face! A landscape painting of the vibrant lilac farms in France, an illustrative painting of a leopard peacefully sleeping on the edge of a rock under a ‘Do not Disturb’ plakat, a veduta of St Maria della Salute was exactly what I needed to see! Like the flashes of light waiting to strike the ground in a thunderstorm, several questions struck my mind. What was so special about watching those paintings that gave me so much joy? What was it that relieved the burden on my mind? What forced me to run behind this rush of happiness a little more than just ‘once a while’?
The answer was simple. I love art. As someone who is fond of art, I found it so easy to make those paintings my head of steam for the day! Stereotypically, I’d define drawing and painting as my hobby. But in reality, I call it my ‘trip to wonderland’. In this blog, I’d like to underscore the importance of nurturing our hobbies and how they can help bring the positives in us. I strongly believe what we accomplish by pursuing our hobbies is easily translatable to our professional life. I’d definitely not say that we should work less and spend more time on our hobbies but rather learn to establish a balance between both worlds. While professionals feel increasingly pressed for time, taking the time to take a detour to our wonderland can surely do more wonders than we can imagine!
I read an article in Harvard Business Review which correctly pointed out that hobbies can boost some of the important workplace skills like creativity, perspective and confidence. When we engage in any hobby, our body releases neurotransmitters. Imagine this like a ‘reward system’. Its analogous to a process feedback loop. If your mind wanders away from the set point, there is always a way to correct the deviation. No need for acts of escapism. A 30 minute trip to your wonderland is all you need. Your negative emotions are redirected and you are gifted with a splurge of happiness. With that in mind, I think hobbies can be literally anything — athletic, academic, artistic or something distinctly personal. You can do it alone or as a part of a group. There is a plethora of things that can make up the list — playing an instrument, pursuing art, attending a readers’ club, playing soccer or pushing slats of dough into the carousel in the oven to bake a bread with a crispy crackle!
Here are some points that can set you thinking, just like they gave me a line of thought of why hobbies are so important. An artist trains his/her mind to unleash the inner potential and force out creativity and channel it into art. A guitarist and a drummer know exactly well of what strings to strike and what beats to use to create a perfect melody. A football fanatic understands the importance of building stamina and strategy and translates practice to perfection to hit the perfect curling kick. Look at the perseverance level of an artist or the patience of a musician or the analytical mindset of a soccer player. If we take a closer look, numerous traits are effortlessly getting nurtured in us by virtue of hobbies. Perseverance, patience, determination, creativity, analytical thinking, planning and organization, timeliness; just a tip of the iceberg. Hobbies are building better people and creating rounded individuals. Hobbies are lightening our mood and freshening our mind. They are casting away that the cloud of depression and what’s left is the silver lining! And this is exactly what we need in our professional lives.
Every point that I mentioned above is an essential element in our professions. Without perseverance and patience there is no moving forward. Without analytical thinking there is no substance in problem solving. Without creativity there is no ‘out of the box thinking’. With lower depression levels, with a mind that is fit and healthy, all pieces of the puzzle fit in place. Dealing with stress is cake walk and there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
In a nutshell, I’ll say hustle and strive hard to keep your hobbies alive! Give a chance to the artist in you who is ready to build concept on canvas. Give a chance to the guitarist in you who is ready to create a mesmerizing melody. Give a chance to the soccer player in you who is ready to benchmark Diego Forlán’s curling kick. Improve your cognitive functioning and heal your body. Happy ‘hobbying’ folks!
(Art is never finished, only abandoned — Leonardo da Vinci. Take a look at some of my artwork here. Hope you like it!)
