Get Creative: The Value of a Hobby

            With going to school full time in addition to being a mom, wife, pet owner, etc. I was really busy up until the end of April.  Fortunately, I only started getting really sick midway through the end of my last college class!  I’ve been plagued with the question of “what now?” but have decided that things happen for a reason and things are going to unfold soon. I will see what path I am supposed to take, so worrying about it will achieve nothing more than a headache.

            So suddenly I find myself with all of this time on my hands.  Unfortunately doing too much means I’ll be hurting. So if I try to tackle something like dusting, sweeping, and mopping… odds are I won’t make it through sweeping. My body just isn’t able to do a lot, it’s a reality I have to face for the time being.  I have however gotten quite burned out on sitting in bed watching movies.  Sure lounging and movie watching has it’s great points, but really I start to feel like I’m living in my own world and it’s lonely.  My grandma’s sewing machine has been calling to me for weeks now, and I finally pulled it out of it’s case last week.

            Not knowing the first thing about sewing, I tried to watch a tutorial online, hmmmm, can’t say this helped me AT ALL.  I quickly put it away.  Then I started looking at dresses on etsy.com and felt inspired. I thought, I could do something like this, I just have to learn.  I remember when I was little my grandma made me the most amazing pink dress. It was my favorite dress and I was so sad when I outgrew it. Unfortunately that was one of the last projects she ever made. As time went on she just didn’t sew as much.  I can recall watching her though, cutting out the pattern, then the material, watching her was like watching an artist create a portrait, she had amazing flow and talent.  I just wish I had asked her more questions.

            So I finally pulled the sewing machine back out on Friday.  I decided I was not going to put it away until I figured out what the heck I was supposed to do.  I didn’t know how to thread it, what the heck the bobbin was for. I really should have taken Home Ec.!  I used the almighty “Google” search and have to say, I learned a lot!  I ran into a problem, I tried trouble shooting and I’ll be darned, I figured it out!  I also came across some super cute patterns for pillowcase dresses.  I decided that would be my first project.  While it isn’t perfect, I managed to complete one in only a few hours.  My back was screaming at me when I was done and I did have to take a lot of breaks to stretch out but I did it!  I felt good, I mean not only did I learn something new, I actually made something! 

            I used to have a lot of hobbies, writing, drawing, hiking, photography… I still enjoy doing a lot of these things but found that I spent less and less time doing them.  When it came to balancing school and being a mom, and working, well there wasn’t really any time to do things I enjoyed doing.  Sometimes I lacked the money to be able to get materials to keep up with a hobby, so that stopped me too.   I have always kept up with gardening but with being so tired and sun sensitive, I wanted to find something I could do that I don’t even have to get dressed to do! 

            I’m going to keep trying to do more projects. I started on a night gown yesterday.  I’ll take today off and get some other things done.  I just forgot how good it felt to create something.  Sewing really is super cool!  I am eager to try some new projects too.  If anyone knows of easy projects, do share!  If you haven’t sat down and done something creative lately, give it a shot.  It is amazing what a boost of self confidence it provides, along with some well deserved self satisfaction!