We’re often encouraged to nurture our curiosity, to explore new hobbies or activities and to basically “change it up” from time to time. This is because injecting novelty into our lives helps us stay positive, interested, and interesting. Just doing something different can completely dispel a bad mood or improve a good one. Keeping things fresh can take a lot of energy – but finding the right hobby can make it easier.

In fact, finding an engaging hobby can help us each find true joy.

Because if we find a hobby that exposes us to new things and keeps us learning, it can help us to stay on that positive plain.

And unlike other feel-better remedies, engaging in a new hobby can give you an almost immediate lift!

Find A Hobby That Brings Joy to You

But it’s important to choose the hobby that is right for each of us, as individuals.

Cooking Works for Me

Others may not enjoy cooking, for example, but it’s one of my favorite things to do.

I do it often. In fact, I cook almost every day.

Part of what makes cooking enjoyable to me is having an end product to show for my effort.

Another is the appreciation of my family or friends when I share the fruits of my labor!

But there’s more to it than that; the actual act of cooking is fulfilling to me. I began to wonder why.

So lately, I’ve immersed myself in it as I do it – and I think I’ve figured it out.

It’s about the textures of fresh herbs as I chop them. The color and shapes and beauty of garden vegetables. The sizzle of garlic simmering in a pan. The scent of cookies baking or sauce as it begins to absorb all the seasonings and love I have put into it. And of course, the tastes. The incredible variety of tastes and flavors and the feel of different foods, too. The fullness of the sensory experience brings me joy. I feel fulfilled. And it stays with me long after the cooking is done and the meal has been enjoyed, I feel a quiet satisfaction and peace.

I feel sated, in more ways than one.

Find an Outdoor Hobby Like Hiking or Backpacking

Another hobby I enjoyed in the past was hiking and back-packing. Years ago, I belonged to an Outing Club. We would drive to nearby mountains almost every week. We’d bring next to nothing with us, and just spend the day exploring the woods. Again, the sensory experience was intense – the smell of the forest, the sounds of birds singing and sticks and leaves crunching; the feel of tree bark. The pleasant ache of our muscles as we would attempt to scale a higher mountain or reach a particularly challenging summit. When camping, there was the feeling of waking up with a warm body and a cold nose and breathing in that forest air. The intense beauty of changing leaves and the crisp coldness of water from natural springs and falls.

Once again, the key for me, personally, was experiencing my senses – to the fullest.

The Sensory Experience of a Hobby

Figuring this out raised some questions in my mind, because I’m also quite sensitive to sensory overload. I can’t handle noise, especially. It’s disconcerting to me when there’s background music, especially if it’s too loud. And I also find extreme colors or flashing lights overwhelming. So just as a healthy sensory experience fulfills me, extreme sensory experiences make me anxious and stressed. So perhaps it’s about experiencing my senses fully, combined with a peaceful environment that allows me to truly soak them up?

I don’t know if finding the right balance of sensory experience is as essential for others when finding a hobby, but it’s something that may help me choose other activities to pursue.

When I’m trying to decide whether to give something a try, I’ll now ask myself that question: how likely is it that this hobby will fully engage my senses?

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this.

What hobbies take you away, and bring you true joy? Do you know why you enjoy them so much? How can we reserve more time to indulge these passions? Because we’re all at our best when we’re doing things that bring us joy.

How about we all do one thing this week that brings us this type of satisfaction? Because doing so will help us spread true joy, too.

Thank you as always for reading.

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KindCompassCoach

Joan Senio is the founder of KindCompassCoach. Her career includes 20+ years as a health care executive and 15 years (and counting) as a consultant. The common thread through Joan’s professional life has been a commitment to lead, mentor and coach current and future leaders, and women from all walks of life. KindCompassCoach provides information and advice grounded in Joan’s personal experience; however, all articles are backed by research and provide facts and advice from a wide variety of experts. Joan also serves as a thought-leader for KuelLife.com and is a regular contributor to PsychReg and Sixty and Me.