Pam King Lakman (’02 Soc. Sci.) took up bread baking. Kira Bottles (’15 Apparel, Merch., Des. & Tex.) wrote a recipe book. Leslie Streeter (’92 Comm., Busi.) started sewing and taught herself the basics of playing the piano.
When the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people found new ways to help pass the time. Running. Baking. Learning a new language. Learning a new instrument. Listening to podcasts. Practicing yoga. Doing arts and crafts. Playing board and video games. Watching TV and movies.
Studies show about two-thirds of Americans found that the pandemic gave them more time for hobbies than ever before—just over six hours per week. Nearly half reported reading and writing more. A third spent more time gardening. And two-fifths spent more time exercising.
Some of those pandemic pastimes fell by the wayside as the world returned to normal.
Others are still going. Some are even still going strong. And that’s a good thing, says Chris Barry, a psychology professor at Washington State University.
Hobbies, Barry notes, “are hugely important. Making time for things we enjoy helps us recharge for have-to’s, not the get-to’s. It’s a path to long-term happiness and satisfaction.”
Barry recognizes peoples’ time is allotted differently now than at the height of the pandemic. “It’s not reasonable to expect all of these pandemic hobbies are going to be maintained. But it’s still important to have time to ourselves to pursue things we enjoy,” he says. “Some might say, ‘I don’t have time for a hobby.’ There may even be some guilt about taking time away from other things. Parents, for example, might feel guilty about that because it might mean time away from their kids.”
But, he warns, not taking time for hobbies “is a recipe for burnout.”
Hobbies, Barry notes, are a big part of self-care. “Being intentional about scheduling them in and making them more of a habit and time for genuine enjoyment is an investment in making the best version of yourself.”
Lakman’s bread baking didn’t last. “I enjoyed it,” she says. But “once the pandemic ended, I stopped.”
Streeter, communications director at WSU Tri-Cities, still sews. But, she admits, “once the piano instruction got to the part where you have to move your hands up and down the keyboard, it was too much for me, so I haven’t gone back to it!”
After Bottles led the recipe book project for her day job, she was inspired to do more of her own photography, as well as launch her own brand and Instagram, develop more recipes, and start another cookbook—this time independent of her job. “It’s been so much fun,” she says. “Connecting with other alumni who do food-related things has been phenomenal.”
What were your pandemic hobbies? Let us know and read about other hobbies.
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Recipes for a successful hobby: Kira Bottles’s WSU cookbook project