Hobbies are amazing – they can de-stress you, help you learn things, give you something to look forward to, and, in some cases, they can even go on to make you money (although that’s not the main reason for taking them up – think of it as a bonus if it happens). But as great as they are, sometimes hobbies can cost a lot of money, and that can be off-putting or even cause you more stress because you’ve somehow got to find the money you need to keep going.
Of course, there are some free hobbies around, so perhaps it would be ideal to start with those – they’ve got loads of benefits, so just keep reading to find out more.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
You’ll Save Money
Obviously, the first point we need to talk about is the fact that free hobbies are going to save you money – there won’t be any sudden costs you have to deal with, and you won’t feel guilty because you’re spending so much or miss out because you don’t have the money to pay for whatever it is you need to pay for.
You could even think of free hobbies are being freeing because if you’re playing a great game on online solitaire, you’re having a load of fun, learning, getting better at problem-solving, de-stressing, being mindful, and, on top of all that, you’re not spending any money – what could be better than that when it comes to your mental health?
No Pressure To Be Good
When you’re not financially invested in whatever hobby it is you’ve chosen, you won’t feel any pressure to be good at it – you won’t feel as though you’re wasting money or letting anyone (including yourself) down. No one’s going to judge you because the point of a free hobby (the point of all hobbies, come to that) is just to have fun. If you happen to get good at your new skill or learn things along the way, that’s fantastic, but it’s not essential – the fun part is.
When that pressure’s lifted, you’ll feel happier to do your hobby because you’ll know there’s nothing that’s expected of you at the end, and you’ll feel good when you’re finished. And that might even mean that, ironically, you get really good at your hobby because you’re doing it more often!
You’ll Find What Makes You Happy
You’re not automatically going to know what hobby is going to be your favorite right from the start – something might look good, but when you actually try it, it could be that you just don’t really get on with it for some reason. That’s perfectly fine and normal (we don’t know what we don’t know), but when you’re paying for a hobby it becomes a bit of a problem because you’ll feel guilty for wasting money; you might just battle on even if it’s making you unhappy or stressed.
With a free hobby, you can try as many as you like without any damage done, and eventually you’ll come across something you really like that works for you and makes you happy, which changes everything for the better.
