Guilty.
Over the years things have shifted a little and some hobbies have been pared down, some have fallen by the wayside entirely, and others have ramped up.
Since I made that page I took up making wooden toys, Lego, digital drawing, and discovered a love for audiobooks. I’ve given up crochet, my Silhouette, and hand lettering, among other things.
But after my ADHD diagnosis a few years ago, it put my hobby hopping into a new light. I came to understand hyperfocus and how it impacted my life: my wallet, my time, my home and clutter threshold, so many aspects of my life that I hadn’t really considered. While all those hobbies are hella fun, I realized I needed to make some changes in order to be aligned with my core values and goals in life.
I made a conscious decision not to pursue every new thing that came across my path just because it was new and shiny. I had to learn some constraint and how to say no to myself. I get so swept away sometimes it’s all consuming!! but I decided that I wanted to go deeper instead of wider - because while I can do anything, I cannot do everything.
So some hobbies remain- I am still a voracious consumer of audiobooks. Some hobbies have become cyclical- I still spend about two weeks every summer obsessed with tie dying. Some hobbies I’ve retired completely- I sold and gave away allllll of my crochet gear. And some hobbies I’ve learned to seamlessly integrate into my family life- my boys and I enjoy building and playing Lego together.
Some of these were HARD choices!! I had so much guilt about money spent and time wasted. And there was grief too- I had to say goodbye the Karli that was going to be a professional wooden toy maker, the Karli that was going to DIY the whole house, the Karli that was going to finally finish alllll these projects! But the peace of mind that came with clearing out the clutter- both physically and mentally has been well-worth it.
I don’t have any regrets about the hobbies that I’ve left behind, I know that they’ll still be there for me should I ever change my mind. I also feel good about the hobbies that I’ve decided to keep in my life- I’ve been able to be persistent where I’ll never be consistent.
I’ve come to realize that for me, it’s less about the actual hobby and more about the pursuit of knowledge and skills, so when I can add a pause button on jumping to a new thing, and instead take a step back- I am able to come back to a core hobby with new eyes and desire to dig a little deeper.
I’m still a work in progress, and there’s still more clutter that needs to be cleared from my life, but I feel good about the direction I’m headed. “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away,” has never resonated more.
