It has been widely discussed how the lockdown has challenged many to get through the day while staying at home and heading out only for necessities.
It is times like this that encourage one to start something new, something one never would have thought they would do or simply to do what they have always wanted but never got to due to time restraints.
Georgia Johnston, a yoga instructor who lived in Dublin during the first lockdown, said “I needed an excuse to be outside while adhering to the restrictions and growing my own food was just something I had always wanted to do. Not to mention, the back garden looked bad and I had wanted to do something about it for a while”.
Planting a variety of plants ranging from tomatoes to broccoli she said “I got so excited when the sprouts first poked their heads through the dirt and after that, all I wanted to do was sit with them. They were good company!”
However, when Johnston moved to Berlin to study for a postgraduate, she hadn’t been able to practice her gardening. She said, “as soon as I am able, I’m going to start growing again. It’s something I would recommend to everyone”.
Ciara Murphy, a frontline worker, documents different cuisines as a hobby to get through the pandemic. Her instagram account, @gabagoolstanaccount displays recipes, photographs, and a little touch of personality in her captions.
Murphy said, “using a hobby made me feel like I was still in control of my own time and had something to look forward to every day, especially as we weren’t allowed to leave our homes and it was all so new and uncertain”.
“I always loved food and cooking and used it as a means to ease general anxiety and stress as I usually switch off and get lost in it. I work a lot so the fact that cooking is not only something I love but it’s something I need to do after work to get fed means I can always improve, get better, and experiment more” she said.
Murphy said “This will sound lame but… cooking is a form of self expression to me! I find it’s a way to show kindness and care towards yourself and others, it’s a form of self care that isn’t necessarily spoken about as other forms, it’s exciting, it’s rarely repetitive and it really is such an easy access to pleasure and enjoyment”.
She tried other hobbies but did not feel the same as she does for cooking. She said she “was pretty into yoga for a while, I made a herb garden during the summer, I downloaded Duolingo for a while, I read A LOT of books, but none of them have the same consistency as cooking. I do still jog though!!”.
Helena Ahern, a DCU Counsellor, said that having a hobby is “a meditation in itself”. She emphasised that if it is a hobby that one is really passionate about it “is very very good for our wellbeing.
She advises those who aren’t able to think of a hobby to “ask yourself the question ‘is there something I like doing already’, ‘is there something I actually find myself reading about, or googling about’, that will give you a very good indication of where your interest lies”.
She said that a person who winds down with hobbies, in fact, “has a good impact when we have to go back to our work lives and study”.