With 2026 and the Spring semester now fully in swing, I’ve started to ease into some of the habits and hobbies that I’m implementing this year. After reflecting on 2025, I realized that I needed to start prioritizing time for activities that bring me joy.
As a busy college student, it can be easy to fall into routines that don’t accommodate self-expression. I usually spend my free time bed-rotting or doomscrolling, which can be refreshing every once in a while but doesn’t always leave me feeling fulfilled. Not only is it important to do things that make me happy in the moment, but I’ve realized I thrive when I use creative outlets that enhance my surroundings and provide something tangible. There’s nothing as rewarding to me as spending time creating something, then having a final product I can enjoy forever.
To me, being whimsical means embracing things that are colorful and playful, and taking time to appreciate what I love about even the simplest parts of life. This is exactly what I want to practice in my everyday routine, and I’ve loved discovering new hobbies that will make being whimsical a habit of mine in the new year!
- Coloring
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One of my favorite hobbies that I’ve gotten into is coloring! I was so excited to see it resurge on social media because it brought me so much joy when I was younger. It’s important to me to embrace things that help me get in touch with my childhood self, and it makes me so happy to see other people rediscovering their love for it as well.
This hobby is so accessible and easy to get started with! I started with just a box of crayons and coloring pages that I printed from Pinterest. This setup was honestly amazing by itself; however, as I began to coloring more often and seeing TikTok videos that recommended specific tools, I decided to invest in a pack of alcohol markers.
The investment was totally worth it because having so many colors to choose from and the ability to layer and shade make it a more enjoyable experience. They’ve even come in handy for other projects and activities, too.
Coloring is also a perfect pastime to pair with an audiobook or podcast. If you’re anything like me, you always want something to listen to and are way too dedicated to hitting your Goodreads reading goal this year. I really can’t think of a better way to wind down after a long day of classes!
- Painting Pottery
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Something about me is that I’m obsessed with finding the cutest designs. For this reason, discovering pottery painting has been a game changer for me. Not only is it so fun and satisfying to hand-paint something, but you also have total creative freedom to customize the items of your dreams.
Here at FSU, we’re so lucky to have two locations on campus with resources to get started on this hobby: Paint-a-Pot in the Askew Student Life Center and the Art Center on the lower level of the Student Union. Whenever I get bored during long gaps between classes, these are some of my favorite places to escape for a little while and do something creative. They have almost anything ceramic you could ever want to paint on, from dinnerware like mugs, plates, and bowls, to magnets, frames, and sculptures.
- Junk Journaling/Scrapbooking
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I’ve gotten so used to social media being my only space to document what’s happening in my life, so when I discovered junk journaling as an outlet for collecting physical keepsakes and knick-knacks, I knew I wanted to start one for 2026. I’m so in love with the idea of taking things that would otherwise be considered trash and using them to build an archive of memories. Plus, there’s so much room for customization and creative freedom!
This hobby has been so fulfilling for me because it reminds me to enjoy little moments and things that might be easy to overlook. I think it’s so important to have a system to document life events, and keeping a junk journal has reminded me to capture things I probably wouldn’t have in the past. I’ve found it so rewarding to come back from doing something fun and immediately reflect by creating a cute scrapbook page, reminding myself to be grateful for the experience.
To be completely honest, I’ve never been very successful at sticking to my New Year’s goals. So far, each of these new hobbies has reignited my spark in different ways, so I’m optimistic that this year I’ll change that! I’m really excited to continue using them to reshape my mindset and priorities for 2026, and hopefully, I can fully embrace the whimsy of it all.
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