Breaking up is hard to do

I just read this at Small Notebook and made a long comment on it. Then I realized it was long enough to be a post and really is what I am thinking these days so here it is!

I am going through the same thing as Rachel is right now – her post is all about breaking up with hobbies. Before last Christmas I decided I wanted to make my own knitted stockings, like these:

photo from StyleatHome.com

So my mom got me needles and yarn. Then my grandma bought me some needles and more yarn for Christmas this year. And while I love the idea of knitting my own stockings, and the yarn I’ve been given is really pretty … that was over a year ago and I have yet to even cast on a stitch.

I think now that we’ve bought a house that we’ll be in for many, many years (hopefully!) and our family is growing (like my belly…) I yearn for some handmade, and customized decor. I realized, in deciding how to finish off the girls’ room, that what I would truly like to take up (from my youth) is sewing, so I invested in a new machine yesterday. And material. And ribbon. And pillow forms. And I’m going to do it because it actually is something I like to do. The making of the thing is as exciting as the finished product. With the knitting, I just wanted beautiful stockings. But I can buy those.

It’s like baking for me. I could just go and buy some lovely brownies/cinnamon buns/biscuits/cake/whatever-we-feel-like-eating but I like the process and the anticipation of the baking as much as the eating. And sharing. Because if something is that good, you should share it. Plus who can eat 50 cinnamon buns? (BTW I have lots in my freezer if anyone wants to come over for tea!)

Then there’s the scrapbooking/craft supplies we all seem to get consumed by. I used to scrapbook a lot. Then a little bit. Now hardly ever. But I got overwhelmed because I felt pressured, like I HAD to scrapbook EVERY. LITTLE. DETAIL. OF. EACH. FAMILY. MEMBER. But from where was that pressure coming? FROM ME!

I’m over it now. I only scrapbook the really special and beautiful photos and just put then rest in albums (when I actually get around to printing them.) That’s because my other favourite photo hobby is photo books. So much easier than scrapbooking. And all our photos are digital anyway! I still have a lot of my scrapbooking equipment and supplies to do the special pages, and also make cards and some paper crafts. My next paper project is to make a birthday banner like this one, except a little less primary coloured:

photo from thepickyapple.com

I could go on. I loved reading so I make time for that, a little every day. I don’t do crafts with my kids but I sometimes sing and dance with them. I don’t run, jog, play soccer, or tennis. But I do yoga regularly (or I do when I’m not 6 1/2 months pregnant and just trying to GTD) and we go for walks. And now that the weather is perking up we have (just) started to go for bike rides. We don’t watch TV but we watch movies, both as a family and as a date night.

It’s all about the balance.

Have you broken up with any hobbies lately? Or fallen in love with any new ones? I’d love to hear about it!