To ask if you developed a new skill/hobby that changed your life after 30

[raringtogo354]

I'm interested to hear about your skills and hobbies and if they gave you a new lease of life/turned things around for you. I'm in my 30s and feel stuck in a rut and have done so for a few years now. Absolutely not asking for a pity party here, but I don't feel like there is anything I am good at. Sure I'm okay a bits and pieces, but would like to channel my energy into something where I can later on down the line say 'It's taken me years to learn XXX'.

As a youngster I did very well academically but have taken a route in life where my degree is no longer useful or indeed of interest to me. I had a bit of a moment this morning where I thought, in a dinner party scenario, there really isn't much I can say about myself and don't feel like there is a lot to me and I really want to change things.

Explaining to my DH this morning, I want something to work at in life, something that I love. I want to put the hours into something physical and creative - which is where I thought maybe I could learn an instrument.

Has anyone else started something life-changing as an adult?

Pole dancing- so much fun and has made such a difference to how I feel about myself.

This thread is super inspiring! I took refresher motorway driving lessons which was unexpectedly fun.

CrossFit. I became so involved that I did a personal trainer qualification and now train others.

I got properly into running at about 32 (had run intermittently from my 20s but nothing consistent)
That’s done loads for my mental health generally - so much more confident and calm than I was.
I decided to learn piano in my 40th year - grade 3 after 18 mths and still going. I’m a full time deputy head with three small chn so busy life but fit both in as love them and know what they bring me. I also think I’m showing my chn how important it is to have something you’re passionate about and committed to

Bought a bass, figuring I might as well kick off a midlife crisis sooner rather than later.

Found out I was good at it. Really good at it.

Started playing gigs.

Made lots of friends.

Had to get a replacement guitarist in at short notice. he bounced up on stage and smiled at me. We got on really well, genuine friends with similar likes and interests.

Learned to recognise I was stuck in an abusive and controlling relationship. Had support to extricate myself from said relationship.

Played gigs further afield. Learned that I could sing as well and not to listen to the voices of people from my past saying I should never open my mouth because the sound that could come out was an abomination.

Guitarist moved in about 2 years later. Still here now. Have tales of gigs and festivals all over the place including on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, illness, disability, idiots and morons, crap 'normal' jobs on the basis of the experience and now we're both outwardly respectable individuals with a modest income - and nobody we work with now would ever suspect a thing.

And all because I decided to learn bass.

I started hiking at the age of 41 and that changed my life, sadly I lost the one person who I met, married and shared my hobby with and due to cardiac issues I’m unable to walk at the moment until they find out what’s wrong with me

I started to crochet nearly 10 years ago and never stopped, it’s been a life saver for me the past couple of months and I’ve made some beautiful stuff. I wouldn’t say it’s changed my life but it’s given me a bit of fulfilment and distraction even though it’s not exactly exciting! Im having a go at knitting too.

Pick any hobby that interests you and go for it.

Oh yes forgot Me and my girls joined a dancing group in 2012 and was with them until 2018. Enjoyed that immensely, and performed on stage several times, did events, shows and town performances. Did my confidence the world of good and it was something that bonded me and our children together through a bit of a crappy time

This is such a brilliant thread.

For me, it was formal education. I went back and got the degree I wanted to get two years ago and I’m not almost finished my MFA. Plan on a PhD after. It’s been life changing.

Oh, and I started taxidermy.

Just changing jobs, after which I’d love to take up cello lessons and get back into some form of exercise.

I joined a gym. Was very scared and apprehensive!
But best thing ever i am now mid to late 30s doing gym classes 6 days a week and I made loads of friends there I love it

What a great thread!

I love gardening. Took it up about 3/4 years ago after filling my house with indoor plants. I now grow veggies from seed every year for my veggie patch. This year I'm also growing flowers from seed whereas usually I buy plugs.

I really like walking. I always took dc for walks ect but now I'm happy to go for a 5 mile walk by myself (when my sciatica isn't hurting). I put an audio book on and relish the alone time. Before I wouldn't go for walks by myself. Now, I've realised I can do things that make me happy, by myself. It's been a game changer.

I’ve always loved birds, so I took up wildlife photography about 4 years ago (I’m 44 now).

And I’ve gotten pretty damn good at it! Ended up costing me a bloody fortune in equipment (my camera and main telephoto lens alone were £2.5k) but I feel it’s absolutely worth it for the joy and satisfaction it brings me.

I suffer with anxiety/stress and it helps immensely with this. I can just go out into nature, with my camera and switch off. I bloody love it Should’ve done it much sooner!!

I tried an ancient, niche artisan craft (so niche I worry it'll out me) as a one-off in a work context and am now completely smitten, teaching myself as I go. It is entirely solitary, slow and precise, which is a perfect antidote to my professional life, yet it is delightfully creative and requiring a lot of ingenuity and problem solving. I'm still very much a novice, albeit perhaps with a smidgen of natural talent, and I am enjoying myself so much.

I learned to sail when I was over 30. It lapsed for a few years when DD was small, but then re-invigorated when she got into watersports too... I started windsurfing too (a bit) when I was nearly 50.

Enormous fun, especially if you can join a club with your kid(s)

I am learning the guitar and learning to play golf. Bought both cheaply from marketplace and love it.

Baking cakes and zumba, im no Mary Berry but at almost 40 I can finally bake a carrot cake ect!!

@ScaffoldingEndlessly

After being an accountant for many years and hating it, then not working while the DC were small, I started an OU psychology degree. I'm now a specialist TA, and though the pay is dreadful, I'm really loving it and doing a masters in my particular area of interest.

The OU is relatively expensive now, but it was doable for me 15 years ago.

I’ve been interested in doing Psychology for years.

Looked into OU courses but can’t afford them unfortunately. (Spent all my savings on photography equipment 😂).

Clinical and criminal psychology were two areas I was particularly interested in!

I’m 45. The things that give me joy are weight lifting, bouldering, crochet and my OU degree that I’m doing for sheer interest not a job. All of which, apart from crochet, I’ve started since I was 40.

Took up painting after I had experienced a break down when I was in my early fifties. It transformed my health and my dh has said he had never forgotten seeing me at my easel in the garden totally absorbed and relaxed after being so unwell. Now years later our walls are covered in paintings of our grandchildren from babyhood to the adults they are now showing them involved in activities, dressed in new school uniforms etc ; together with places visited over the years, flowers et etc. Relatives and friends also have paintings on their walls so the enjoyment goes on with girl friends added and so on.

I'd always wanted to learn the piano and took it up from scratch at 29. Seven years later, it's one of the greatest joys of my life. I now play at Grade 7 standard, have a community of fellow players I play duets and concerts with, and look forward to my lessons every week. Learning to play a new piece is so challenging and rewarding, and practice requires so much concentration that it's actually incredibly relaxing because you zone the rest of the world out completely. I love love love it. Now I'm at the point where I can play much more complex pieces, I'm starting to learn pieces I've always longed to play, and it's honestly just the best feeling in the world to hear that beauty come from my fingers!

During lockdown I started taking creative writing classes online - I'd always written but never taken it seriously. I loved it so much and was encouraged by my tutor to pursue it further, so I quit my job and signed up to do an MA in it. I've nearly finished my MA now and it's been one of the best experiences of my life. I've learned so much and become an infinitely better writer, which brings me so much pleasure because I love the process of crafting beautiful prose. My life is now taking a totally new direction because of this course - I'm never going back to my previous career or a 9-5 - I've had my eyes opened to the possibilities and flexibilities of a creative life less ordinary (met so many amazing alternative people who cobble together a living doing what they love, so I'm joining them!).

Through my course I've also had the chance to have a go at translation (I speak another language fluently) and I LOVE it. I want to pursue this as well as my own writing so now I'm planning on taking up another language and spending some time abroad to improve my language skills.

Life is a journey and we should always be learning and growing and open to change. Learning something new opens your eyes and heart and world to so much more than just the skill you're learning. Go for it, OP!

My teenage dd and myself learned to ride in my 30s. This led to us owning 4 of our own and my daughter training to be an eventer. Also learned to crochet. Got heavily into vintage which has never left. Bought and sold at vintage fairs. Rediscovered swimming and taught myself front crawl. I'm now 49 and alot has changed and I feel I need a boost again after illness robbing me of my strength and putting on weight. I loved being outdoors, like a pp said above love going to bed shattered but a good shattered. Oh also have always been a gardener and had my first allotment in my 30s. Now it's a small patch in my garden x

I trained as a nurse at 36 . I'm retired now though .

I took up a hobby at 38. It turned into a something I taught, then it snowballed into a bigger business, then became my career and allowed me to get out of debt, be financially comfortable after years of being on the breadline, buy a house, and it’s still growing. It’s never too late. My life now is something I would never have thought possible at 30.

@Sunshine1235

My friend took up rowing in her late 40s, she’s 60+ now and rows twice a week, is very fit and healthy with a great group of friends she’s rowed with for years. I’m mid 30s with small children, I fully intend to embrace new hobbies and sports when I get past this intense stage of parenting

Interesting. I want to learn to row. But am not a morning person

Sorry I didn’t specify- I took up hula hooping, and started teaching that. That led to dance , pole, and so much more. But it just started with a new hula hooping hobby!

I joined a choir.

I'm no musician and I never will be. But that doesn't matter at all.

When I joined I was barely able to sing louder than a whisper, and only then if there were enough other singers around to mask me. After a few years I was happily singing in small groups. And at our last concert, a few weeks before the first lockdown, I sang a solo. Only one, terrifying phrase, but I did it! I never in a million years believed I would sing solo in a public performance!

Learning to sing has brought such joy to my life. The feeling of being part of a group of voices creating a wonderful sound is like having wings.