To ask about your hobbies (need ideas!)

[EmmyGoLightly]

I’m going through a divorce (tough but he was emotionally abusive so I know its the right thing). One thing I am realising is that I have completely lost myself, partly having young children and also just putting stbxh’s needs/wants before mine.

So now I have the opportunity to focus on me, but I don’t have any idea what to do! I’m not really sure what makes me happy (apart from doing things to make the dc happy).

So what do you do with your spare time. I’m looking for ideas of things I can do at home when the dc are in bed and things out of the house when the dc are with their dad.

All ideas welcome!

At home - podcasts, creative writing, reading, watching shows/movies, yoga/home workouts

And walking the dog!

I seem to collect hobbies, but like a previous poster said, there's an ebb and flow. I've got interested in embroidery again recently, which I haven't touched in years!

I would recommend having at least one hobby that gets you outside, and one that has you doing/making/creating something with your hands. I work an office job and spend a lot of time in front of a screen, so it's really satisfying to actually work on something physical and to spend time outdoors.

Reading, running, sewing: mending and repurposing things, changing buttons on clothes.
Local history / enjoy old photos of my current and childhood are - Facebook good for this.
Charity shop hunting, boot fairs, vintage clothes.

Quite a lot!

Thanks everyone! Some great ideas here. I’ve made a list of things to give a go!! Feeling quite positive!

Salsa dancing is fantastic for social lives, easy to pick up and is fun to do. Generally you don’t have a set partner so you meet different people as you go through the lesson and then there’s usually social dancing afterwards

If you're competitive and you like a puzzle, you might enjoy chess. If you play online on one of the main sites (Lichess is good, or chess.com) you'll get a rating based on your past performance. You can find an opponent of similar strength to yourself any time of day or night for a game, and choose whether to play fast or slow.

It can be a good confidence builder because the popular perception is that only very bright people are good at chess, whereas actually it is mostly just about practice - so if you work at it a bit, you'll soon be able to beat all your friends and they'll think you're a genius. You can practice conveniently on a website or with an app which presents you with puzzles such as "find a move which gives checkmate" and before you know it, these winning tactics start jumping out at you in your games. I find it easy to fit practice sessions into my day because you only have to spend a few minutes at a time on puzzles.

Sketching, drawing, colouring, calligraphy, sewing and photography.

I sing in a vocal harmony group and it's amazing. I love singing and performing, but the friendships and camaraderie are off the scale!

not got a clue how to go about it, but always fancied a spot of amateur dry cleaning.

Knitting, cross-stitch, anything crafty

Geocaching - absolutely brilliant for getting out and about and discovering new places

Magic the gathering card game, then mainly flower photography, but a mix of other styles.

Cake making
Card crafting
learning military tactics and methodology
Studying spiders and scorpions