Hobbies

Lately, I've been feeling like I need to try out some new hobbies.  I'm open to suggestions from any readers out there!

There are only a few people who know me well enough to know the twisting and confusing journey I've been on the past few years with my back injury, shifting personality and just general struggles.  Even those people would likely identify my hobbies as the same that I've always had - anything physical/sport-related, baking, and being incredibly busy with friends.

While I still have a fairly busy social calendar, I've definitely veered away from the other two hobbies.  I am trying my best to get back to some semblance of the type of shape I was in when I was playing basketball in college, but it's been quite the challenge.  It's honestly a pretty unrealistic goal.  I'm getting older & have more limitations now than I did when I was in college.  Some days this can be a pretty debilitating thought to have.  I ride my Peloton bike most days during the week and try to go to the gym to lift weights once a week.  I try to avoid riding the Peloton more than two straight days in a row because clipping in more than that can cause some residual nerve pain to act up in my right ankle.

In my search for other things to do, I've been looking into courses/classes where I can learn something new.  I've also noticed that many of the hobbies that I find myself leaning towards are tactile.  As I've had to slow down & do less, I've found myself being quite fidgety.

The most promising of the options I've found at this time, is a beginner's pottery class.

I started writing this post around March or April of 2024.... and now it's October.  Suffice to say, this isn't that surprising that something for ME has fallen to the wayside as other more important things have taken priority.

In June of this year, I got married.  It was a whirlwind of a long weekend near Boothbay Harbor in Maine and I can't believe it's already been 4 months.  Life seems to continue to be jam packed, without much sign of it slowing down.  Even our honeymoon won't actually be until almost our 1st anniversary because of our schedules.

I find myself both yearning for time to pause and be thoughtful, but also getting antsy if I have more that a few seconds to sit.  I've been getting back into a more regular physical therapy routine, in the hopes that consistency will reduce the number of flare ups that I've been experiencing.

As I think about the remainder of 2024... I don't actually know if I'll have time for a pottery class.  It may be something that I can revisit in the new year, but with the travel schedule I see ahead of me, it won't make any financial sense to pay for a class that I'd then have to miss a number of sessions for.

In the search for other hobbies, I've found that I look back on my travels wishing I could be better about journaling and keeping track of what I've done and what we've seen.  

I have two un-finished travel journals - one from the Australia / New Zealand trip that my (now husband!) and I took over last Christmas and New Years and another from a camper van trip out west we just took in September.

I want to set a goal for myself to complete those two travel journals by the end of the year. & maybe also write one for our 1st international trip together that we took a few years ago to Spain and Portugal, but I won't get ahead of myself and try to do this before the other two hopefully....

A lot of this anxious energy, I think, is coming from the sense that I have of not knowing where I'm going.  Ambiguity seems to be a constant in my life since my back injury and chronic pain journey have started.  I don't love it, but I've been trying to work to be more comfortable with it being around.

<3 Vicky


Comments

  1. AllyNovember 13, 2024 at 8:56 PM

    Love to see that you are writing blog updates again. You set aside time to make it happen! *insert celebratory snaps* I would also love to try a pottery class. I've done a few one night events and I've learned that putting my hands on some clay is so therapeutic!!! Always in your corner to cheer you along in this journey called life. ❤️

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