Forgetting our hobbies is an unfortunate and natural part of living life. We often face periods of stress and overwork so overwhelming that we don’t have enough time for what we used to love. By the time our calendars open up, we’re often settled into new patterns, and we forget about getting back into older habits.

There’s nothing wrong with finding yourself on this path, but there’s also nothing that says we need to stay on it.

With some hard work, it’s very possible to rediscover old hobbies, and there are few better ways to do that than by creating a hobby room. Make a special space for it. Whether this means remodelling an older room or building a new one, there’s a lot to be gained from this process, with serious advantages that pay off in the years and decades ahead.

Working on any kind of hobby rewards you with the feeling of a job well done. Whether it’s relaxing after exercising, thinking over the message of a book you just read, or admiring the work of a creative project, simply finishing it can be its own reward. Hobbies are also more than that, aiding in positive health outcomes.

According to research as mentioned at Sword Health, keeping mentally active can maintain cognitive health and delay age-related decline. We’ve all seen people in their eighties with minds just as sharp as they’ve ever been. And hobbies can play a major part in you achieving the same sharpness later in life.

Working on your home

Clearing a room or creating a dedicated space to pursue these activities can be a great way to get started on a new hobby. Not only this, if you do it right, remodelling or rebuilding a room into a hobby space comes with the added benefit of increasing the valuation of your home. These are highly desirable spaces, and the extra value they created is taken into account by estate agents, including online home sales services like We Buy Any Home.

This online system works by looking at the entirety of a home, including the work that you’ve done, and running calculations to determine value. Free cash offers are then returned within minutes and funds in as little as seven days. Any enhancements you’ve built can create appreciable payoffs if you do choose to sell. So, you could be investing in your home, as well as yourself.

Discovering or rediscovering a passion

Mental sharpness and financial rewards are already strong reasons to think about building hobby rooms, but just as important is the joy that it can bring into your life. Hobbies aren’t just distractions; they’re ways that we can express ourselves, our creativity, and grow into more developed people.

Hobbies can also be a useful way of connecting with loved ones or meeting new people. Online communal hobby group systems like Meetup can help with this process, letting you find like-minded individuals to share new or existing passions with.

The idea of creating a hobby room might be challenging, but it’s likely to be worth the effort. Investing in a hobby room and jumping back into the hobby space is an investment in your future, even if the first steps can be difficult ones. It’s all about taking a long-term view, and asking yourself where you’d like to be five years from now. And what skills and personal projects you’d like to have achieved when 2030 comes around.

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The post Why building a hobby room will spark joy appeared first on Silver Magazine.

From one heartache to the next

This time two years ago I ended my marriage of 15 years, a week before my birthday. My husband and I lived in our apartment for another 12 months, finishing the renovations so it could go up for sale. I found a much smaller place in St Leonard’s on Sea, just five miles away, while my ex was planning to move back to his native France.

Meanwhile I was in relationship with a man I was besotted with. A man who would go on to repeatedly ghost me then leave me for another woman.

Fast-forward a year and we were finally due to exchange contracts on our flat. Only for the buyer to pull out at the last moment. I had to pay the fees for the flat I could no longer buy, along with the fees for the one we hadn’t sold. I had no work at the time, so it was a huge blow, both financially and emotionally.

It’s fair to say that life was overwhelming for both of us.

Gautier’s father had died unexpectedly during COVID and his mother had recently been diagnosed with cancer, and was undergoing brutal treatment with a bleak prognosis. We were both devastated, obviously him more than me. But I too was so stressed I was worried that I’d end up with cancer.

Guess what?

The unthinkable

Gautier had just left for France when I found a weird cocktail sausage-shaped swelling in my left breast whilst maneuvering myself into a new bikini. I was sent for a mammogram, scan and biopsies immediately after the consultant had examined me, and had a lumpectomy six weeks later.

Friends helped out post-surgery, but there was nobody to make me a cup of tea, give me a hug, do housework and make dinner. Each night I went to bed exhausted, scared and alone. I struggled physically and mentally for months, especially after radiotherapy. I was stuck in a flat I couldn’t sell, so I literally couldn’t move on with my life. And I found it hard to ask for help, so I didn’t.

I desperately needed a break before I broke.

Another article you may like: 10 things I wish I’d known about breast cancer – before I had it 

A change of scenery – the road to recovery

An all-inclusive hotel in Egypt’s Sharm-el-Sheik wouldn’t have been my first choice of destination. I was thinking more of Madeira or Menorca. However, a deal popped up for the Iberotel Redsina and the word ‘snorkeling’ jumped out at me.

I went bananas and booked a ‘swim-up’ room instead of the cheapest room, which is what the old me had always done. The sea appeared to be the same shade of blue as Paul Newman’s eyes. My body needed this like it needed oxygen.

Because it was summer and off-season – high season being spring or late autumn/winter – the resort was almost empty. I arrived at night, ordered room service and jumped straight in the pool outside my room. I swam under the soft white lights with no interruptions except the faint rustling of palm tree leaves as they swayed in the breeze.

The grounds are beautiful

There’s nothing but polite staff, beautiful flowers and palm trees everywhere you go. I felt very relaxed despite the 45-degree heat doing its best to floor me.

I’d sit cross-legged in the clear shallows playing with passing fish and little things that were like a cross between starfish and tarantulas (we held hands/tentacles)

The 60-minute deep tissue massage I treated myself to was the best I’d ever had, and I left the spa with some gorgeous Egyptian skincare products. The beach was two minutes’ walk from my room; the deep water accessed by a long jetty. I was in heaven the moment I jumped into the water.

In the main restaurant, giddy from such a vast choice of food from so many different cultures, I chose Egyptian (obvs). Dishes were beautifully cooked and bursting with flavour. I ate grilled red mullet and sardines, zesty tabbouleh, stuffed aubergines, perfectly dainty French-inspired patisserie, and about 87 different breads.

“Hello Miss Juliette, would you like to do yoga and Pilates each morning, outside in the shade?” Er, yes. After that I’d sit cross-legged in the clear shallows playing with passing fish and little things that were like a cross between starfish and tarantulas (we held hands/tentacles).

Facing phobias

I snorkeled for the first time. This was a huge deal since I have three lifelong phobias: anything covering my face, eels and the other things like eels beginning with ‘s’, and deep water. I had two panic attacks then went back in minus the snorkel, waving to beautiful blue and yellow fish as I swam along the coral. Still in panic mode, though, since I was in 40ft deep water and THERE MIGHT BE AN EEL. I don’t do things by halves.

At the zen pool I could sketch or read in peace while sipping ice-cold Sakara (Egyptian beer) with lemon. I dressed up for dinner each night and was happy to eat alone while I mopped my sweaty brow, insisting on eating outside – “I’m on holiday!” – rather than in the air-conditioned interior.

Four days later, despite a horrible flight, I came back a better, calmer version of myself. I’d been looked after, and I’d relished it. I wouldn’t recommend waiting until you get cancer to allow yourself that. But for me, I guess it was better late than never. Do go in October, though, won’t you?

www.jazhotels.com

Juliette Wills

Juliette writes about football, F1, fashion, health and interiors for national magazines and newspapers. She’s also Bexhill’s new Town Crier (true story!), runs a pet sitting sideline and heads up her own creative agency. If she’s not at home she’s in the sea

The post My cancer recovery: the charm of Sharm appeared first on Silver Magazine.

If you’ve ever done a quick search along the lines of ‘easy hobbies to start’ or ‘activities to ease stress’ you’ve almost definitely come face to face with the advice that you should start journalling. But, typically that’s all it says. Why should I journal? What do I even journal about? 

Mental health impacts

Worries and anxieties are something we inevitably all experience. Unfortunately, it can impact our sleep, our appetite, and our general enjoyment of life.

Journalling has been found to aid mental health by operating as an outlet to accept our internal experiences, rather than judging them. When we’re plagued by stressful thoughts or emotions, it’s almost impossible to view them objectively. Writing them down puts you in a position of looking at your feelings rather than actively being in them, allowing you to process them more effectively.

Additionally, using a journal to actively express gratitude will give you a more positive outlook. We can often find it easier to focus on the negative in our lives over the positive things. Using a journal to record things you feel gratitude for forces you to examine the good in your life. This could be things you’ve achieved (big and small), friends and family in your life, or really simple like having a roof over your head. 

Committing pen to paper

Knowing the benefits of journalling is of no help unless you’re able to actually implement it into your life. Maybe you feel you’re not creative enough, or you can’t pinpoint a specific line of thoughts to write down. Journalling should still be accessible to you.

The best way to ensure you’ve always got something to commit to paper, is to build a prompts bank in your notebook. Create a list of journal prompts that you can always fall back on if nothing is naturally spewing forward when you open your book (ideas below.) The beauty of journal prompts is that you can reuse the same one repeatedly, and see how your answer or thoughts have changed from a week ago, the month previously, or a whole year.

Build the habit into your life. Make a commitment to open your journal up either every morning, before bed, or on your lunch break. You don’t necessarily have to write anything down each day, but at least open it up and sit for a few minutes. You might find something comes forward that you want to get out and onto paper.

Journalling prompts

Here’s a list of journal prompts to jot down in your notebook that’ll hopefully get the mind juices flowing. There are plenty more you can search up online, or take inspiration from the ones below to build up a bank.

• When do you feel most like yourself?
• What do you most look forward to each day?
• An intention for the day ahead
• What do you need more of in your life?
• List five qualities you like about yourself
• How could you honour and respect yourself more?
• What would make this week amazing?
• What’s something you saw today that brought you joy?

Make it what you want

Journalling is what you make of it, and you’ll get out what you put in. If it helps, view it as a creative outlet as well as a record of your thoughts and emotions. You can experiment with different ideas; create lists, sketch, scrapbook, or none of the above. 

The key is don’t allow it to become overwhelming. You can write as little or as much as you want before you get comfortable with it. And hopefully, it won’t be long before you feel the benefits of journalling on your daily mental health.

Read: How to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep ‘hacks’ debunked

Lana Hall

Lana can usually be found spinning her collection of records, or writing odd poems in her phone notes. Her mixer of choice is a ginger beer, and you’ll never find her away from the sea for more than a few weeks.

The post The benefits of journalling and how you can start appeared first on Silver Magazine.