essay on hobbies developed during lockdown

PCMA Foundation
Do Business with PCMA
My Membership
• Renew Membership
My Purchases
CE Transcript

Pandemic Pastimes: How Hobbies Help Us Deal with Stress

Like many people around the world, the Convene editorial team has invested time in leisurely pursuits during the pandemic. Digital editor Curt Wagner transforms photos he takes (left) into new designs.

About four weeks into the COVID-19 restrictions, I was weary of what had become my routine: watching TV every night after working — from home — and then going to bed. I yearned to be more creative. I wanted to make life during this sad and anxious time a little more beautiful. So every time I put on my mask and went out for a walk, phone in hand, I took photos of whatever caught my eye. Back at home, I’d spend hours digitally manipulating my photos of flowers, trees, a fence, or feature of a building, to create something completely different using photo-editing software.

Like me, people around the world have been pursuing a favorite hobby or starting a new one, spurred on by isolation or boredom or as a way to forget about all the craziness in the world, and the media has taken note. Need proof? A web search for “pastimes and coronavirus” yields more than 7 million results.

Associate editor Casey Gale relaxes with adult coloring books.

People are exercising, collecting items, reading, gardening, cooking, baking, brewing beer, coloring in adult coloring books, drawing and painting, knitting and crocheting, and pursuing other forms of arts and crafts. Former First Lady Michelle Obama recently said that her family has been doing jigsaw puzzles.

Having something to put energy into besides doomscrolling can be a way to express yourself and release stress, experts say. It turns out my project is a healthy diversion from a constant barrage of bad news. The pandemic has ravaged the business events industry and pushed friends and many others into unemployment. The murder of George Floyd sparked wide-spread demonstrations in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as some much-needed, brutally honest self-reflection on the part of white America. And don’t even get me started on politics, America’s response to the pandemic, or the unwillingness of so many to simply wear a mask to slow the virus and save lives.

But there’s only so much news and social media one can take. Channeling my energy into something positive has been my saving grace. I’m obsessed with my photography project. Almost every day after work, I move to my favorite chair to fiddle with Photoshop and create my art. And because of it, I’m far more ready to deal with bad news or a roadblock at work or home.

Michelle Russell has taken up amigurumi — crocheting animals for her now newborn granddaughter.

Good for the Brain

Creative pursuits help people’s brains function at an “optimal level,” said Jillian Cardinal, a sales manager at Montreal- based event company JPdL and founder of the Eventprofs Book Club. That’s backed up by John Randolph, Ph.D., a clinical neuropsychologist and author of The Brain Health Book: Using the Power of Neuroscience to Improve Your Life , who wrote in a recent Psychology Today column that “compelling research” shows lifestyle pursuits that challenge people mentally — music, books, crossword puzzles, games, for example— are good for the brain in various ways.

Michael Kocet

One of those ways is easing the stress on mind and body. People can “balance the stresses brought on by the pandemic by tapping into their creativity,” said Michael Kocet, Ph.D., a licensed mental health counselor and professor and department chair of the Counselor Education Department at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. “Having hobbies can be essential to maintaining mental health and wellness,” he told Convene .

In a period of so much uncertainty, hobbies provide people with “a sense of accomplishment that is satisfying and comforting,” he said. Kocet, an avid cook who created and teaches a “culinary therapy” program, has been — naturally — cooking up a storm during his free time. Like my neighbor who seems determined to fatten me up, bringing me the candied jalapeños, berry jams, baked goods, and baby back ribs she’s whipped up in her kitchen, it’s not just the act of baking and cooking that Kocet finds so satisfying, it’s sharing the fruits of his labor with others. When Kocet gave his neighbors banana bread he’d made “with his own hands,” he said seeing that they enjoyed it gave him a sense of accomplishment.

Kocet believes that both cooking — which can give the home chef license to change up a recipe —and baking, which is more precise, can improve mindfulness. And especially at uncertain times like these, they can give the participant a sense of control over the outcome of the finished product. “In my experience, cooking and baking do help people manage stress, anxiety, depression,” he said. “The one thing that I’ve told people during this pandemic is it’s comforting to return to recipes that connect people with family, but also I encourage people to try new recipes.” Kocet said he plans to do a research project on how cooking and baking have helped people cope with the pandemic.

Deputy editor Barbara Palmer draws and paints alphabet postcards to send to her young grandson.

Perfection Is Not the Goal

Kocet also confessed to returning to a favorite childhood hobby: Completing sticker books that take the form of animals and other things. Which makes another point about pursuing a hobby: You don’t have to prepare a 5-star dish, write the next great American novel, or create a museum-ready piece of visual art. Don’t worry if you finish crocheting a blanket only to find your handiwork turned out to be a trapezoid, or if the watercolors bled outside the lines of your artwork. The idea is to relax and enjoy your pursuit, not to put pressure on yourself, Kocet said.

“When you’re doing that activity or when you finished, do you feel better? Do you feel more calm or relaxed?” he asked. “Don’t think, ‘Oh, I have to do this hobby perfectly.’ It’s not about that.”

Jillian Cardinal

Cardinal, who is reading and writing more during this time, shared the same advice. If you do find yourself feeling pressure, she suggested looking for something that “lets you breathe and enjoy the moment.” “There is so much going on right now that time should be carved out doing what feels good and empowers you mentally, physically or emotionally,” she told Convene . Each day, she attempts to do things “related to movement, to connection, and to culture,” she said. “In whatever way, they bring me the most joy.”

When the future seems so uncertain, the most important point of pursuing an interest has to be nurturing emotional intelligence. “We need to keep our mental and emotional fortitude and that is by taking care of and nourishing ourselves first,” Cardinal said. “Hobbies allow us to explore another facet of ourselves and from there, learn more about who we are and what we enjoy.”

Curt Wagner is digital editor at Convene.

This story is part of Convene‘s September CMP Series package on ways the world has changed since COVID-19 and what we hope will stick once the pandemic is behind us.

Become a Member

Get premium access to provocative executive-level education, face-to-face networking and business intelligence.

Convening EMEA Registration

PCMA Members, ensure the correct registration rate by using the email address on file with PCMA.

Have You Picked Up a New Hobby during the Pandemic? Tell Us about It

Has something new intrigued you or caught your interest since last spring, when life changed radically for all of us? BU Today would love to hear about it. Photo by golubovy/iStock

BU Today wants to hear from students, faculty, and staff for a special photo essay

Bu today staff.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, millions of Americans suddenly found themselves studying or working from home. And with movie theaters, clubs, concert halls, and sporting venues shuttered, many have taken up new hobbies, like baking (sourdough bread, anyone?), painting, gardening, rock climbing, birding, and lots of other pursuits.

How about you? During the past several months has something new intrigued you or caught your interest? If you’re local and living in the Boston area, we’d love to hear about it. BU Today is producing a special photo essay featuring students, faculty, and staff and their new pandemic-era hobbies.

If you’d like to be considered for our photo essay, contact BU photographer Cydney Scott at [email protected] by October 30. Include your name, phone number, and a few sentences about your new hobby and why you enjoy it. If you’re a student, include the school you’re enrolled in and the year you’re graduating. If you’re a faculty or staff member, include your title.

Explore Related Topics:

Coronavirus
Share this story
1 Comments Add

BU Today staff Profile

Comments & Discussion

Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.

There is 1 comment on Have You Picked Up a New Hobby during the Pandemic? Tell Us about It

I enjoyed very much in the pandemic. I found myself in the pandemic. It was a new experience of exploring myself. All I got in the pandemic was happiness

Latest from BU Today

Pov: i have tourette’s, and i’m gay—why i feel misunderstood, a bu filmmaker captures a bu researcher’s quest against religious violence, women have been shut out of computer and data science. bu is opening the door, listen to bu treblemakers a cappella arrangements of songs by coldplay, sabrina carpenter, and more, getting to know your neighborhood: newbury street, pov: our organ donation system is broken. here’s what we need to do to fix it, the weekender: november 14 to 17, titanic: the artifact exhibition comes to boston, new 808 gallery show celebrates the vision and talent of bu staff photographers, terriers in charge: zach schwartz (com’25), “i want to believe”: bu class explores ufos, bigfoot, and why we believe, men’s soccer enters patriot league semifinals as regular season champions for second year, yo-el cassell’s students discover the j.o.y. in movement, lavender house is officially open on bay state road, liam payne’s death raises questions about teenage stardom, international education week brings the world to bu’s doorstep, boston playwrights’ theatre offers prime comeuppance for amazon’s jeff bezos, the weekender: november 7 to 10, field hockey, women’s soccer ready for patriot league semifinals, what does donald trump’s election mean for….