Step Outside

Daley Ranch, Escondido, Ca

If I want something to happen I have to put it on my calendar.

Once a week I have the boot emoji beside the word “hike”. It’s a standing date with myself to step outside.

Recently, I heard this definition of a hobby: A hobby is something you do that makes you lose track of time.

For some people that is NOT hiking. For me, it is.

What hobbies do you have? I’ve been asking my husband (true story) since 2020 when we were driving home from Mammoth Lakes after exploring and hiking and finding lakes and hot springs … Babe, what are our hobbies??? We were a year away from our first child going off to college and 3 years away from being empty nesters with our 2nd going off to college. And I can be a planner (sometimes). And for our marriage to grow (cause I had heard it was hard when your kids leave) we HAD to have hobbies. My husband didn’t have an answer that was acceptable to me… But I’ve realized since then we do have hobbies. We hike. We go to the beach. We travel and explore new places. And as we continue to live and grow we’ll keep finding hobbies to add to our individual and collective list.

Hobbies are heathy and can add years to your life apparently. Is binge watching a reallly good show a hobby?? I guess it can be. I mean, I lose track of time until Netflix kindly asks me if I’d like to continue watching my show…

I’m learning that finding a hobby and putting it on my calendar is a good idea. So, hiking, it’s on my calendar every week. I cross-stitch. Yep, I’m a nerd. More hobbies I’m looking forward to starting are kayaking (with Matt) and gardening (without Matt). You may have completely different genres of hobbies and that is great! But find and do something that brings you joy and adds value to your life and helps you lose track of time. That’s the search. Cause when I am investing in activities and people that add value to my life, I find that I am becoming a much, much better version of myself.

And for inspiration. Just step outside.