Let’s face it: this has been a really weird year.

The major difference between this year and other years is the presence of the Coronavirus, causing a lot of people to be stuck at home. Without something to keep yourself occupied, you’d go crazy being stuck in your house that long. A lot of people had decided to pick up some new hobbies during this time to entertain themselves and connect with others in an easier way.

I was super bored throughout all of the quarantine, but one day I got inspired. I don’t quite remember if it was a TikTok or something on Pinterest, but I saw a small canvas, half stitched half painted, and it looked super cool. I thought to myself, Why not give it a try?

So I took a trip to Joanne Fabrics, found a cheap set of paint, an 8×8 canvas, and some green thread. It took me about another week to actually start the process, which was actually really easy to figure out. In less than a day, I’d created my first canvas piece: a potted succulent. It had been the first time I’d truly felt productive since school had let out. 3 months, and a lot of embroidery floss later, I’ve made 12 canvases and counting. Just from TikTok, I’ve noticed a lot of people have taken up embroidery, so I was kinda curious about some other odd hobbies people have picked up, besides making TikToks.

Artsy hobbies seemed to have been very popular hobbies that were picked up. Painting, sculpting, and scrapbooking are some examples of this that I would definitely try out. I must confess, I did pull out my old Sculpy clay kit and make some Among Us characters. 

Mention of the game Among Us leads me to my next hobby, gaming. Gaming has always been popular, but some truly classic games came out digitally during our time at home. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a prime example. It’s a cute, relaxing game that lets you hang out with animals and build your own little island getaway. 

Another aspect about gaming that was appealing during this time is it lets people connect even if they are far away. Animal Crossing is an example of this, but another game that helped people connect during quarantine was the Jackbox Party Games. This was a set of a bunch of Kahoot!-type online games that could be played remotely from anywhere and discussed over a zoom call. This kind of gaming might not be considered a true “hobby” but having monthly game nights and picking up on the rules better than before counts in my opinion.

We’ve all probably picked up some new hobbies during quarantine, or even revisited an old favorite. This just shows that we as humans need to do something at all times to stave off boredom. On the other hand, keeping ourselves entertained and occupied during difficult times can help us cope with what is going on around us.

Whether you’re trying to get your mind off things or just looking for something interesting to do, pick up some paints. Call your gamer friends. Bake a cake. Play some basketball. But always remember there are a ton of options if you ever tire of your current hobby.