Part 2 of the Hobby Series: How I Refurbished My Old Hobbies into New Hobbies

"Just" A Doctor

In Part 1 of The Hobby Series, I talked about falling victim to becoming "just a doctor." In other words, working all the time and doing very little of anything else. This happened to me and I'm certain happens to many. Over the course of my training, I lost sight of what brought me joy outside of work. As anyone in medicine knows, the field can bring the highest highs and lowest lows. Working long days and long nights of having hard conversations and caring for sick people and their families can be taxing. If you aren't doing things outside of work that bring you joy, thinking you will be happy with your life and career is a lofty expectation.

Free Time: A Foreign Concept

As my training began to wind down, I would find myself with glimpses of free time which was new to me. During fellowship I had more free weekends than I ever had during residency, and I took home call and no longer worked night shifts. I began to try to find a new hobby. I tried origami, adult coloring books, sketching, finding a "niche" for myself making TikToks. None of these things were right for me. The problem was that I had no passion or drive to do any of them.

Fortunately what finally struck me was actually a gift I received. My best friend I've known since high school bought me a book for Christmas. It was called "Love & Other Words." She told me she found it in the romance section and it was about a pediatrics resident so she thought maybe I could relate to the main character and would enjoy it more.

I started reading it one night before bed and after a few days of reading, I wondered why I had ever stopped. I used to enjoy reading - it takes you to another world, lets you lose yourself in characters who don't actually exist, and use your imagination to envision these characters, their homes, their life. I realized that over time all my reading had turned into Pathoma, First Aid, and Case Files, and eventually PubMed and UpToDate and it never found its way back to being fun. It had turned into a task and never found its way back out of that distinction.

Refurbishing My Hobbies

• Reading
  Since that time I have devoured many a book and am in desperate need of a larger bookshelf. Am I reading the same types of books I read as a teenager? Not really, though I can't say that I wouldn't read the Harry Potter books with the same fervor now as I did at 13. But I've spent the last year figuring out exactly what kind of books I enjoy. Previously I mentioned my interest in Law and Order: SVU. I've found that I can read a good mystery into the dead of night.

• Music
  As a teenager, I had a guitar and played very horribly but that is beyond the point. My dad had gotten a keyboard about a year and a half ago. I thought it was cool and played one of the very simple songs he showed me. He was impressed how quickly I picked it up and suggested getting me my own keyboard for Christmas and I took him up on the offer. My favorite things to play on my guitar were Taylor Swift songs and now here I am 16 years later and my favorite things to play on the piano are still Taylor Swift songs. We have come full circle.

• Exercise
  There was a time I greatly enjoyed yoga and running. I also did at home workout videos all the time. During the beginning of residency, I began doing Pilates and 305 classes. Once the pandemic hit, I turned to HIIT videos I could do at home and running outside (which is not fun with a mask on). I did a half marathon though my training for it was limited. But I enjoyed it. Recently I have gotten back into yoga and try to go 1-2 times a week. I also have been running. I even bought a walking pad for my apartment just to get some more activity in. I also recently signed up for my first marathon, something I've had on my bucket list for several years but never committed to actually doing.

Now you see, these were all things I used to enjoy - reading, playing music, exercising. I haven't morphed into a completely new person with all new interests and I will definitely not become a famous origamian any time soon. That being said, for some of us, our interests do change and the things we want to do for fun are not the same as they were before. That’s why in my next post, I want to talk about your old hobbies and how you can use them to guide your new hobbies.

Have you tried refurbishing any of your old hobbies into new ones? Did you realize there was something you never tried that you just have to do? Let me know below!