New Year hobby plans

At this time of year, people often make resolutions. These are decisions they are supposed to commit to in the coming year. In my case, I make decisions about what to change in my life when necessary, regardless of the date. So I'm not making any resolutions, but this seems like a good time to think about my plans in various areas of life.

Recently I have felt the need to introduce more creative, non-verbal hobbies into my life. I spend my days with words. My work as a translator and editor involves using language, and my creative writing (including this blog) uses a similar type of mental energy. Reading has always been my favourite pastime.

But I have come to realize that sometimes I want to do something that addresses a more visual part of my brain. I wanted something to do with my hands in the evenings, while listening to podcasts or music, something other than playing with my phone, something that would result in a real decorative item that would show how I have been using my time.

In the past few months I have followed a popular trend (unusual for me, I know!) and I'm enjoying colouring books. I bought a few books and now have enough to last me several months or years. I also bought a good set of 72 coloured pencils, which provides more variety than the standard 24 pencil sets.

I am also planning to start working on various cross-stitch projects. I haven't done cross-stitch since my teenage years. I was very impressed by the cross-stitch designs I saw at a folklore museum in Crete a few years ago, and by the cross-stitch a few of my friends are doing. My grandmother gave me a cross-stitch kit over a year ago, and I haven't started it yet. I want to do some easier projects before I start that project, so I have bought the necessary supplies, and also found a book of cat-related designs that has been on my bookcase for years.

I also want to continue collecting sea glass, and I still have to decide what to do with the pieces I have found.

 I hope this year will be full of creative satisfaction!