In this era in which we are so accustomed to using devices with screens, much of our time, we can reach the point of feeling saturated. That is why leisure activities or hobbies that are free of devices or that at least make us focus our eyes on something more than a screen are now gaining importance.
Knitting, embroidery, sewing and needle felting
If knitting does not catch your attention, you can opt for a similar activity, but that involves being more detailed, such as embroidery. For this you need to have a fabric, needle and embroidery threads. You start by tracing a pattern on a fabric, which for beginners is recommended to be a blanket or similar. As for knitting, there are magazines and books that explain the stitches that can be used to give life to the traced drawing.
The third option related to textiles is sewing, this activity does require a greater investment compared to the others, as it requires a sewing machine, fabrics, a measuring tape, scissors and threads. This activity may require more patience because you have to learn how to manipulate the fabric when passing it through the needle of the machine. Therefore, it is recommended to start by drawing a straight line on a sheet of newspaper and pass it through the machine until you manage to sew completely aligned on the paper.
Finally, in this category I want to mention needle felting, it is a technique that consists of needle felting wool fibers, joining them to give shapes. You can combine different colors and be as detailed as you want and imagination is the limit. With different shapes you can create animals, objects or dolls, the limit is creativity.
Coloring, drawing and painting
If, on the other hand, you are more interested in using pencils, I propose three options: coloring, drawing and painting. The easiest of all is coloring, the recommendation is to try to get some soft pencils, although any set of colored pencils you have will do the job. As for what to color, in the market there are books made for adults and what determines the complexity of the activity is the detail in the drawings, but if you are not sure if it is for you start by printing some drawings to see how much you like the activity.
If you want something a little more challenging, this can be a good time to learn how to draw and you don't
necessarily need to take classes, you can get a book that explains the basics of drawing and provides instructions to start from scratch, and of course you will need a pencil, an eraser and a scissors.
Painting is another activity you can opt for in this category. Painting can be freer than drawing, because with colors you can capture more than just defined shapes. This activity can also be therapeutic and you don't necessarily have to produce something very complex to enjoy it. Watercolor and acrylic paints are good options to start with, you can look for paper of a weight that resists paint if you don't want to spend on a canvas yet. Buying an easel is not necessary to begin with, but it does make the activity more comfortable.
Reading, writing, lettering and calligraphy
If your interests are more related to words, apart from reading there are two other options, writing and lettering, but before we talk about them I want to make some recommendations on how to make reading a more frequent activity. If you find it difficult to sit and read for hours, either because you don't have much time or because it's hard to stay focused, there are several ways to make reading a part of your life in a simple way.
To begin with I would like to clarify that not all books are for everyone, and that there are books that are easier to read. The difficulty of a book can be noticed when reading its first pages, if understanding what is being narrated happens almost instantly, it means that it is a book that does not require much mental effort, if, on the contrary, you find yourself rereading paragraphs because you do not understand or lose the thread very quickly, then it is a book that has a higher level of demand and you need more mental power to read it.
With the above I do not want to promote that you discard the most difficult or heavy books, but that you take into account that it can be a factor that can make you fall into a reading block. It may be better to read these books a little at a time and in moments when you have enough energy. You may think that you are not going to read much that way, what I propose is to read more than one book at a time, because it is good to have several options depending on how you feel at any given moment.
The size of the book also affects our choices; a thick book may be intimidating and a narrow one may give us the false illusion that it will read quickly. Whatever the case, give the book a chance regardless of size and judge it after reading a few pages. Finally, going back to not every book is for everyone, if a book isn't hooking you, keep in mind that it's okay not to finish a book. There are a lot of books out there, there's no point in getting stuck with something you don't like.
Filigree, scrapbooking, scrapbooking, art journaling, miniature models
The combination of paper and/or cardboard gives us another set of activities: filigree, scrapbooking and miniature models. Filigree is a craft that consists of making rolls with thin strips of paper creating shapes with the help of templates, creating basic shapes that together can create more complex designs. In the market there are basic kits and patterns to get started with this activity.
Scrapbooking started as a technique to personalize photo albums by means of paper cutouts with different designs and textures. Now the technique is not limited to just that and can
be applied to other types of things, for example, personalizing and decorating a recipe book. The materials are as many as you want, but the minimum you need is decorated and/or plain papers, glue and scissors. You can buy tools to create different shapes and textures, washi tapes, stickers, markers and other materials, there is no limit.
The art journaling applies much of what was explained above for scrapbooking, the difference is that this requires a notebook where papers and other materials are placed so that a collage is created, you can use text or not, whether written or printed, there is really no limit to what can be placed as long as it is flat, if the paper resists it can even be used watercolor.
If you liked models as a child, miniature models can be a creative outlet, you can recreate scenes using the same materials mentioned above and another one like wood, but this time in 3D form, any object, any place can serve as inspiration.
Mental dexterity games on paper
If you are more interested in activities that challenge the mind, you can start with puzzles and move on to paper games such as Sudoku, crossword puzzles and word searches. In addition to the classics, there are magazines and books with other types of challenges that involve pattern recognition, use of logic and mathematics, knowledge of history or literature and other areas. There are also three-dimensional games whose objective is to arrange the pieces in such a way as to solve the challenges presented.
Diamond cross stitch
This is perhaps the simplest hobby, since it requires nothing more than buying a set containing a kind of canvas with a print, which is marked with a color code, gummed and covered with plastic. Also included are several bags containing the rhinestones commonly called diamonds, which must be placed following the color code with the help of a tool called a pencil, which is pressed on a small sheet of wax that works as a rubber to hook the diamonds to be transferred to the print.
No pressure
All the activities mentioned above present a challenge to a greater or lesser extent and the idea is not to cause stress, but a way to disconnect and relax the mind. At first it will seem that there is no progress, but the key is to be consistent and eventually the improvement will be noticeable, the first attempts will be the evidence of progress and not failures. Also keep in mind that it is not necessary to have expensive and professional tools and materials, to start you only need the minimum, especially because at the beginning we can go through a phase of exploration until we find what we like.
