2026 marks two important milestones for my husband and I’s relationship. This year, we will hit the seven-year mark of being together (which, apparently for many couples, is when the “seven-year itch” kicks in, which we proactively prevented from happening) and one year of being married.

I thought that, with these anniversaries, it would be interesting to provide a Gen Z perspective on what this title indicates: long-term relationships and marriage. I have many alternative thoughts on both; let’s get into it.

On Long-Term Relationships

It makes sense to start this conversation with a commonly accepted idea: long-term relationships come with many benefits. And, frankly, so does not being in a relationship at all! But what I think comes with little to no benefits, in my opinion, are “situationships”.

As a fellow Gen Z, young adults seem to infrequently make it to the long-term relationship stage because they seem to fear interpersonal commitment. They want everything that comes with a romantic relationship without fully assuming the roles of “boyfriend and girlfriend.” What commonly ends up happening here is one person usually finds themselves dissatisfied with the relationship’s dynamics, which makes it very challenging to keep up the charade. So, tying it back into long-term relationships, these become challenging for Gen Z to attain due to the challenges of navigating mainstream dating. I will write an article on this specifically, but back to long-term relationships…

I think Gen Z relationships would have a much higher success rate simply by getting back to the basics. Learning how to effectively communicate. Navigating challenges and differences of opinion. Making personal improvements to show up more emotionally intelligent in relationships. These are all skills that are feasible with enough regard… but the question is whether Gen Z is willing to make some changes to fix their relationship dynamics.

On Marriage

Statistics show that marriage rates have especially collapsed among those aged 25 years and younger. It is no surprise that this is the case, given that Gen Z dating culture is effed.

As the years go on, people also continue to find themselves presented with different ways they can go about their life (many of which become more widely adopted and thus more mainstream). Many of those lifestyles are without marriage. It is ultimately individuals’ prerogative about what kind of life they want to lead; I just knew for me that marriage would be an important part of it.

Marriage is a highly personal decision evidently interwoven with ones’ spouse and what they want out of life as well. I think that, in moving further from marriage as a society, though, that we’ve collectively become more avoidant of long-term partnership because we’re ultimately fearful of entering the next chapter of our lives and what we will “lose” along with it. Change is the most natural part of nature; somewhere along the way we stopped embracing it.

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A Gen Z’s Principles to a Happy Relationship

Now, I thought it would be interesting to share principles I consistently reinforce in my own relationship that keep it in good health. They are as follows:

Differentiate Between Questions and Statements

This is important to remain aware of. “Can/would you” questions are often yes/no. Statements are not always up for negotiation if they are meant to establish a personal boundary. For example, take “Would you mind taking out the trash?” versus “I need to some time alone.” The former is asking for a favor; the latter is asserting that something needs to happen. I am deliberate with how I communicate with my husband.

Take a Partner-First Approach (On Both Ends)

If you put your partners’ preferences first and your partner puts your preferences first, then both of your preferences are tended for. If you put your preferences first and your partner puts their preferences first, you will both end up tending to your preferences, but not in a way that nurtures the relationship. This dynamic creates more independence versus interdependence and can create doubt, insecurity, and conflict. By taking a genuine interest in each other first, both of you (and your relationship) will be further supported.

Just Get it Done!

If you’re asked if you would be able to do something (i.e., put the clothes away or run an errand), just do the thing. Why quibble over the dishes or the errand? Be helpful.

There can come a point where effort put forth and assistance received become disproportionate, but provided you’re not doing extremely more compared to your partner, this dynamic works well. Especially when you receive extra help and support when you really need it.

Don’t take advantage of the system here but fall back on it when you could really use the help. That is beauty of interdependence versus independence.

Be Constructively Frank

I find it very important to keep the dialogue open to share what’s working and not working. Avoid letting problems go unaddressed. Find a resolution that works with you and your partner and demonstrate that you are taking the issue seriously with your actions.

Uphold Companionship Above All

Above everything else, enjoy each other’s company. It’s so important to me, in all seriousness, to be silly, laugh, and maintain a genuinely pleasant atmosphere. Even when something goes awry during the day, this sort of dynamic that I have with my husband always lightens my mood and makes life enjoyable.

Closing Thoughts

I have a lot to say on long-term relationships and marriage, but those are my most important thoughts in a nutshell. There is more I will write on the topic in the future, so stay tuned if you’re interested in exploring these ideas more.

Now I’m opening the floor to you. What do you think are the largest tropes in modern relationships? Do you think we’ll turn a corner in the relationships and marriage scenes? Be sure to share with me what you think; I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this.

Those who have tuned into Altstreamer for a bit know I like to do things a little bit differently. So, I thought it would be interesting to share my alternate approaches over the years that juxtapose mainstream preferences.

Before getting into this, there is an important disclaimer I’d like to make. That being: I believe everyone is entitled to their individual preferences. I live the way I do because it brings fulfillment and freedom to my life, and most everything listed below are preferences I (mostly) find harmless if done in moderation. This article is intended to show different approaches I take to certain things for my own specific reasons, rather than judge others for how/why they do things a specific way.

With this established, here are 15 mainstream things I haven’t done in years and what I do instead.

Entertainment

1. Listening to pop music

This is likely an unpopular opinion (given that pop is short for “popular music), but it’s just personally not my thing. Though Altstreamer is short for “alternatives to the mainstream”, alternative is also low on my music preferences list. My top listens include hard rock, metal, and folk, and I also enjoy orchestral music, R&B soul, and a little reggae.

2. Paying for streaming service subscriptions

Subscription fees (for annual recurring revenue) is basically the business model of 2026, and no one is safe from these nowadays. As someone who really isn’t into movies and TV shows that much, streaming services did not make the cut for what I’m willing to pay for. When I do want to watch media, though, my husband and I will buy Blu-rays from V-Stock that we know we’ll watch many times over.

Consumerism

3. Shopping with the “rain forest” platform

This eCommerce site is extremely convenient to order from, but I decided to stop supporting it about six years ago. As I like to say, “that founder does not need my money!”

4. Shopping consistently in general

There was a period in my young adult life where I accumulated plenty of household items, hobby supplies, and office supplies. There are also many items I’ve held onto over the years as opposed to donating what I use less consistently. I had to start delineating between holding onto the specific items for utility versus hoarding, and I’ve continued opting to stock up as opposed to having to buy items again later (when there becomes an immediate need.) As of this point, I mostly shop my closet or cabinets if I need something. This will change a bit when I buy my first house, but as of now, I have everything I need.

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Fashion + Style

5. Buying clothes first-hand from brands

As indicated above, I barely buy anything as it currently stands. When it comes to my clothes, though, I thrift garments such as t-shirts and jeans (very infrequently). There are many high-quality finds at thrift stores, but I usually cycle through the same apparel over and over when finding pieces that are comfortable and flattering.

6. Buying clothes for the season ahead

When buying clothes, I usually end up thrifting in bulk to avoid having to go to thrift store for another year. But I do knit for the season ahead! Most of my winter wear (such as sweaters, coats, cardigans, and warm accessories), however, I make myself. Read this article on why I’m (mostly) hand making my wardrobe vs. thrifting to learn my many reasons behind doing this.

7. Wearing (and buying) bras

This is somewhat of a taboo thing to outright share, but there’s one reason why I bring this up. I think it’s important for women to dress in ways they find comfortable, whether it involves bras or no bras. My preference is wearing darker colors and wearing tank top underlayers as needed. I don’t like to draw attention to myself, and the way I dress is reflective of that. But, I will continue dressing in ways that suit my own preferences.

8. Wearing (and buying) makeup

I am happy with the way my face looks without makeup, so why spend time applying makeup in the morning when I could take care of a chore or two or spend that extra time sleeping?

Food + Beverage

9. Drinking caffeinated and sugary drinks

I grew up only drinking water and milk. As funny as this may sound, flavored liquids (even in my adult years) sound like a foreign concept to me! So, I basically still only drink water and milk, along with some tea and kombucha.

10. Eating fast food (with two exceptions)

I have not eaten most fast food for more than 10 years at this point. There are just two occasional exceptions I make: orange chicken from Panda Express, and a number nine sandwich from Jimmy John’s. Periodically my husband and I go out to restaurants, but most everything else we scratch cook at home.

11. Buying bread from the store

I enjoy making my own bread at home, whether it’s in the bread maker machine or oven. There’s nothing like a fresh, homemade loaf of bread.

Lifestyle + Social

12. Working out at fitness facilities

Maintaining good health and well-being is important to me, but I have found that I can achieve that without a gym membership and having to drive somewhere to workout. My preferences include jump roping outside to get my heart rate up, where I can walk right back up the stairs once I’m done. I also enjoy taking walks around the neighborhood, lifting a 30lb kettle bell, and doing yoga at home.

13. Having accounts on social media

I had an on again, off again dynamic with social media over the years, until I quit using social media altogether around 2018. I currently do not have any other profiles aside from my Substack, and it is liberating to just live my life however I want instead of thinking about it as a post-worthy moment.

14. Consistently taking photos

I used to be really into photography and take a lot of photos for the social medias I had back then. When I got off social media and started becoming more immersed in my surroundings, I kind of just lost interest in taking photos. I do think it would be nice to take some more photos to have more to look back on, though. This is something I seldom concern myself with, however, since my husband actually has nice photography equipment and does that as a hobby.

Most Importantly

15. Using the current standard as what I should be doing

At this point, I just live however suits me best. It really is liberating to quit worrying about what everyone else thinks and instead do what’s best for myself. Everyone else is just chiefly concerned with themselves anyways.

Closing Thoughts

So that is my list of 15! Not all the alternate approaches I take are that deep, but they don’t have to be. If something works and supports an important aspect of your life, it is worth sticking with (regardless of whether it’s mainstream or not).

Now I want to open the floor to you. Which mainstream approaches have you become influenced to adapt without realizing you’ve become influenced? Are those worth continuing? Be sure to share with me what you think; I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this.

Hi all - thanks for sticking around while I was on a month-long hiatus. Sometimes it’s important to put some things on hold to allocate extra focus to other aspects needing attention.

More great topics are underway, and I look forward to sharing those with you and continuing to build this community of people who reject the mainstream and choose to live life a little bit differently.

We recently entered the midway point of 2026, and things are looking… interesting (yet not interesting at all). Sounds contradictory, right? Maybe not so when we consider how mainstream media has shaped social trends more than ever over the last five years.

How We All Became the Same

Most of us know in 2026 that social media is the largest source of influence for social trends. And anyone who actively uses social media sees certain lifestyles, products, and aesthetics pushed by creators and their peers. I don’t claim to know exactly how social influence happens, but if I had to take a guess, it would be that scrolling through a large enough amount of short-form content across several influencers creates reinforcement that, in turn, creates a sense of FOMO.

In other words: I don’t believe it’s necessarily the duration in which the content is watched (since our attention span is cooked anyways). I believe it’s seeing these social trends seemingly adapted by “everyone” that compels us to take part in them. So essentially, peer influence on a much larger scale than we’ve ever experienced before.

Depending on what we’re interested in and who we hang around, there are many trends we may find ourselves swept up in. And, in the wake of this, everyone starts to look and act… the same. Personalities blend together. Faces look nearly identical. There is very little differentiation between one person and another. We know how it happened, but then the question becomes why. Here are my thoughts on this.

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Why We All Became the Same

Though I’m someone who lives pretty contrary to the mainstream for various reasons, I watch/listen to many videos about pop culture and trends. It is interesting to spectate from afar; the more psychological and real-world aspects behind why people make the choices they do is quite fascinating. That being said, here is what I’ve concluded based on what I know and have observed.

People Are More Lonely Than Ever

Even with being more connected than any other time in human history, people are truly experiencing peak aloneness. It’s more difficult to make friends as an adult than ever and to find a romantic partner that’s on the same page. So “becoming the same” has become synonymous with finding community.

People Are More Insecure Than Ever

This is somewhat an extension of the point above with some other layers. There is the interpersonal aspect of conforming to trends because of the fear of being disliked or judged. And then there’s the intrapersonal aspect of personal insecurity. There is so much to say on this alone, but an important factor in regard to the sameness we’re seeing.

People Are Avoiding Boredom More Than Ever

When every momentary lull gets filled with some sort of stimulation instead, and that stimulation also influences what we buy, do, and look like, it’s no wonder that sameness is everywhere. It takes some level of boredom to develop a sense of individuality, so sameness is what to expect when we’re constantly scrolling through social trends and accept them as what we should be doing.

How You Can Become Your Own Individual

After years of social influence, it can seem challenging (and scary) to quit following trends pushed in the mainstream and be genuinely ourselves. Many of us don’t even know what it means to be ourselves anymore. If you’re exhausted from trying to keep up with seemingly impossible expectations and would rather live your own way without any guilt or shame, here are my easier-said-than-done suggestions based on how I live my own life.

Only Regard Specific Opinions

If you really want to be your own individual, you must first stop caring what everyone thinks. Not everyone has a well-intentioned opinion, and many criticisms that come from others are in response to their own insecurities. But rather than disregarding everyone’s opinions, select a few people in your life whose accomplishments make their perspectives hold merit. And provided your own actions and approaches are coming from a well-intentioned place, tune out the rest of the noise.

Become Inspired and Carry it Forward

To become your own individual, it’s also important that you immerse yourself in various surroundings to discover what’s most authentic to you. Traveling, listening to immersive music, finding hidden gems in your community, and browsing discovery engines such as Pinterest are great ways to uncover what you’re inspired by. Once you find your inspirations, carry those forward into your sense of presentation and/or style, whether that be how you decorate your house, how you go about your lifestyle, or how your approach your personal sense of style.

Surround Yourself with Supporters

You can tune out the critics and be in an individual all you want, but the most important ingredient is to have a supportive circle of people around you. People who appreciate your realness and individuality. People who only expect you to show up as you are. Keeping these people in your circle provides great encouragement for continuing to be your own individual.

Let’s Celebrate Individuality Again

As everything in this article indicates, sameness is in large supply but small demand, while individuality is in small supply but large demand. Dare to be different in a world that pushes sameness!

Now I want to open the floor to you. Why do you think everyone is striving to be the same? What do we have to lose by everyone continuing to replicate what everyone else is doing? Be sure to share with me what you think; I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this.

I have always found it challenging to begin a conversation about smartphone overuse and digital minimalism due to the obvious facts we already know. It’s common knowledge that most people spend upward of five hours on their phone every day. And we all know that smartphone overuse is harming us in more ways than helping us. But despite these observations, very few people take it upon themselves to reclaim their attention and get back into the real world.

Becoming more analog and immersed with my physical surroundings is an ongoing goal I have worked toward over the last several years. Because of all the experience I’ve had with digital minimalism (including downgrading to a dumbphone and reentering the smartphone world), I thought it would be interesting to share my personal journey and address one specific alternative take. That is, if I’m all about living a more digitally minimal and present life, why would I go back to using a smartphone again? With that established, let’s get into it.

First Phones and Conundrums

As returning readers know, I am part of Gen Z (the first generation that grew up with technology). The first device I received was an iPod touch around age 10. Though I spent a lot of time on that iPod touch enjoying the early days of YouTube, I still directed more time toward the creative projects I did when I was a kid. Those projects provided the most amusement.

Flash forward a few years later, and I was upgraded from an iPod touch to an iPhone. Around the same time, my grandparents gave me a flip phone, and I remember being so repulsed by that phone at the time. So, I shared with them that I had an iPhone, and that was that. This was also around the time I created my first Instagram profile.

During high school, I continued to have various smartphones (switching phones every so often because I kept shattering and/or water damaging them). This was also a time I was really into photography and posted many photos on Instagram. At the time, I enjoyed sharing my life on Instagram but found myself checking the app excessively and obsessively. Then there would be cycles where I’d delete my Instagram account (thinking that I’d be done using Instagram for good), and I’d set up another account several months later and repeat the same compulsive patterns. It was towards the end of high school when I finally decided that I was done partaking with Instagram on a personal level and have stayed off since.

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Making Digital Minimizations

Around the same time I was contemplating my final Instagram exit, I had also started challenging myself to use analog items in place of phone apps. Why, you may ask? To create a more quiet, distraction-free life that I could really make the most of. This included using a paper notepad instead of the notes app, a watch and timer instead of the clock app, a voice recording device instead of the voice recording app, and an MP3 player instead of a music streaming app. These may seem like miniscule changes, but these approaches made it so I could leave my phone behind and live in the here and now.

As I continued using less features on my phone and using it less overall, I found myself wanting to have a smartphone less and less. And then, to my excitement, there was the day when I learned that there were independent “dumbphone” companies that offer minimal phones, one of those including Light. When I learned that the Light phone was intentionally designed for light functional usage without all the distractions, I was all in. The Light phone soon became my full-time phone, which meant all I could do was call, text, and access a few functional tools. No internet, no social media, no distractions.

It was super liberating to no longer have a smartphone and only access information-abundant technology with my computer. I continued to become more present and observant of what was going on around me. My interests and inspirations flourished without any need for external approval. I was simply doing whatever I wanted, when I wanted, and really making things happen with the time and attention I reclaimed as a result of living more analog.

From Dumbphone (Back) to Smartphone

As much as I would have loved to use the Light phone as my permanent phone replacement, this proved to not be feasible long-term. My largest qualm is the battery life. I found myself having to be strategic about when I needed to charge my Light phone because the battery would drain so quickly. There are many days where the phone battery would be completely drained all day and I’d be driving home with a non-functional phone. When the main purpose of a phone is to be able to reach people when you need to, it’s critical that the phone can actually deliver on this.

Another challenge was the maps feature. This was a pretty glitchy tool on the phone, so I ended up writing directions down before eventually buying a Garmen. Many times, my Garmen wouldn’t load the route to begin providing directions. This meant that if I was in a time crunch, I’d have to call my husband for him to provide directions there. Needless to say, getting to places I hadn’t gone before was a coordinated and involved effort. It helps substantially that I can get directions with my phone now.

With the transition of going from a smartphone to a dumbphone and then back to a smartphone, there are a couple notes I want to add. The first is that while my dumbphone days are over, I am continuing to experience the same amount of presence in my surroundings and with my interactions. It was (and still is) important to me to build sound habits that I could carry forward whether I used a dumbphone or not.

The second is that there are many ways to “dumb” down a smartphone to continue utilizing hardware that is up to standard. While I’d love to continue supporting independent minimal phone companies to further their mission, the reality is that there are many improvements that still need to be made to make these phones reliable contenders. Unless their hardware competes with other major phone manufacturers, I will more than likely continue making smartphones minimal to meet my requirements.

How I made my smartphone minimal:

- Delete as many apps as possible (and only install the bare essentials)
- Turn off all non-essential notifications
- Make the homepage simple and uncluttered
- Keep the interface as plain as possible
- Use black and white mode at all times

A Smarter Way Forward

So that is how I went from using a smartphone, to a dumbphone, and then back to a smartphone! I hope this story helps you consider what you can do to minimize your own phone usage and maximize each day ahead.

Now I’m opening the floor to you. Can you see yourself downgrading to a dumbphone or making your smartphone minimal? What would be the most difficult aspect of redefining how and when you use your phone? Be sure to share your thoughts with me; I am curious to hear what you think on this as well.

There are many topics I plan on covering that are contrary to what’s promoted in the mainstream. But today, I wanted to kick off Altstreamer by sharing one of my favorite alternative approaches: hand making (most of) my wardrobe instead of thrifting.

The method I use to hand make my own clothes is knitting. And believe it or not, there is a whole community of people out who still avidly knit! Some people like to knit smaller, supplementary projects like baby gifts and toys, while others like to knit larger, replacement projects like sweaters and cardigans. I, personally, have knit a wide spectrum of projects at this point, but this post will specifically focus on the latter since there are alternative takes to address. With this established, here’s why I (mostly) hand make rather than opting for store-bought.

How I Got into Hand Making Clothes

First and foremost, it makes sense to share a bit of my family background since that plays an important role in leading me to this point. Both sides of my family were hand makers in their own ways. Firstly, my Nonna did a lot of sewing at home before later becoming a seamstress. I was too young to remember seeing her sewing in the basement, but I vaguely remember her showing me a technique or two way back when. Then there is my grandma, who made several quilts back in the day. I also had never seen her quilt, but I was (and still am) deeply inspired by the beautiful quilts she made.

My dad is also a hand maker in an entirely different way, specializing in woodworking that often utilizes scrap wood. His artisanal furniture and home furnishings are what gave me the desire to acquire belongings that are premium and made to last versus factory made and falls apart easily. Lastly, there is my grandpa who has essentially done every handmade project (and experiment) imaginable. From remodeling Model T Fords to creating home décor with farm equipment and scrapped junk, my grandpa could really make something out of nothing.

Looking back at all the disciplines within my family, it is no wonder that I eventually arrived at hand making my own clothes! And then there is my own story for how I actually got started. I shared this at the beginning of My Knitting Journey article, but for me, it started with a poncho. I once had this beautiful poncho that I thrifted but eventually got rid of due to bad memories associated with it. I could never find another poncho quite like it. So, when my co-worker mentioned that she wanted to learn how to crochet, I became curious since I had never done that before.

And then it occurred to me: if I couldn’t find a similar poncho (and within a reasonable price point), I would make it myself. So, I learned how to crochet and made some ponchos of a similar structure. Then I became curious about other needlework techniques, so I figured I could learn how to knit. Knitting is what I have stuck with ever since, and I still plan to recreate that exact poncho with knitting one day!

That is the overall backstory of what inspired me to start hand making my clothes (and specifically with knitting) in the first place. Now, I will get into my overall objectives and what I’ve been actively knitting toward.

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(More Immediate) Goal: Knit Full Winter Wardrobe

After eventually figuring out how to knit, one of my objectives was to learn how to knit a sweater. This is a detail I also mentioned in the knitting journey post, but there are several ways to go about sweater knitting! I’m pretty sure I’ve gone about every construction method at this point. All of this is to say that I became quite experienced at hand making sweaters and have learned a lot about various techniques and my own preferences along the way. With everything I knew, I then moved the goalpost to a more long-term objective I’ve been working on for several months now.

As the headline indicates, my current objective is to knit a full winter wardrobe. It involves more than just knitting and appending to what I currently have, though; I intend to fully replace all the sweaters, cardigans, and coats I have thrifted. As of May 2026, I am currently five for five, meaning I have knit one sweater a month for five months. It’s funny because a shopping haul could include buying five plus sweaters within a 20-30-minute shopping experience, but here I am hand making my sweaters in unarguably the slowest way ever! So why, aside from the evident satisfaction of wearing my own creations, would I endeavor to do this? I have several reasons, and this is what I’ll get into next.

Why I Hand Make (Most) Clothes vs. Thrifting

First off, I have opted to knit many of the new clothes I’ve added to my wardrobe to guarantee the quality and prioritize longevity. The mainstream (specifically, social media) is always pushing new fads and trends, many times with fashion. With this comes fast fashion that is made with non-durable, synthetic materials so we, as consumers, continue buying more product. I had never paid attention to the fiber content of clothes prior to knitting, but what I’ve learned is that the fibers used and how those fibers are cared for impact the lifespan of a garment.

Clothing, in the context of fads and trends, is often treated as short-term and discardable, especially since it’s made cheaply and purchased cheaply. There is often little regard for holding onto the same clothes year over year as a result of all of this. My alternative take is that we should seek out quality, timeless garments that can last us a lifetime instead of making our wardrobes so expendable. Switching from fast fashion to slow fashion would also reduce textile waste and, in time, make strides toward ending exploitative labor practices. You may be able to find these types of high-quality pieces while thrifting if you look into the right places, but I’ll get into more reasons why I’ve opted to hand make instead.

There are several layers to this conversation, so I’m going to revisit some of the earlier points I made. Because the timeless pieces I make are, again, intended to last as long as possible (and hopefully a lifetime), cost is less of a factor for me than the quality itself. I’m not trying to accumulate garments at the lowest possible cost since my intention is to keep and care for them long-term. There is still a price range I usually stay within when acquiring materials to keep it reasonable, but that is an expense I’m willing to shoulder since I can guarantee the quality.

There are small businesses and independent knitters you can also buy slow fashion from, but as someone who spends hours making my own sweaters, this understandably comes at an exorbitant cost. If you asked me today if you could buy one of my sweaters, you would not want to buy them based on my price point! So, I’ve found that, for me, it makes more sense to spend more on materials than the cost of thrifting for the sake of longevity, while also avoiding spending hundreds of dollars on a single sweater by knitting the garments myself.

I could go on and on about my reasons for hand making my own clothes, but I’ll make one last point for now. This is, bringing beauty back into my surroundings. That may sound a little corny, so I will elaborate. Much of what I used to wear was black, gray, and quite plain. Some garments I wear are still plain, but hand making my sweaters has encouraged me to step outside the box and take pride in what I make and wear. As I have learned new techniques and have explored knitting pattern ideas, I have found what I gravitate toward and what fits my ever-evolving sense of style.

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Another one of my alternative takes is that style should continue to be expressive but in a non-materialistic way. There is truth in the phrase “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” but can you really say something is beautiful when it is, again, made cheaply and purchased cheaply? While beauty does not need to be expensive, per se, I think we can get back to this by hand making and home making. All you need to invite beauty back into your life is some time and persistence to become good at a skill. Then you can beautify your life in not only in a cost-effective way, but in a way that’s timeless, sustainable, and authentic to you.

More On This Soon to Come

In essence, this is how I came to start hand making my own clothes and why I do this as opposed to thrifting. There is so much to say on this topic, and my hope is that this article compels you to view clothing at the intersection of consumerism with a more nuanced perspective.

To ensure my stance is clear, I do think thrifting is a wonderful way to give clothes and items a new home! I have just personally opted for more handmade approaches for the reasons I’ve stated. The drawback of trying to do it all independently, though, is that it is simply impossible to get around to all of it. This is why stores and markets exist in the first place! But then there comes the matter of quality and price as it relates to companies’ profit margins. I’ve learned that it is important to prioritize which handmade and homemade projects I want to handle and which I’m okay with “offloading to someone else” by paying for product (i.e., jeans; Levi’s does this best). It is a delicate balance for sure, but one that I enjoy finagling with to get the most value for what I put in (whether it be time or money).

Sometime this fall, I will write a follow-up article to this that actually shows my winter wardrobe! I am continuing to make great headway with my handmade collection, but I will feature all the garments when the minimum viable wardrobe is complete. There is a garment or two I plan on writing dedicated articles for that documents the process and my progress, so be sure to keep an eye out for those before the full wardrobe article is released.

Now I want to hear what you think. Do you think it makes most sense to spend more time or money on clothing that’s made to last? What do you think it would take for us to collectively shift our consumer spending habits to more sustainable clothing alternatives? Be sure to share your thoughts with me; I am curious to hear what you think on this as well.

Welcome back to my corner of the internet! I am very excited to introduce you to what is now known as Altstreamer and share what is soon to come. If you are interested in learning what this is all about and what to expect from me going forward, continue reading on.

What Is Altstreamer?

Simply put, Altstreamer is short for “Alternatives to the Mainstream”. Here, I will point out mainstream tendencies shaping the world as we know it today and provide contrarian viewpoints and approaches to those.

It is possible to invert just about any idea to arrive at the opposite perspective, but it is often unproductive to do so for the sake of being “that person” who is always going against the grain. My purpose in sharing alternative thoughts and practices is specifically to show what life could look like when you step outside the mainstream and embrace your own unique way of living.

How I Arrived Here

For the last five years, I have gradually incorporated more analog and homemade approaches into my life. It started with digital minimalism, where I downgraded from a smartphone to a dumbphone for a few years to drastically reduce my screentime and thus increase my immersion within physical surroundings. I later introduced new handmade and creative hobbies into my life, which were detailed in Hobbyisms. While these approaches had the immediate themes of digital minimalism and hobbying, there was a deeper idea this was all unknowingly built on when I was merely scratching the surface.

My core idea was (and still is) living a colorful life rooted in deliberation and principle. This may sound pretty serious at first read, but what this ultimately comes down to is living my best possible life. What I’ve concluded overtime is that in order for one to have a remarkable existence, taking intentional and meaningful approaches is a must. Nothing wonderful happens when going through the motions in a thoughtless state. And, in my opinion, when the mainstream is used as the guidepost for how to live a fulfilling life. This is where Altstreamer comes in to provide wholesome, practical ideas to enrich your life while also sharing how I’m personally going about this.

What to Expect

With Altstreamer, I will continue sending new insights towards the beginning of the week. Some posts will focus on mainstream occurrences and provide a grounded perspective to those; other posts will share which approaches I’ve taken to live my own version of a wholesome life. You may be finding that platforms are pushing more bleak ideas and unnecessary product onto us than ever. That the world seems void of any real depth, substance, or individuality. Or that you find yourself thinking “We’re doomed!” all too often. If these are along the lines of your own observations and thoughts, you will find that Altstreamer provides a breath of fresh air.

In addition to the beginning of the week posts, there may also be periodic posts later in the week. Posts from what was then Hobbyisms will remain on altstreamer.com; visit the How Tos category if you would ever like to learn how to start or sustain a hobby. That is most certainly a pillar of living a life alternative to the mainstream.

Final Notes

If at any time this new post direction no longer resonates, you always have the option to opt out. But, if you like everything that was stated above, you will enjoy everything that is to come.

I look forward to seeing you on the other side with Altstreamer! Be sure to stay tuned for upcoming posts; there is certainly a lot of ground to cover.

Hello all - I wanted to write a brief note here to pre-introduce a new change I’m making to my Substack. I have rebranded this publication to Altstreamer, which stands for “Alternatives to the Mainstream”. I will be sharing more information about this new concept in the next post I make, so be sure to keep an eye out for that to learn which direction I’m taking this in. Until then, enjoy this personal story that played a pivotal role in making me the hobbyist I continue to be today.

Today’s post on Altstreamer will be a bit more personal and interesting to discuss. I frankly didn’t think I’d be sharing more detail than what I already had in a previous post. However, this story shows exactly how I arrived at where I am today with many important lessons along the way. I will be sharing how I pivoted from “business building” to “hobbying”.

Neither of these things I did (and do) full-time; I currently work full-time in an office environment. A good amount of my time before and after work, however, was (and is) directed toward business building and hobbying. Both played a large role in how I viewed myself and approached much of what I did. And there is, overall, much to speak on this transition.

Before beginning the story, I am going to raise the question you are likely thinking: “If business building involves income and hobbies involve no income, then why the large pendulum swing?” You will learn the answer in this story and find that it isn’t as black or white as it is easy to speculate. With that established, here is how that shift occurred.

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From Hobbying to Business Building

I have had hobbies for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, there were always projects I was working on. This included writing my own TV show and movie scripts, drawing, origami, photography, web design, among others. I have always known how to keep myself, as I like to say, intentionally occupied! Fast forward to high school, my interests had evolved as one would expect. I was still doing photography, but I was driving myself to state parks and taking many pictures there. I was still writing, but now poetry and my first songs. There were also new interests I picked up with my new-found freedom such as hiking and yoga. All these projects and interests I consistently did up until 2021 when I started business building.

So how did I get into business building? It all started when I had an idea that was to help me systematize an aspect of how I went about my life. That idea was to create a chart that showed and grouped all the domains of my life I needed and wanted to keep in balance. It was the first way as a young adult that I made sense of all the factors at play by seeing it laid out in visual way. This then led to creating other visual worksheet resources to help me make progress in other areas. Soon after, I started having ideas for long descriptions for these worksheets as if it were all compiled into a book. And then it became a workbook! I will spare all the details here, but if you want to learn more about that process, read My Writing Journey.

Around the same time I began working on this workbook, I also started thinking that this project could benefit from additional branding and that there was potential for spin-off products/services to compliment it. This is when I hit pause on my music projects and switched gears. This second idea soon became Livin’ Analog, which is what I described as “a personal and professional development project serving individuals and organizations.” The premise of Livin’ Analog was to promote digital minimalism and provide resources that would help people become more analog in an increasingly digital world. The pillar offerings for Livin’ Analog were events, speaking engagements/workshops, courses/books, among other ideas that I started developing.

From Business Building to Burnout

As you can see with the initial worksheet idea, the workbook, and Livin’ Analog, one thing really led to another. The peak of this project, though, is when I decided to put on an event called the Livin’ Analog Day Retreat. This idea had come to me on a hike one day, and it seemed like such a cool idea in my head that I decided to do it. The premise was for it to be an entirely phone-free, outdoor event where people would “Find new hobbies, rethink technology, and meet like-minded people.” I really wanted kayaking to be part of the event, so I specifically selected a park with a lake to give people that option.

Then came all the logistics: site visits, speaker selection (there were two speakers that flew in from both sides of the US), vendor contracting, sponsorship outreach, attendee marketing, making PR pitches, supply ordering, among many other steps. I basically became an all-in-one event planner for this. If this all sounds exhausting, it was! There was a moment four months prior to the event where I wondered if I should go through with it, and I knew I needed to decide whether I was going to send it or call it off. I decided to send it. It’d be interesting to see where I ended up today if I took the opposite course of action.

I’d now like to share a few photos from this event so you can have an idea of how it was set up and what took place.

When I look back at these photos, I look at them with a fondness for how well the event went (plus how perfect the weather was that day) and how much everyone enjoyed the event. But I also sense the undertone of burnout with this event as the person who lived through it.

I will spare providing every detail between when I started planning and the day of the event, but what I do want to mention is that I was working non-stop in this timeframe. In addition to the event, I also started making several visits to my grandparents’ home to start recording stories for the family history book I wanted to create in my lifetime (more information on that can be found in my post The Story of My Family History Book). Then I had my full-time office job and a demanding project that same year that I often worked on outside of standard office hours. And then there were the personal odds and ends in-between! You’re probably wondering at this point how I managed to juggle all of this and stay sane. I managed with the juggling by truly working around the clock, but I was certainly not okay.

Once the event concluded, I took some time to recharge and evaluate what I wanted to do next. I had already saved the date with the same park for the following year as if I were to hold the event again, but I was definitely on the fence about it after everything I had put myself through. It wasn’t just the event, though; Livin’ Analog, as a whole, had a lot of tentacles to it. And to grow the audience more and generate more sales, I was almost convinced that the only way to accomplish this would be to bolt on more!

With all the time and money I sunk into Livin’ Analog, I knew that it was important to sit myself down and determine if I really wanted to continue forward with this project and if it was giving me the life I truly wanted for myself. Either decision would yield difficult consequences: sticking with it meant more time and money, walking away from it meant losing the time and money I had already sunk into it. With much thought and deliberation, I concluded the best thing for myself would be to walk away from it.

Burnout in the Trenches

Livin’ Analog was set up as an actual company with a legal filing, bank account, and even trademarks; it just didn’t do a lot of business. Naturally, this made wrapping up the business more complex and step intensive. There were many of errands to run, calls to make, expenses to cancel, and files to archive. I managed to fully close the Livin’ Analog chapter by the end of June 2024, and that was frankly the largest relief. That didn’t change the fact that there was still much to do and burnout that I was facing, but it was a weight off my shoulders.

Prior to my decision to close Livin’ Analog, I was exploring other possible income options to continue funding the project. This included exploring the idea of an Etsy store where I could sell large format coloring posters with fun facts on them (which was short-lived), along with starting to prospect possible email marketing clients within a few different niches (which took place over a long period of time before it became clear that the AI landscape changed how companies go about that). I was also continuing to work on my family history book (now vigorously) during this time, and I did start working on my music again a bit.

In August 2024, I was visiting with my dad, and he showed me some recent home décor pieces he had made from scrap wood. He had mentioned wanting to start selling those pieces before, and that got my wheels turning about how we could create an eCommerce store for these pieces. That idea soon became ALO Woods, which I created a website and full product catalog for over the next five months. Then my sister and I started building a brand presence for ALO Woods on social media, and I started marketing it ongoingly. I discontinued with the marketing a few months into 2025 since a lot of work went into my efforts for very minuscule outcomes in return. With my dad being busy with his work and me wanting to focus on some other personal and day work-related projects, we hit pause on that one for now. This is when I really started to become more hobby centric.

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From Burnout to Hobbying

2025 was the year I really became deliberate about creating the life I truly want for myself. It’s when I started using and configured my task manager, learning how to knit, learning how to sing, writing and composing music again (which I vowed to never quit working on again), pivoting into a new work role that would enable me to augment my income, and starting what was then Hobbyisms. I plan on writing about where I was when I initially established these goals versus where I am now a year later with the focused efforts I put forth. For now, I will just leave it at how I managed to successfully dig myself out of the trench by the end of 2025 that had I originally gotten myself in.

One more notable aspect I’d like to mention is regarding burnout itself. As indicated earlier, the peak of my burnout occurred with the Livin’ Analog Day Retreat when I was doing so much to get everything ready for the event (and the burnout continued through 2024). I was still experiencing burnout through mid-2025, but there was this one day that I was taking a walk through the neighborhood and I experienced the last of the burnout escape me. I don’t know how else to describe other than my life cracking back into place like a bunion that’s corrected. It was such a liberating feeling, and it is the moment I truly started feeling like myself again. What I do want to briefly clarify, though, is that the burnout did not magically go away on its own; it took several months of personal work to get to that point. Those efforts resulted in me becoming the happiest I’ve been in a long time, and I look forward to all that’s ahead!

From that moment forward, I have made extra sure to direct my time and focus into projects that contribute to the quality of life I want to be living A. mentally, B. experientially, and C. financially. It was such a journey to get to this point, but I wouldn’t change any of it. There are hard lessons we all need to learn in one way or another; I’m just glad that I got through these hardships my early adulthood to avoid having to go through these same experiences later in life (all before the age of 25!). Of course, there will be challenges that emerge years down the line as I embark on new journeys in my life, but the experiences I have gone through (listed here and otherwise) have well equipped me to handle just about anything at this point.

Some Notes and Takeaways

The narrative part of this story is complete, but I thought I’d share some additional insight and lessons not explicitly covered that you may have inferred along the way.

One note is that I used the term “business building” versus “business owner” for a specific reason. Technically, I was a business owner for Livin’ Analog since the company was an LLC, but as I mentioned above, the company did not do a lot of business. So, I use “business owner” sparingly in that sense. I spent a lot of time building the business; I did not spend a lot of time growing the business. Same goes for ALO Woods and the email marketing concept. It is important to assess what the return is for your efforts and whether what you put in is worth what you get back.

Another sentiment that you may have picked up on is that “the juice was not worth the squeeze.” Building a business from the ground up, regardless of the industry, takes a lot of time, commitment, and effort. You must be willing to put in a substantial amount of upfront work to get it going, with a possibility of there being a low response or not being able to sustain it. A smart approach is to get your idea in front of people it would benefit as soon as possible to make sure there is an actual market for your product/service and increase your chances of success. Had I really understood this at the time, perhaps I would have treaded much more carefully before going so deep into it.

The last note I want to make mention of is regarding going from projects that could give me possible sources of income versus hobbies that do not. While I focus on my hobbies more than I have in years past, there are specific sources of “non-business building” income I’ve been working toward over the last year that meet a certain set of criteria. Having multiple income streams is still something I strive toward, but the way I go about it is on my own terms and not at the sacrifice of my mental health and hobbies. When I was business building, that became my life, and I really lost myself in the process. I learned that by becoming more deliberate about what those additional streams of income could be (and by taking smarter paths), I can still accomplish that goal while maintaining the quality of life and hobbies that bring me joy.

From Hobbying to Continued Hobbying

So that’s my story of going from a business builder to a hobbyist. I hope there were valuable lessons you extracted from this post to avoid making the mistakes I did. Making mistakes is part of the process, but steering clear of known hindrances can make life a bit easier amid all its other complexities.

I look forward to all the hobbying that’s ahead and seeing where that takes me. Thank you for being here in this journey; there continues to be much that is coming soon.

I have had a lot of hobbies over the years. Even before I realized that I’m essentially a bonafide hobbyist, I was always engaged in some sort of activity I found interesting. So, I thought it would be interesting to do a roundup of all the hobbies I’ve ever done and/or want to do and categorize them by retired, revisit, present, and future. There are also some quirky stories that have resulted from these hobbies, and I will share those too. With all this established, here is a review of all my hobbies.

Retired Hobbies

These are the hobbies I am more than likely discontinuing indefinitely.

Book Writing

Over the years, I have written a few books in a few formats. The books I took from start to finish include a poetry book, workbook, and family history book. The books I started but decided to discontinue include another poetry book with creative writing and a children’s book. I still enjoy writing to this day but decided to redirect it into Hobbyisms and my music, since A. neither require me to constantly be in front of my computer and B. both are significantly less demanding projects.

Longboarding

There was a period where I really got into longboarding because my sister had started doing it and it looked fun! So, I got my own longboard and really put some miles on it. I would often longboard 13-mile stretches at a time, which I would actually find quite meditative. I discontinued longboarding because A. I think I wore my board out and B. I think I started realizing that it’s kind of dangerous after happening to get lucky with a couple (or few) crash landings.

Painting

I was never too serious of a painter, but I’ve done a project or two at some point(s). One project included painting a Metallica Ride the Lightning-inspired skateboard when my husband and I were first dating, which he still has on a bedroom dresser. I enjoyed the sporadic painting projects I did when I did them, but I have since ventured into other types of creative projects.

Photography

This used to be one of my top hobbies for several years. Whenever I went to state parks (which was very frequent back then), I always brought my camera along and took a lot of beautiful photos. I also took many nice photos from my dad’s backyard. The problem was, I was a bit irresponsible and caused at least three of my cameras to become water damaged! After my last camera fell into the body of water that my husband and I were visiting in 2021, I decided that that would be my last large-lens camera and that he’d be the photographer in our relationship. Now I just have a small point and shoot, which I use occasionally. I also don’t really see myself taking up photography again as my interests evolved and I discovered what I’m most passionate about.

Video Production

Creating videos was also a pillar hobby of mine. I had various YouTube channels way back when, where I would create goofy video skits with friends, film nature and vacation videos, and some music-related videos here and there. I eventually decided to discontinue doing this a bit prior to the end of my photography journey so I could spend less time on my computer from this as well.

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Hobbies to Revisit

These are the hobbies I’ve done in past years and would like to revisit in the present or future years.

Kayaking

Some of my first experiences with kayaking were when I moved to South Carolina in the summer and kayaked in the ocean. When I returned home, I knew I wanted to bring that with me. So, I rented kayaks (and paddleboards) at parks until I decided to buy an inflatable kayak. Fun fact: I did a 20-mile river float trip in that inflatable kayak (when I was younger and clearly wasn’t thinking about what could happen)!

A couple years later, I bought a recreational kayak on a snowy day when I must have had warmer times on my mind. Some of my other kayaking adventures included kayaking with my new kayak on a miniature float trip with my husband when we were dating, along with doing a guided kayaking cave tour with my boss (there was even a section where we needed to lay flat in our kayaks to pass through the cave on the tour!). I haven’t kayaked in a few years but want to take it back out on the water. I plan to do that this year.

Hammocking

This is less of an active activity per-se but one that I plan to get back into this spring nonetheless. Several years back, I started seeing people stringing up hammocks at state parks and thought it would be fun to start stringing my own up at various locations. So that I did, and I have taken it to some interesting places.

I actually thought to myself a day prior to writing this post that it would be a win/win/win to start hammocking again because A. I’d be getting around to something I haven’t done in a while, B. It’s another way to get outside and get some vitamin D, and C. I can write from my word processing device on my hammock. Excited to start doing that again!

Drawing

I used to draw a lot when I was younger. One day, it must have occurred to me that I wanted to be able to look at something and be able to draw whatever that is exactly how I see it, so I bought the book How to Draw What You See. I wanted to follow the drawing prompts in sequential order, so the furthest I got was drawing in charcoal. My drawing actually looked pretty similar to how I saw it. I would like to come back to drawing at some point in my life, but it is more important to me right now to stay focused on the hobbies I have more concrete objectives for.

Yoga

This was also an important hobby of mine back then. When I started doing yoga and continued with it, I became serious about the practice. This led me competing the RYT-300 yoga teacher training in 2019. How I practice and view yoga now is very different to how I did back then (and much more sporadic), but I would like to practice the postures a bit more because they are effective for maintaining flexibility and mobility.

Yoga Trapeze

Now this is a type of yoga that I have really wanted to get back into for many years. Yoga trapeze involves suspended movement and postures, some of which involve flipping upside down (which is great for the back). I actually have my own yoga swing, but what makes it challenging to use it that you need A. very high (and secure) beams to secure the swing from, B. portable yoga swing poles (stable ones are hard to come by), or C. a bolted setup on the ceiling. I look forward to whenever I can get back into this hobby and will share more information about this on Hobbyisms when I do.

Also – I was really hoping to insert a photo for this hobby, as I once had this really good photo someone took of me that demonstrated what yoga trapeze is. I have looked everywhere I can think to look but unfortunately cannot find it. I will provide photos in the future once I start this back up again!

Biking

This has always been an important hobby to me. When I was in high school, I biked myself everywhere before getting my first car, and I especially biked a lot when I lived in South Carolina. My husband and I have biked a few flat trails before, but we don’t currently have a garage for storing bikes or a car hitch setup for driving bikes to these trails. I can definitely see us biking more when we have a house and can more easily transport them.

Hiking

Over the years, I have spent a lot of time at parks. I’m unsure how to accurately estimate just how many miles I’ve hiked, but believe me when I say that it’s a lot. I still go on hikes from time to time, but I would definitely like to get back into it more as the weather becomes warmer. Hiking holds an important place for me because I would definitely say most of my creative inspiration occurs when I’m in the middle of the woods. As someone who mostly focuses on creative pursuits now, it is beneficial to also have one or two activities that encourage new ideas to emerge.

Present Hobbies

Here are the hobbies I am focused on now.

Knitting

This is a hobby I never foresaw myself getting into but one that I am heavily vested into now! I have knit many different things before, but my favorite things that I have knit thus far are sweaters and anything I have cable knit, lace knit, or fair isle knit. I love learning new knitting techniques that result in beautiful handmade items and challenge my current abilities. I can definitely see myself continuing to knit for the long haul. Read My Knitting Journey if you’d like my full knitting story.

Singing

Of all the hobbies I currently do, singing is what I’m most passionate about. There was a time that I thought that I just wasn’t a singer and that my voice was just what it currently was, but this I’ve pleasantly proven wrong to myself over the last year. Turns out I just needed proper (and healthy) vocal technique! Similar to knitting, I also plan to learn a variety of interesting vocal techniques to add more variance to my voice and also challenge my vocal abilities. The ultimate goal is to do the vocals for two music albums I currently have in the works. Read My Singing Journey if you’d like full singing story.

Song Composition/Songwriting

These are also important music hobbies of mine, which go hand-in-hand with my singing. I unintentionally started writing a music album several years back and fleshed it out into a full concept, from the preliminary songwriting to bringing the songs to life as proof-of-concept song compositions in MuseScore. This is one of my favorite hobbies as well because there is something quite amazing about initially conceptualizing a song and turning it into a finished song that sounds exactly as it’s meant to. Read My Music Journey if you’d like my full music story.

Playing the Native American Flute

This has been a less frequented hobby of the hobbies I’m currently focused on, but I also enjoy playing the Native American flute. I have two Native American Flutes, one in A minor and one in G# minor. I purchased these two Native American flutes specifically for the two albums I’m working on, and I am excited to continue improving upon my abilities to play them and seeing what I can improvise from these flutes as well.

Future Hobbies

These are the hobbies I have not yet gotten to that I want to embark on down the line.

Quilting

Ever since I embarked on my needlework journey, I knew that I wanted to make some quilts at some point. My grandma had some beautiful, handmade quilts that she made in her adult years, and those really inspired me to want to do the same for my own home.

Cross Stitching

I also want to learn how to cross stitch and create some cross stitch artwork. I also saw some cross stitch artwork in my grandparents’ home growing up, and, to me, there is something about cross stitched artwork that really makes a house a home. I look forward to making my own one day.

Embroidery

I think it would also be interesting to learn how to embroider so I can embellish some of the knit garments I make, along with any other ideas I come up with. Not the highest priority on my down-the-line list, but a skill I want to learn nonetheless.

Birding

Birds have always been my favorite animal, and my husband and I may get into birding at one point or another. For me, that would include keeping watching for various types of birds, and my husband would take pictures of the birds. He would then upload those to a birding app where we could then identify and keep track of all the birds we come across. I would have never considered logging the birds with a birding app had it not been for a video he showed me of some others doing the same.

Traveling

I have been to a few different places in my 25-year life, but I would definitely like to explore regions that are at the top of my travel list. This includes the Pacific Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and the non-contiguous US. America has such diverse geography and subcultures, and I would definitely like to experience more of it.

Honorable Mentions

There are some hobbies I also thought of that don’t necessarily need to have their own section, but definitely deserve an honorable mention. This includes boxing (retired), crocheting (retired), playing my tank drum and balalaika (revisit), jump roping (present), reading (present) and gardening (future). There may be a couple (or few) that I’m not even recollecting; I’ve just had so many hobbies!

That’s Just About All of Them

As you can see, I was not joking when I said I had a lot of hobbies over the years. Hobbies are what have enabled me to keep my life as interesting as it has been, and the great news is, most are pretty accessible!

With just a little bit of imagination, inspiration, and motivation, you can do just about anything you want to. If there is one takeaway from this post, it is: go on and do something interesting today. The possibilities await.

Happy hobbying!

Recently, a Hobbyisms reader shared that what challenges them to get around to their hobby is having limited time. This commonly prevents hobbies from starting and sustaining, so today’s post will provide ways to continue doing what you enjoy most amid various life obligations. If this is something you also continue to find yourself up against, here is what you can do.

Plan Ahead in a Task Manager

With limited time, managing the time you can direct at your discretion is a must. One way to go about this is with a task manager, where you can pinpoint and prioritize everything that you need to get around to. Plan a week, a couple weeks, or a month in advance, keeping track of all your deadlines and upcoming tasks. Put all the cards on the table; it is much easier to start spacing out your life load and find time to do your hobbies when you know the totality of what needs to happen. Manage your tasks to manage your time, and then redirect where that time goes from there.

Complete Obligations Earlier

Another step you can take to get around to your hobbies with limited time is to take a “sooner than later” approach in multiple respects. This could include completing your obligations in the morning as opposed to the evening (and on weekdays versus weekends), that way it is out of the way. If there are also ways you can expedite what you need to do without sacrificing the quality of the outcome, those are worth implementing as well. Find ways to enhance your approach and/or technique if it will reduce the amount of time directed toward mundane tasks. Complete obligations earlier so you have the peace of mind knowing that you can do what you want to later.

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Set Aside Some Dedicated Time

This pointer is commonly mentioned in Hobbyisms’ posts, but if you ever want to get around to your hobby… you must set some time aside! It doesn’t have to be much; even 30 focused minutes of enjoying or advancing with your hobby can incrementally get you somewhere with it. The way you set time aside can be spontaneous or time blocked (read this post to determine which approach is best for you). And depending on your hobby, you may even be able to do it during your relaxation time if it is possible to do it with background noise as opposed to sitting passively (i.e., knitting, crocheting, drawing, etc.). Allocate some un-encroached time toward your hobby and uphold your commitment to following through.

Cut Distractions When You Spot Them

This pointer is also often shared in other posts, but it is especially important when you have limited time. As mentioned above, 30-minute increments can certainly be enough to enjoy or advance with your hobby. If you are getting distracted during that period, however, or there are other time pockets that you could fill your hobby with instead… trim back on those as much as possible. Distractions are the most preventable time drain, and you will instantly have more time to redirect if you learn to manage them (for more insight on this, read this post).

Continue Finding Ways to Optimize

A final approach you can take to continue hobbying when time seems limited is ongoingly improving what and where you can. Questions to ask yourself include “What can I cut?” and “How can I more efficiently and effectively accomplish what I already have to do?” Invest some time now and then into optimizing how you go about your life load; it does make a difference. There are some obligations that will inherently take from your available time, but there are usually multiple ways to go about something that may result in time savings. If it takes time now but will save time later, it is worth pursuing.

Sustaining a Hobby with Limited Time

While there is certainly effort involved in working around time constraints, all the approaches mentioned here are feasible to start as soon as today. You will need to stick with these adjustments to continue getting around to your hobby with limited time. The most important aspect, though, is to keep the enjoyment you get from your hobby top of mind and use that to bring yourself back to it time and time again. As it is said: where there’s a will, there’s a way! Keep your will strong, and you will find the time.

Happy hobbying!

Recently, it had occurred to me that a full year has passed since I started using a task manager. I thought it would be interesting to reflect on the evolution of how I manage what I need/want to do and share where I am today versus when I first set up the system I’m presently using. Not only has it helped me keep personal and work tasks on my radar; it has enabled my hobbies to continue progressing at a satisfying pace. With this context established, here are my thoughts on using a task manager (one year later).

How I Handled Task Management Before

From 2020 into 2025, there are a couple primary processes I used for tracking what I needed and wanted to do in any given day. I will explain and show what those looked like, along with why I chose not to keep with those processes long-term.

Process #1: Custom Daily Tear Sheets

The first task management process I had used was writing tasks on a custom daily tear sheet. This tear sheet included a section for the areas of life I wanted to focus on, tasks to support these areas of life, and other tasks to complete. While my preference is to use more analog methods whenever possible, daily task tracking with these tear sheets did not ultimately work for two reasons.

Firstly, there seemed to be a level of pressure to fill as many lines as possible every day. This created unnecessary, self-perceived pressure to do as much as possible all the time and took the fun out of spontaneous hobbying since everything was pre-planned and something to check off the list. Secondly, it was more difficult to plan further out in advance with these tear sheets. Perhaps I could have kept a handwritten master task list to pull a few-week-out tasks from, but as that list grows, it would become more difficult to manage and unsortable since it’s handwritten. I could only sustain this process for a couple years before realizing there was probably a better way.

Process #2: Tabled Excel Sheet

The next process I used for task tracking was with Excel. I set up a lean excel table that included a task category, project, task description, due date, and completed box to sort and filter by. It is important to note here that I quit tracking which personal activities I wanted to get around to in any given day; this sheet was only for tasks.

With this Excel process, I was able to map out every step I needed to complete for two major projects I saw from beginning to end. So, in that respect, you could say this Excel process worked. However, what it lacked was a more visual way of spacing out my workload and integration with my calendar for a more holistic view of everything I had going on for the day, week, and month ahead. That then brought me to…

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How I Handle Task Management Now

In January 2025, I thought it was time to reevaluate how I handle my workload and workflows. So, after asking for a recommendation from a trusted person I work with and doing some independent research, I landed on Clickup. I didn’t know it at the time, but this decision marked the beginning of a whole new way of managing my life.

The first tasks I entered into Clickup came from the Excel sheet I was working from prior, and I archived that Excel sheet from that point forward. It wasn’t until April 2025 until I took some time to plan a month or two out in advance. This I did whilst watching Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boy’s The Mystery of Witches’ Hollow (1977). This has nothing to do with it other than the fact than this is the exact moment I started planning for months ahead.

As the year progressed, I continued refining my Clickup configuration and bolting on features necessary to how I administrate my life. Some examples include integrating my calendar into Clickup, implementing an optional time blocking reporting mechanism, and setting up a panel where I could save notes, links, and videos to review later. It took a while to get my Clickup configured exactly how I wanted because it took several months to understand where I was getting stuck to then adjust my Clickup around these parameters. A year later from when I initially dove in, though, I have reached full contentment with this system and have proved its effectiveness time and time again.

As of today, I have tasks planned several months out for 2026 and some planned for the next couple years. This happened unintentionally over a period of time as I brainstormed across several different sessions and made my ideas actionable in my task manager. I plan to continue adding to my task lists whenever new ideas emerge and adjust task due dates as needed. It makes more sense to enter all known tasks into Clickup (even if they’re further out) rather than leaving these tasks on the table. That way, I have a more complete understanding of what needs to happen and then figure out how to make it happen.

There are some changes I’ve made to my Clickup since the original posting of my setup, but if you’d like to see how it’s configured overall, you can review my post How to Optimize Your Life for Sustaining Hobbies.

Lessons Learned

After one year of using a task manager, there are some core lessons I’ve learned along the way that are very much applicable to others as well. Here’s what those include.

It’s okay to have a long (if not a very long) list.

Not everything on your list needs to be checked off. In fact, it’s better that there are open items to complete. This means you have an understanding and plan for your next steps. If everything was checked off, what would you do next? The key is to keep your open items in rotation, meaning you are checking items off and adding new items to the list. The moment your list goes stagnant, your progress also goes stagnant.

Fun fact: I currently have 88 personal tasks and 258 work tasks pre-scheduled. The next steps are very clear!

Learn what doesn’t work until you learn what does.

Keep iterating and experimenting various approaches. The quicker you learn what doesn’t work, the quicker you learn what does. This is what I keep in perspective when refining processes and outcomes several times over.

Seek the best solutions to challenges, even if requires some learning.

When coming up with solutions, think in terms of good, better, and best. Good requires little to no learning but requires the most admin overhead. Better requires some learning and some admin overhead. Best requires more learning but the least (if none) admin overhead. Choose the “best” approach, even if it’s more difficult in the present. You will thank yourself in the future.

Final Thoughts

It took a substantial amount of time and effort to make my task management system everything I wanted to be, but all these refinements were super worth it. At this juncture, I have more time to focus on what I’d rather be doing (while still getting done everything I need to and then some) because all the core aspects of my life are systematized. And I have found that sound task and time management very much contribute to peace of mind, among many other factors as well.

I hope that, through my own trial and error, you found something actionable from this post to help simplify your own life and get around to your hobbies. If that is the case, let me know what that is; I’d love to hear it. More interesting hobby topics and updates are on the way, so be sure to stay tuned.

Happy hobbying!

At one point or another, we have all felt the pull to do something more interesting than what we’re currently doing. There are many situations that may bring this about. A common pastime often responsible for this sense of unfulfillment, though, involves doom scrolling for hours on end, where we know that we want to do something better while not knowing what that could be. The great news is, that “something better” is closer than you think!

Hobbies are commonly underutilized for making life more interesting, many times for a very simple reason: it is challenging to narrow down where to start. This can be in regard to which hobby to pursue and how to start once you’ve determined the hobby. In this post, we’re going to focus on the discovery of your hobby, as you cannot start on anything without pinpointing what that is in the first place.

The Two Parts of Hobby Discovery

To find a hobby and start on it, there are two parts you will need to broach in the discovery process:

1. Discovering what you’re deeply inspired by

2. Giving your inspirations the time of day to become your own hobbies

Let’s dive into these aspects so you can find the hobby you’ve been missing.

Part 1: Discovering Your Inspirations

The first part of hobby discovery sounds pretty straightforward, right? For some, however, discovering what deeply inspires them (as it relates to their own individuality) can pose quite a challenge.

There is no shame in currently not knowing what your personal sources of inspiration are, but there is immense value that can come from understanding this for your hobbies (and your own personal development). In other words: take this step seriously. Your hobbying will benefit in many ways.

Where to Find Inspirations

There are so many ways you can go about becoming inspired. One way is experientially, which could include spending time in nature, traveling, or checking out new places and/or events. You could also find inspiration visually, which could include sights from your surroundings, media such as movies and books, or discovery engines such as Pinterest. The same applies to sound, if you are deeply moved by music or pitch frequencies (such as singing bowls, wind chimes, etc.). Or perhaps you find yourself inspired by smell or taste.

Inspiration is highly sensory, so be present and observant of this various information. Your unique way of processing and making sense of the world around you is your superpower.

What to Do with Inspirations

Once you start to have an idea of what you’re inspired by (which is an ever-evolving process), you can begin to use that understanding to inform which hobby you’d be interested in pursuing. Forget whether or not you think you can learn how to do it; just focus on what moves you right now.

If you are drawn to intricate European cabled sweaters like I am, as an example, perhaps consider knitting. Or, if you’re moved by the sound of Native American flutes also like I am, why not learn how to play the flute?

The goal of this step is to look at one of your inspirations and make it actionable. To determine what you can do to live out your inspiration. It often helps to make a list of your inspirations or to create an inspiration board, that way you have either in front of you to serve as your jumping off and initial decision point.

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When to Act on Inspirations

With knowing what your inspirations are and pinpointing which hobby corresponds with those, you can then start determining what your first steps would be if you were to actually start that hobby. Perhaps you are inspired enough to get started right now, or perhaps you’re still not completely sold. Either way, sit tight for a second and do not buy anything yet!

It is important that you understand what you are getting into before launching right into your hobby. To have a broader overview of what your hobby entails and what you need to know (and/or buy) to get started, consider watching/reading some beginner videos and articles. Develop a basic understanding of what the core concepts, techniques, and tools are. Perhaps join a forum to ask questions to others who are also getting started or have experience with this hobby.

Some of you reading this post may find yourself amped up about your hobby and eager to live out your inspirations at last. Or, perhaps it’s the opposite where you find yourself reluctant about whether you’re cut out for the hobby. Continue reading for the missing piece you need to hear.

Part 2: Developing Your Mindset

Becoming inspired and finding your hobby is half the battle for starting the hobby. The other half is believing you have what it takes to actually do it. Doubting your abilities often translates into a lived outcome: preventing yourself from starting the hobby and thus never seeing what you could have otherwise achieved.

No one who is considered a “master” in their respective discipline was excellent when they first started; it takes months and years to start seeing the fruits of these labors. But the goal doesn’t always need to be mastery; proficiency for your own personal enjoyment is certainly enough.

Once you pinpoint a possible hobby, you must “realize” the gain (just like you would by selling shares of a stock. But this is not investment advice!). In this example, though, your mindset is the means for actualizing the benefit (your hobby). Here are some important principles to adapt for this.

“I can put my mind to anything I’m inspired by.”

You are only limited by the belief that you are limited in your abilities. Of course, there are some hobbies that are more expensive than others, but there are several hobbies that are accessible to just about anyone. You can definitely find a hobby that matches up with your inspirations in one way or another. You just need to get creative and give it a chance. Don’t stop before you start!

“Just because I’m not a natural doesn’t mean I can’t improve and excel in the future.”

Going back to the statement about the “masters”, it takes persistence, patience, and time to get good (especially great) at anything. It is important to avoid becoming discouraged in the early stages and to see these initial challenges as part of the learning process. Everyone starts with the fundamentals early on before they are able to produce incredible results. Have fun with the process and laugh when tangles happen; you can start to appreciate these moments down the line and wonder how you managed to mess up in that way after sticking with it for a while.

“I can start something new at any point of my life.”

It is all too common to hear grown adults say, “I wish I could have learned how to [name the hobby]”. There are inherently going to be hobbies (specifically, more physical endeavors) that present more of a barrier to entry for certain ages than others. There are also many hobbies that you can start at any phase of life that require a little learning but are accessible otherwise. Avoid becoming that adult! You can start on just about anything, regardless of age, if you work up to it.

Start Discovering Your Hobby

Colorful days await with the discovery of your hobby. By finding your inspirations and developing your mindset, you will be well on your way to starting your hobby beyond the initial discovery phase.

Once you decide what your hobby will be, be sure to check out Hobbyisms’ library of How Tos. You will find a wealth of insights on taking those first steps when you are ready to embark on this new journey.

Happy hobbying!

Recently (as in mid-March), I traveled 100 miles from home to stay at a remote hunting lodge. Deer hunting season is November through December, making that the time when this lodge is at peak occupancy. There are many other activities that take place at this lodge throughout the year, but it seems that I timed my stay just a bit prior to some of those starting back up for the year. All of this is to say that while there were some other people staying here aside from my husband and I, that it was a quiet and secluded experience (which, for me, was awesome!).

Although our stay was a short getaway (Saturday afternoon through Monday morning), I thought it would be interesting to reflect on the experience, share moments that stood out to me, and what I will carry forward from it. With that established, here is my reflection.

Peak Activity: UTV Driving

When my husband and I arrived, we first got checked in and headed over to the UTV barn shortly after. This was the first time either of us rode (and drove) a UTV. We listened to the safety and instructional briefing and then hit the ATV trails.

According to a welcome packet I found in the lodge’s recreation room, there are 60 miles of trails on 1,500 rolling acres. I believe some of that was sold to a private owner, but needless to say, we covered a lot of ground in that UTV. A lot of steep, sloped ground, I will also add! It was impressive that we were able to make it up and down those hills in the UTV, especially with some mud from a recent rainfall.

There were times where we’d stop driving for a bit and take it all in. It was a sunny, 56-degree day, and there a nice lake between some of the trails. A few other ATV riders were on the trails that day, some of which were going pretty fast and doing donuts. That was interesting to spectate from a distance. There was also someone who must have been going too fast whilst hitting a rough patch and jumped ship from their ATV, which ended up sideways. I almost missed it because it happened so quickly; they were fine and it was funny to watch.

We were out on the trails for a couple hours, driving mostly at a cautious speed to avoid losing control of the UTV. There were a few times my husband goosed it a bit when we were in a flat area, and those times were extra fun. This was an enjoyable experience, and one that I would definitely do again.

Getting Settled: Accommodations

After our UTV drive, we spent some time relaxing in our lodge room. The room was adorned with wooden walls, flooring, and bedframes, wildlife décor, and an on/off fireplace. All of this created a very cozy and inspiring ambiance, and I got to finally experience the winter comfort environment I had always wanted to.

As stated earlier, this lodge is in the middle of nowhere. Between that and essentially being the only guests in this lodge, this made for a very quiet and peaceful stay. The recreation room had everything from puzzles to billiards, blackjack, games, and books. I felt very at home in this room and the lodge as a whole.

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Interesting Moments: Mealtime

A unique aspect of this hunting lodge experience was mealtime. Once a bell sounds, guests can then take a seat in the dining room. Guests who stay at the lodge are seated at long tables alongside other guests whose accommodations are on the same level (with four tables in the dining room). Food is set on the table ahead of time, a prayer takes place, and then guests can help themselves to the food on the table. The food itself was phenomenal; it was homecooked, country-style American cuisine. These mealtime experiences were reminiscent to the family meals I had at my grandparents’ home when I was young.

The first dinner we had at the lodge, we were seated with three other groups. One group was a party of four who traveled from New Jersey to go coyote hunting. They were friendly and made small talk with us and the rest of the table. This was the first time they had stayed at the lodge, but they had done many other hunting trips elsewhere. From the way they were talking about some topics amongst themselves, they kind of sounded like they were in the mob (or maybe just very well off financially). Which is WILD to say, but you know when you have a conversation, and something just sticks with you a certain way? Chatting with people (who were at the same dinner table) during breakfast the following morning, they also got the same impression. We will never know!

Mealtime the second night was also interesting. Most everyone had left since it was Sunday, so it was just me, my husband, and a father and son from Chicago who came to go hunting for two days. This was an interesting conversation, and we talked about everything from hunting to book writing and publishing, bread, pop culture, and other miscellaneous interests. Mealtime, overall, was a memorable part of this trip.

Pass Times: Knitting, Walking, and Relaxing

Originally, my husband and I were going to do a sporting clay course the following day, but 1. The magazines required for my husband’s firearms are illegal in the state and 2. It was supposed to start raining quite a bit (and it did). So, this ended up being a pretty relaxed day.

I spent the morning finishing the cable knit beanie I was knitting, which I planned to wear on the drive home since it was to become very cold. Then we went on a walk around the property to enjoy the warmer weather (while it lasted) and get some movement in. I spent the latter part of the afternoon chilling in the jacuzzi tub and writing in the recreation area with my word processor. I continued writing by the fireplace after dinner, and we played a game of checkers before relaxing some more.

The morning of our departure, I woke up in the middle of the morning to the sound of powerful gusts of wind. I looked out the window once it became light outside, and there was snow on the ground! My picturesque winter lodge experience was complete.

Final Words on This Experience

This getaway was just what I needed to rest and rejuvenate. Sometimes it’s nice to experience a change in pace and scenery; I know I certainly did here.

This is somewhere I’ll definitely be returning to again; it may be one of my favorite places now. In the meanwhile, I will continue using my hobbies as a conduit for recreating the inspiration I took from this lodge and look forward to the next time I can stay and hobby here.

Happy hobbying (and adventuring)!

Imagine this: you finally found the motivation to start your hobby. You acquired some basic supplies, set some time aside, and began finding your flow in the process. And then… you hit a roadblock. You don’t know how or what to do to continue forward, you must make a decision that determines your next step, and you have no idea how to proceed. You then set your hobby aside, thinking you’ll come back to it later… but you never end up doing so.

This scenario is all too common when it comes to encountering roadblocks with hobbies. Just like anything else, it is much easier to give up than continuing to work through the challenge(s) at hand. Prematurely giving up on your hobby, however, inhibits it from blossoming into its true potential and can make it more difficult to come back to.

To overcome roadblocks, it is important to first understand the root causes that often lead to quick quitting. One cause is avoidance. It takes much less effort to dodge something that is difficult than to confront and troubleshoot it. Another cause is ease. It is, evidently, much simpler to opt for less intensive options than it is to choose the more difficult courses of action. Keeping both ideas at your forefront can help as you work through your hobby obstacles. With this established, here are the concrete steps you can take to overcome these hobby roadblocks.

Write Down All Your Questions

Before you decide to give up on your hobby, put your work down and take some time to pinpoint where you are stuck. Does your outcome not look correct? Did something become tangled? Do you not know how to do a technique necessary for your hobby project? These are a few example questions that may help you determine the current condition of what you’re working on, and what led up to this point. Write an answer down that explains what the actual roadblocks are.

Once you know which roadblocks you have encountered, then begin thinking through specific questions that pertain to working through them. If there are multiple variables involved that could be responsible for these issues, make a list of every one you can think of. Not every roadblock you encounter will be that layered, but ensure your overall list is as complete as possible. This provides a solid foundation for what your next steps will include to stick with it.

Prioritize and Narrow Your Focus

Now that you have a strong list that informs what you need to do next, it then becomes important to prioritize where you plan to start. Don’t start working through your priority just yet; just make a point in this stage to isolate it.

If there is a particular task or two that is a logical starting point, make that your highest priority. Some tasks aren’t always contingent on being completed in any particular order, so if that’s the case, pick any task to begin with.

Regardless of how you choose to prioritize where to start, it is important to select just a couple tasks at a time. This ensures you can really direct your focus towards those and bring those to completion to actually start overcoming the roadblocks.

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Find Time and Space to Concentrate

With your first (and possibly second) priority established, it then becomes essential to set some time aside in a quiet space where you can focus deeply. You can either schedule a time block that serves as your troubleshooting window, or bring yourself here on your own time (read What to Do If You Never Finish Projects You Start to determine which could be best for you). Either way, show up for yourself to work through the roadblock you’re encountering.

It is also important, as previously mentioned, that you find a quiet space for this. This means no distractions that can derail you from troubleshooting where you’re currently stuck. While external noise can certainly be a distraction, the largest distraction is oftentimes phones. If you need to watch a tutorial video to work through your hobby roadblocks, be super mindful of how you’re using your phone and consider temporarily blocking distractions (read How to Eliminate Distractions to Get Somewhere With Your Hobby for suggestions on how to do this).

Establish Concrete Steps to Address

With time and a quiet space to focus within, you can now take that priority (or two) you established and break it down into smaller steps. This makes something that seems insurmountable become much more manageable to execute (especially if you’re prone to giving up quickly).

To determine if your steps are small enough for you to actually complete them, take some time to reflect on what you came up with. If it genuinely seems like your steps are manageable enough that you would start today, your next steps are probably small enough. If it seems like the next steps are a large leap with where you are now, see if you can make them a bit smaller to start somewhere.

It is important to note that you can only go so small with these steps and that you will need some level of motivation to get things rolling. But, you can at least start working through roadblocks by starting with steps you can handle.

Make Progress One Step at a Time

Now that priority one (and possibly two) are broken down into feasible milestones, you must now start working through those one by one. Don’t half start one step and then move onto another step; focus on completion. Focus on troubleshooting where you’re going wrong if you’re having trouble reaching completion.

If you find yourself losing focus and becoming distracted, come back to the step once you’ve regained focus. Focus on achieving one small victory for each step each time you get around to your hobby, even if you don’t yet complete the step itself.

With enough well-directed focus and troubleshooting, you will figure out what you need to do, even if it takes a bit of time. Allow yourself to achieve these small victories and stick with it. Not only will your consistency and persistence enable you to achieve the priorities you had originally established, but you will become more confident in your abilities overall.

From Roadblocks to Full Speed Ahead

Once you become more adept at working through roadblocks that arise with your hobby, it will become much simpler to address these overtime. Follow these five steps to continue sticking with your hobby when the process becomes tough and avoid falling into the trap of avoidance and ease along the way.

It is important to remember that a “roadblock” does not mean a “dead end.” Oftentimes, you just need to try a couple (or few) approaches to navigate around it. After that, you can continue cruising along and enjoying the hobby that you saved from hitting a dead end before it truly started.

Happy hobbying!

I always find that there are so many aspects to appreciate in all the seasons. With the arrival of spring, I have also found myself reflecting on this past winter. Winter is when I spend much more time indoors, which means I direct extra time toward my creative projects (rather than going outside often).

I thought it would be interesting to share all the hobby projects I did this past winter, as there were many of them. There are also some stories with these projects, so I will share those too. You will very quickly see that I have no idea how to become bored!

Knitting

Christmas Stockings

One of aspects I enjoy about all the seasons is seasonal decorating. Since I am an avid (and intermediate) knitter, I thought it would be interesting to cable knit Christmas stockings for my husband and I. It took from the beginning of November through mid-December to complete these. It was a slow and intricate process, but we now have unique stockings for the month of December.

Gingerbread Man Tree Ornament

After completing the stockings, I knew I wanted to make something gingerbread man related since I had brown yarn in my fiber stash. So, I created this little guy and think it turned out nice. Knitting takes a lot longer than you’d think it takes, so it took me about three hours to make this ornament between knitting, stuffing, and sewing. We now have our first tree ornament, though!

Baby Hat and Booties Set

Whenever there is a baby shower coming up, I always enjoy making baby knits for the soon-to-be newborns. This time, I knit these cute little baby booties and headband set. This probably took me three hours as well, and I think this makes for an adorable gift for a baby girl.

Sky Feather Sweater

With Christmas and little knits out of the way, I was ready to get back to making sweaters again. From the end of December through mid-January, I knit this beautiful top-down wool sweater that has cable motifs down the middle front and back, along with cables down the sleeves. This is definitely one of my favorite sweaters I’ve knit to date.

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Avalanche Sweater

I was originally planning on making a cable knit scarf with the yarn I knit this sweater with, but turns out the yarn I purchased would make the scarf much wider than intended. So, I found a sweater pattern that matched the amount of yardage I had for the scarf and ended up making another top-down wool sweater instead. This sweater has a lace knit motif down the center front, along with cables on either side of the center motif. This sweater I knit in a week (most of it during a single weekend, though) and is evidently much simpler in comparison.

Fair Isle Headband

Ever since fair isle knitting some Halloween décor, I became super excited about fair isle knitting accessories and garments. I have always liked the classic fair isle snowflake design, so I decided to knit a snowflake headband with the leftover green and red wool I had from the stockings. Evidently this isn’t super high contrast, but I am pleased with how it turned out and look forward to fair isle knitting more.

Around Town Sweater

This is the latest sweater I knit, which is also now one of my favorites. This was knit from bottom to top, with a different construction method compared to the other sweaters I’ve knit. What intrigued me about this sweater is the various textured sections, which makes it an interesting sweater design overall. It only took me from about mid-February to mid-March to make this; it really wasn’t as complicated to knit as it looks!

Music

Writing Two New Songs

As mentioned in my post Hobbying in a Season of Change, I wrote two songs in the month of January. Sometimes there is a melody or harmony in my head that I just don’t have the words for yet, and these two songs were instances of that. But, the lyrics finally emerged and matched exactly what I originally envisioned for the songs. It’s amazing when that happens!

Completing a Song Composition

For one of those songs mentioned above, I had initially created a song composition in MuseScore (prior to writing the lyrics) that made the song sound exactly how it came to me. I then finalized the score with the lyrics once written to make it a complete proof of concept. Listening to my final compositions is one of those things that brings me the most joy.

That’s Most (If Not All) of Them

There may be a few odds and ends I forgot to mention in this post, but that’s a summary of just about all the hobby projects I did to get through the winter. There are more sweaters I plan to knit and more songs I plan to write this spring, but I am making a point to get outside more this season and enjoy the weather as well.

On another note: I have topics mapped out for Hobbyisms through the end of August, so I can say for certain that there is a lot to come! If there are certain topics you are interested in seeing or learning more about, be sure to let me know; I am listening.

Happy hobbying!

Have you found yourself thinking about the hobby you want to get around to, but find yourself stuck as to where to start or continually self-delay where you know you need to start? If the answer to either scenario is yes, there is a good chance you have found yourself in a “rut” with your hobby.

Ruts can look different for many people. As previously indicated, some ruts involve knowing what you want to do, not knowing how to do it, and thus not doing it. Other ruts involve knowing what you want to do, how to do it, but still not doing it. There are other shades of “rut” as well. But thankfully, there is a similar path you can follow to address this inaction (regardless of which scenario applies to you). Here is what you start doing today to begin working your way out of your hobby rut and get back to doing the hobby you enjoy.

Become Inspired Again

To exit a hobby rut, you must first recall which aspects of the hobby inspire you. Consider what had originally drawn you to the hobby and why you wanted to do it yourself (or had already started to do so). Pulling from my own hobby examples, I found myself drawn to particular types of cabled and fair isle sweater, poncho, and cardigan designs, and I became inspired to learn how to hand knit those for myself. I also found myself moved by particular vocal performances and sounds and became intrigued about learning healthy vocal technique to support and enhance the music I was already creating.

I find the idea of inspiration (and what causes it to occur) to be so fascinating because, essentially, any sensory input can contribute to it. So, as you’re evaluating your hobby and getting back into it, come back to your early sources of inspiration for that hobby and remember why you’re doing what you’re doing (which especially helps when your hobby becomes tricky). Then you can start to amplify that inspiration with the concrete measures that follow.

Establish Your Next Steps

Here is a preliminary stage where you may find yourself challenged. It is one thing to think to yourself that you’re going to start at last; it is another to establish what the next steps are. Depending on what your hobby is and what it requires, you may find that this is simple and that you don’t need to do much (if any) planning. If this is the case for you, that is great; go on and start your hobby! I have observed from my own experiences and with others, though, that this tends to be a large inhibitor when the hobby is new and whomever is starting from ground zero.

When planning your next (or first) steps, take some time to do so before you attempt to start taking action. You will be much clearer on what you need to focus on if you have a clear roadmap of at least the next 2-3 next steps for your hobby. If a next step involves answering a question, be sure to list that as well. You can resolve uncertainty of where to start by planning your next steps, and then use that to begin working through your uncertainty of how to start.

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Give Yourself a Chance to Start

Here is a secondary stage that often makes a hobby drop off again. You could have the most well-thought, clear list of next steps for your hobby, but you will find yourself in the same hobby rut as you did before if you don’t give yourself a chance to start on it.

There are many ways you can give yourself a chance to start. This, first and foremost, includes redirecting where your time goes. You need to put some amount of time toward your hobby to work your way out of a rut. I say “some amount of time” here because if your hobby rut is derived from uncertainty of how to go about your hobby, then you will most certainly need time to learn the techniques that will make your hobby a more enjoyable and relaxing experience.

Hobbies are often discontinued because of the learning curve involved. You will need to overcome this if you are inspired enough by your hobby to want to stick with it. Other ways you can give yourself a chance to start include eliminating distractions, scheduling some time blocks where all you focus on is your hobby, and perhaps making some optimizations in your life that create more space for your hobby.

Pinpoint Where You’re Stuck

A tertiary stage that will really put you to the test is pinpointing and working through roadblocks you encounter with your hobby. It is much easier to let your hobby come to a screeching halt when you get stuck rather than facing these challenges head-on. You will need to confront roadblocks along the way, however, to exit (or prevent) a hobby rut.

The most manageable way to work through the discomfort that occurs with roadblocks is to take it step by step. Start by writing down questions or uncertainties about your hobby that are inhibiting you from moving forward. Half the battle is understanding where you’re stuck. Then you can prioritize what makes sense to focus on first and begin incrementally working through these roadblocks. Be resilient with your hobby and actively choose to stick with it even when the process gets tough. You will thank yourself for pushing through the temporary discomfort you experienced.

Choose to Do Your Hobby Anyways

No one actively chooses to enter a “rut” of any sort, but it can certainly seem much more attainable to fall back into familiar patterns as opposed to challenging those. In regard to your hobby, the only way to break this cycle is to pick somewhere to start and dive right in.

Become inspired again, evaluate your next steps, carve out some time, and get unstuck. Once you clear these hurdles, you will rediscover just how fun it is to hobby and may even find yourself welcoming the occasional challenge.

Happy hobbying!

Today’s post on Hobbyisms will be the densest topic I have covered thus far. I typically like share insights that can help others find, start, and sustain hobbies, along with the projects I am presently working on. But I would like to get a little more personal here and write about large shifts that are happening in my life and tie it back into my hobbies. I will now proceed to do that.

Between 2024 and 2026, I have undergone what I consider to be my first major cycle of life changes. This includes becoming an aunt of two, getting married, and two grandparents (one soon to be) passing within two months apart. New family members coming into my life, and family members who I knew since the beginning of my life exiting life themselves. New chapter opening, others closing. Seeing the circle of life come full circle.

I have had a challenging time finding the words to describe what my internal experience amid all of this has been. It was even challenging to write that sentence (and this one too) because I’m still trying to figure out how to translate the most subtle thoughts, feelings, and undertones into words that depict what this experience has truly been like. It has seemed like every word carries weight, at least as the one writing and living this story.

There are a few phrases I have settled on over the last couple weeks that describe how I have internalized all of this. “Season of change”. Evidently, part of this post title. This phrase summarizes what this life cycle is in a nutshell. “Riding the wave”. In reference to how I’m doing mostly. There have been highs and lows, times where I have had significant creative inspiration and times where it really hits me that I’ll never see my grandparents again. I’m just allowing myself to experience all of it and ride it out. “It’s part of life”. How I’m internalizing death and grief. I think acknowledging the natural cycles of life can help us internalize these hard realities in time. Grief is still present, but the process moves along rather than becoming stuck or stagnant. And I would want to grieve anyways, in the sense that I cared for my loved ones to the degree of feeling those kinds of emotions with their passing.

I think the passing of all but one grandparent has had a sense of weight for me because of just how many impressions they left on my life. Both sets of my grandparents had quirky personalities, rich heritage and values, beautifully decorated homes that were the backdrop of many of my early childhood memories, and gave my sister and I experiences that were formative to who we are as people today. I have reflected on many of these memories lately, and I feel so fortunate that I was able to experience everything I did with my grandparents. It’s just surreal that this chapter of my life has essentially come to a close. It’s also surreal to think about how there are people who aren’t yet even in my life who I will know longer than I did my grandparents (specifically, my future children). A natural law of life, yet one that makes me emotional every time I consider it.

Going back to the impressions both sides of grandparents left on my life, though. It is the little details I remember seeing growing up that carry forward into my own personal interests and even some of my hobbies today. I always felt at home at my grandparents’ homes, which included quilts and woven blankets, cross stitch art, and other historical relics. Both sides of grandparents farmed and/or kept their own gardens and cooked dishes native to where they grew up. And the historical events I attended with my grandparents created imprints that still serve as inspiration to this day. Of course, there are interests and inspirations that I stumbled upon my own as well, but I would say that many do derive from those smaller details that I remember growing up.

It’s been interesting to observe how my hobbies have interfaced with my life during this time. When matters were more intense in late January, I took a break from my hobbies when visiting my grandpa for a few days before saying my final goodbye. I became active with my hobbies again after returning home, using knitting in particular as an activity to redirect my mind toward. And out seemingly nowhere, I also experienced a creative surge with my music, which gave me another aspect to find joy in during this difficult time. I have since taken time to tune back into my inner world and write about the underlying factors making me emotional. I think it’s important to feel it out and “ride the wave” as I stated earlier, but I do find comfort in taking inventory of my thoughts to further process what it is that I am experiencing.

These major life changes have definitely made me think deeper into what life is and what the purpose of it is. This evidently becomes a philosophical matter that differs from person to person, and it never hurts to mull over that for a bit to ensure the actions you’re taking today align with what you believe at the highest level. Make your life one that you have zero regret about when looking back on it.

Seasons of change are part of life as are the four seasons of the year. There is so much to appreciate within all these times and changes.

There are many factors that can subtract from getting around to hobbies. One that is most commonly and consistently experienced, though, is digital distractions. We are all well aware of just how addictive technology (specifically, smartphones) can be, whether hours of doom scrolling result from recurring compulsions or platforms that inherently have infinite feedback loops by design. Yet, even with this understanding, very little is done (in most cases) to redirect time in ways that are much more meaningful.

If you want to become more serious about your hobby and live a more vibrant life overall, a logical place to start is to reclaim time that is currently (and overly) misdirected. Here are steps you can take to accomplish just that.

Step 1: Identify the What and Why

Before you start cutting distractions, I think there is importance in assessing what your largest sources of digital distractions are and why you have attachments to them. Sources of distractions, for instance, may include social media, streaming platforms, browsing the internet, and/or downloadable games. Examples of attachment reasons may include curiosity, boredom, inspiration, envy, and/or escapism. Or, maybe there is no “why” at all and the time directed toward digital distractions seems quite robotic and detached.

Take some time to think through these two questions, perhaps writing your thoughts down to process this information with more depth and clarity (highly recommended). The intent here is to understand the root causes so you can confront the issues head on whilst working on your hobby. If curiosity takes you down every digital rabbit hole for hours on end, for example, redirecting that curiosity into a hobby results in channeling time into your own project instead. Same goes for boredom and envy; you are essentially solving a deeper problem and achieving a worthwhile outcome all in one.

Why this matters, on a larger level, is that you’re more likely to cut back on digital distractions and sustain this approach if you understand the underlying behaviors behind this digital distractedness and take active measures to correct it. Take the time to determine the “what” and “why.”

Step 2: Determine the Extent of Distraction Cutting

Once you have a clear idea on which digital distractions are consuming excess time and why they are, you can then consider how you will approach digital distraction cutting for the sake of your hobby. Here are a few methods with varying degrees of detachment.

Tier 1: Silencing Notifications and Clutter

This approach involves putting your phone on do not disturb mode so notification sounds are not audible when you’re working on your hobby. To mitigate as many distractions as possible, recommended action also includes deleting apps not in use, minimizing which notifications display on your lock and home screen, and consistently keeping your phone in the other room when you’ve set focused time aside.

Tier 2: Time Limitation

A secondary approach you can take involves limiting how much time you are able to spend on certain apps per day. You can go about this a few different ways (depending on how aggressive you want to be about this). This includes setting an alarm that notifies you to close the app, configuring a setting with a third-party app that locks you out of the app after a certain amount of time has elapsed with the ability to edit the setting, or configuring that same app lock without the ability to edit that setting until X amount of time has passed (meaning, if you don’t want yourself to be able to access X app beyond your allocated allowance for a week, month, or year).

Tier 3: Full Logout and App Deletion

Want to detach from particular digital distractions altogether? A more nuclear option is to logout, delete the app, temporarily deactivate your account, and/or delete your account. Any and all of these approaches can help with cutting back on digital distractions, but you may find the approach you take is based on personal preferences and the extent of your aptitude for change.

Bonus: Black and White Mode

My favorite approach for decreasing digital distractedness is keeping my phone in black and white mode 100% of the time. Not only is it easier on the eyes, but eliminating the color also makes everything look much less compelling and flashy. That in and of itself keeps me off my phone to focus on my hobbies more. If you haven’t tried this already, it works wonders.

Step 3: Hold Yourself Ruthlessly Accountable!

With measures in place to keep the digital distractions at bay, the final (and ongoing) step is to stick with it. Staying off your phone to work on your hobbies instead takes conviction and discipline. It is much easier to succumb to digital distractions when every app is optimized to seize your attention. However, it is much more fulfilling to redirect that same time into a project that brings genuine enjoyment and a sense of mental engagement.

Remain mindful of your “whys” and actively choose to redirect time into your hobby anyways. Rebel against the digital distractions draining your time and hold yourself ruthlessly accountable. Your hobby will figuratively thank you.

From Distractions to Deliberation

Elimitating distractions to make actual progress with your hobby involves intention and resilience. You may still find yourself getting distracted more than you’d like, but acknowledge the progress you make along the way and continue to be persistent. Your resolve and motivation will strengthen as you consistently allocate focused time for your hobby. And, soon enough, you just may realize that you are in the flow of it and that it simply feels great to be hobbying… without anything else to go check.

Happy hobbying!

Welcome to the fourth installment of my hobby journey series! In this post, I will now write about my singing journey. This is the shortest journey of all my hobbies, as I started taking singing seriously in February 2025. Nonetheless, I would like to share what I have accomplished thus far and where I plan to take this hobby. Continue reading to learn just that.

The (Many) Prior Years of Singing

Singing is another activity I have always found enjoyable and inspiring. My early (and continued) inspiration for singing is Amy Lee of Evanescence, and I listened and sang to a lot of their songs growing up. What drew me to her singing voice particularly was the rich, full, and emotive qualities of it. Everything I start at one point or another is because there is a strong source of inspiration behind it. It just took me a while to get to that point with singing.

As I started writing my own “official” songs (probably towards the beginning of 2019), I practice sang and performed many of those at open mic nights. Mind you, I knew nothing of actual vocal technique, so my vocal outcomes were inconsistent and sounded strained. Maybe I had an okay performance here or there, but there is one particular time when I freshly wrote a song and forgot how it was supposed to sound. I messed it up pretty bad when performing but did get all the way through the song. I remember overhearing a young gal commenting to one of her friends “that was tragic.” That’s just something I laughed off because, at the very least, I had the courage to get up there and ride it out, which is the most you can do when things go wrong.

A Mock Singing Demo

As my music journey indicated, there were a few unintentional hiatuses I took when it came to music as a whole. Inspiration struck in 2022, though, when I helped some of my company’s book authors publish a poetry book on addiction and trauma. One of the authors of commented how it would be neat if someone wrote a song to promote the book, which got my wheels turning.

Soon after, I remember knowing exactly what I wanted to name the song, and the song nearly wrote itself the same morning. I then created some basic complementing background instrumentals in MuseScore and recorded myself singing the song as a proof of concept for what I came up with and had in mind. Seeing their reactions after listening to the song made me want to get it recorded and see this mini project through to the end. I just told them it’d be a bit since there were some minor tweaks they wanted to make to the song progression and because my voice needed some work.

Now and then, my boss and I would see one of the authors at the restaurant they worked at, and I’d give them a progress update on the song. For a while there was no progress at all, but I reassured them that I’m still serious about doing this and that it’d start once my singing voice could do the song justice (even though they were so appreciative that I even got as far as I already had).

Starting Vocal Training (and Where I Am Now)

It wasn’t until February of last year that I actually became serious about learning healthy vocal technique. The years prior to that were all about enhancing and completing my song compositions for my first album concept (eight years in the making), which gave me plenty of new vocal parts to eventually try. When I originally became serious about learning to sing, I had no idea where to start since this was new territory for me. So, I watched several beginners’ videos to determine the best place to begin.

The first vocal exercise I did was for finding and encouraging the throat to stay open. My throat was quite tight at the time, and it took a bit before I could figure out what it felt like for the throat to open and how to keep it open. Next, I ventured into finding my vibrato, which I almost thought was a lost cause. Turns out I just had a tight tongue, which I proceeded to do vocal exercises for. I then worked on the ee, i, and ah vowels, which are the most closed off vowels that tend to sound most strained. I also confirmed my jaw tension was fine.

Here is when vocal training started to get a bit interesting. My next stumbling block was correcting strained and pinched high notes. For a while, I thought the issue is that my larynx was jumping and that I needed to keep it more stable. What I figured out several weeks later is that I needed a better understanding and implementation of breath support.

I was doing some breath support exercises as part of my vocal training, but I still needed to figure out how much resistance was too much resistance and figure out the best way to inhale to ensure even support. This I figured out around two months ago. I then ventured into vocal mixing to address pitches that originally sounded strained (mostly because I was attempting pitches in chest voice that should have been in head voice). A year later, I am now focusing on embouchure (mouth position) to achieve tonal fullness, along with practicing songs I find inspiring that have various levels of difficulty to continue building vocal agility.

My Vocal Aspirations

Once I get to a point in my singing where I achieve the consistency and command I am looking for, that it when I will consider the next steps for getting my first album concept recorded, along with the song I wrote for the poetry book. I look forward to the day I record my music after all these years.

In addition to the vocal techniques I am practicing right now, I would like to venture into more specialty techniques this year. My first and foremost priority, though, is to ensure I am singing in a way that is healthy and will sustain my voice for years to come. Techniques I want to learn and incorporate into my own music is kulning (which is an ancient form of heard calling in Nordic countries), harsher vocals used in hard rock and metal, and kargyraa throat singing (if my voice is capable of figuring that out).

Having more versatility with my voice will enable me to further experiment with different vocal sounds to include in my music, and I think it will also unlock new aspects in my creative process for how these songs initially come about. I am excited to see where all this leads and what my music looks like going forward.

An Ever-Expanding Journey

Thank you for reading my singing journey! I hope you found it inspiring enough to revisit (or find) a hobby that serves as a source of inspiration in your life. I may not have singing updates as frequently, but it is something I am continuing to practice pretty regularly.

This will probably be my last hobby journey post for a bit, as it takes a long enough period of time and enough trials and tribulations before something can constitute as a “journey”. Stay tuned for updates on all the hobbies I did write journey posts about, along with side quest activities I try along the way. Who knows; you may even see some journey posts from George soon.

Happy hobbying!

Today I became 25 years old, which is not only a number with a sense a weight – it marks the beginning of my mid-20s. I thought it would be interesting, to this end, to share 25 valuable lessons I’ve learned in my 25 years of existing.

To pull together this list, I referenced the “21” list I created when I turned 21. Much of what I wrote then still resonates today, and those are the first 15 lessons in this list. There were also points that I have enhanced perspectives of; that is just part of growth, development, and more life experience. Thus, the remaining 10 points are from my four years older (and wiser), 25-year-old self.

Here are some key lessons I’ve learned:

1. Don’t make things harder than they need to be

2. If you don’t have a reason for doing what you’re doing, stop what you’re doing

3. Your life is entirely individualized to you, so value what you have

4. You never know what the person standing next to you has gone or is going through

5. You will, inevitably, have to decide between trade-offs

6. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable; the most fulfilling results happen here

7. You will have to make decisions and solve problems to get anywhere

8. You can either crumble under the pressure of life or accept and rise to the challenge

9. If there is no plausible reason to object, then don’t object

10. You’re better off owning up to your own shortcomings than attempting to pass the blame

11. Be a cheerleader when you recognize the efforts someone has put forth

12. Carefully prioritize what needs to happen and when

13. Have a plan, but be ready to pivot too

14. Realize that you can’t do it all by yourself

15. Keep all (figurative) doors open unless they create unnecessary chaos

16. There is almost never a good enough reason to overexert for any reason and anything

17. Haste really does make waste; slow down a bit and really think ideas and steps through

18. Sometimes making progress starts with answering questions

19. Be responsible in all your roles, but laugh and have fun too

20. The only person you’re actually competing against is a past iteration of you

21. Making mistakes is part of the process; learn from them and vow to never repeat

22. Reciprocal relationships start with putting others first and being selfless

23. There are often simpler ways to go about something; think critically and pursue those

24. A little bit of time consistently well directed can really compound overtime

25. Life truly becomes abundant when you stop reaching and straining and start adhering proper support and then ascending

Here’s to 25 (and Beyond)

I hope you enjoyed this list and found something valuable to mull over. It’s been an interesting (but, more importantly, rewarding) 25 years, and I look forward to all that is next for my life and hobbies.

Happy hobbying!

Welcome to the third installment of my hobby journey series! In this post, I will be writing about my music journey. This is a topic I’m extra excited to write about since I’ve been a bit elusive about it on Hobbyisms thus far. Continue reading to learn which music undertakings I’ve embarked on, what is currently in progress, and where I’m planning to go with it.

My Early Experiences with Music

I have loved music for as long as I can remember. Music holds a special place for many of us, and there are many experiences I had with playing instruments and writing original music growing up. It started with playing the viola in the fifth grade (which I incidentally use in much of my music now), loosely teaching myself how to play the piano, and singing in a choir class for a year or two. Then life became dark and difficult in my teenage years, and I wrote songs about some of the hardships I experienced. None of these were conscious decisions where I thought to myself “I want to pursue music”; these are just activities I found myself gravitating toward and doing.

It wasn’t until later in high school that I started spending more time in nature and had my first “official” songs come to me. I say “official” because these are songs I actually plan to do stuff with and have written down. The first song came to me as vocal impressionism for the chorus (by this, I mean a short melody where the pitch of the vowel changed a few times to bring the musical phrase to completion, thus a melody). This initial sound concept is still in the song today, and it is what I constructed the rest of the song around when I wrote the lyrics and came up with a composition for it.

From there, I continued writing other songs for what soon into a fleshed-out album concept. I don’t recall exactly how those other songs came about because the whole process came so natural and surprisingly quick, in my case. In my writing journey post, I mentioned how I wrote poetry before writing songs. It was in this period that I ended up pivoting entirely from poetry into songwriting. All of this sets the groundwork for how I started becoming serious about music and what steps I took from there.

The First Compositions

2020 is the year I started working on my first compositions. By compositions, I mean notating sheet music in a computer software to create a proof of concept for how I envisioned these songs (I use MuseScore). The first compositions were very rudimentary, as I was very new to all of this. I decided to set this project to the side for a bit, which ended up being a year.

When I came back to this project again in 2021, I took a crack at that vocal impressionism song and made it a bit better. Playing it back, it made me cry a bit because it is a very beautiful experience to take an idea from your head and hear it with your own ears. That was also not the final form of that song, but I put it to the side for what ended up being another few years while working on other projects I deemed as priorities at the time.

Enhancing the Compositions

In 2024, I was ready to pick the project back up yet again and found a music theory book on archive.org that explained essential music concepts such as harmony, melody, intervals, chord progressions, etc. I took notes on this book and used my expanded understanding of music to not only standardize my scores’ notation, but take the scores to the next level. I spent the next few months experimenting with various harmonic intervals, coming up with new melodies for the instrument parts used in the compositions, and breathing new life into these songs.

Words cannot describe what this album means to me and what I experience when listening to the finished proof of concepts I’ve created. If it seems that I’ve been a bit guarded about the contents of this album, it is because putting my heart and soul into it has made me careful of what I want to disclose before releasing it. The first thing I will do after it goes live is share the specific inspiration and vision behind it. I will be more than excited to do so!

Spontaneous New Songs

Last year, as I was working on these compositions, there were a variety of new melodies and lyric lines that came to me. This can happen when I’m at home, in the car, or just about anywhere where my mind is free to wander. When lyric lines emerge, I never really know what to make of them; I just make note of it and let the song piece itself together in its own time. That is what makes my music folk as well, I believe; my process involves letting the music come to me, rather than me trying to ideate the music. It may take some time for the song to fully come to me (as was one of the songs I finished composing in early 2025), but it comes to me nonetheless.

But back to these new songs, though. There were six or seven I wrote and composed this year, all of which hold equal or more weight than even the first songs I wrote. I started experimenting with new sounds more and have a strong handle on the concept of this album as well. It is, again, truly wonderous to see an album start to come to life and be everything you envisioned it would be and more.

Learning How to Sing

The next critical milestone in my music journey is continuing to strengthen and have more command over my singing voice. I will write a separate post specifically about my singing journey, but I will touch upon it here since it does impact my next steps for seeing my albums through.

I began taking healthy vocal technique seriously in February 2025 and have been practicing vocal exercises every week, a few times per week. Right now, I would describe myself as a beginner+ when it comes to singing, as I understand most of the critical concepts but still have a ways to go in terms of readying my voice for recording. Singing is one of those pursuits that is ever-improving, rather than having that moment where you’re like “I can sing!” and having nothing else to do to improve upon that skill. So, I plan to spend more time working on my voice and achieving more consistency in specific areas to improve how my end recordings sound. Once I am more comfortable with my singing abilities, then I am ready to start making preparations to record from there.

An Unexpected Offer

As of the VERY DAY I am writing this post (which is few weeks sooner than it is actually going live), I received an unexpected offer that completely alters the trajectory of when I thought I’d be able to make this happen. I never had a formal timeline on when I thought I’d record my first album, but a new connection surfaced out of an entirely different matter that could make this come to fruition much sooner than I thought.

Today, someone who has their own independent recording studio offered their space to me to create my own recordings, which is absolutely surreal. You really never know who you could encounter and in what ways you could possibly collaborate. For this reason, I always keep an open mind and see where the conversation leads.

Final Reflections and Thoughts

As everything in this post has indicated, music plays an important part in my life. When I was evaluating in 2024 what I wanted to keep and toss from my life, it made me realize how far I had deviated from music. I vowed from that moment on that I would never again forget how important making and playing original music is to me.

There are a couple miscellaneous mentions I’d like to make before wrapping up this post. The first is that, to date, the instruments I have include a keyboard, two Native American flutes (A minor and G# minor), tank drum, balalaika, ocarina, and, more recently, a bass guitar for George. I plan on continuing to get better at playing the flutes since they are necessary to my albums. The next is that I used to play the piano and tank drum at past open mics. I sounded a little rough, but I had fun with it; I hope to do more open mics in the future.

The Beginning of the Journey

Thank you for reading my music journey; I hope it has inspired you to find and pick up a hobby that you are equally as passionate about. Starting doesn’t necessarily mean doing the actual hobby today; it could mean figuring out what your first steps are and where you need to start. Take some meaningful step toward your hobby today; there is no better time to start.

Happy hobbying!