Hobbies are good for you...

Do you have a hobby? Did you know that having a hobby is REALLY good for you? Benefits can include less stress and more fun. Apparently hobbies can lower your blood pressure and waist circumference too! What’s not to like.

They can also - I can’t help noticing - sometimes turn into a business.

Monica of Zag Yoga once told me she first started her business so that she could legitimately spend more time doing yoga - and that’s certainly worked ;). Steve of Blue Elephant pottery (also based here at Harland Works) has also been making the journey of turning his hobby into a business - although he is getting so busy running classes he may need find a new hobby to help him relax after all that pottery…. and I frequently meet other people who are looking for new workspace to acomodate a growing business, developed from a hobby.

To celebrate the importance of hobbies - and hopefully, to encourage a few more people to think about spending more time in 2020 on hobbies - I’m going to run a special Festival of Hobbies project throughout January!

Each day I plan to interview someone who enjoys a hobby - a different hobby for every day in January - and ask them to share why they love their hobby - and how they think someone might go about giving their hobby a go for themselves.

A few hobbies may lend themselves to demonstrations or talks at Harland Works in January and if they do we’ll share the info and ensure you’re invited!

If you have a hobby - or belong to an organisation that would love to welome new members - and would be happy to volunteer to be interviewed, please email me.

And if you’d like to join our Festival of Hobbies to get a daily email with a suggested hobby you might like to try please do. You can add your email to our mailing list here and we’ll be in touch nearer the time.

Looking forward to January already!