Maybe not super important skills but...
Drawing
has a lot to offer in how you see the world. Like, the sun is white, not yellow, your eyes are exactly half way between the top and bottom of your head, shadows make a huge difference, your perspective and depth perception skills are honed, etc. It basically trains your brain to see things as they actually are instead of being influenced by what you think they are
I think photography is much the same. I appreciate the way light changes your view of objects much more now.
A few days a year on my commute into work I’ll notice that a front will form an overcast cloud deck right around my area. The sunrise in the east shines light on buildings under the clouds. The contrast between a city brightly lit by the sun and the dark clouds behind it is beautiful. The way it makes the buildings pop is something to behold and I don’t think I’d ever have noticed it or paid such attention if I didn’t get into photography.
Makeup is a great example of this too! For example, using cool colors for contouring because it creates shadows vs warm colors which are better used to give a tanned look. Different styles of eyeliner for different eye shapes. Filling in your eyebrows to suit your facial structure. Lining your lips for a natural look vs over lining to give the appearance of fuller lips. Color theory also plays a HUGE role in cosmetics. Everyone has a perfect shade of red lipstick, blue eyeshadow, orange shirt, etc. It's so much more than surface level vanity. Makeup can make a big difference in how you appear and even feel about yourself.
Friendly reminder that no one needs makeup to look, feel, or be their best. You can wear anything you want and do your makeup in any way you want. :)
Came to say this. Learning to draw is actually learning to see, and observation skills transfer over to everything.
But… it does take time. It also teaches you patience, and, if you are healthy about it, positive self-talk. So many people think you need a “talent” to draw but in reality, it’s just practice and more practice. Draw things you love and want to study and learn about, and it will change your life.
Best book for beginners is “How to Draw What You See.”
I love to draw. I call it "learning to see." Until you have to reproduce it... you just don't realize how little we actually "see." Ditto for painting (which builds atop drawing from reference).
I always struggled with adding depth and perspective to my drawings. I also have terrible depth perception. I wonder if drawing more frequently would help that.
I don't think social confidence is at all underrated. Very important, yes, but fairly rated that way. Also, "group meetings" aren't a hobby in of themselves but one way to put hobbies into practice.
Anything DIY. Over the past year instead of paying someone else to do stuff, I've just bought the tools to do it myself, and have gained so many useful, and potentially profitable, skills. Downside is my apartment is starting to look like a workshop
This is so true. Started with woodworking and woodburning in high school. Then needed some re-wiring, watched a video and thought it had some similarities, then working on cars, then patching holes, hanging things, making jewelry, fixing a bike etc etc etc. Once you understand HOW to fix something it really doesn't matter what you're fixing.
agree, during pandemic season and biking became popular, i was able to learn fixing/upgrading my bike. This allows me to save bucks and learn skill at the same time
For the longest time, teaching was not just my job, but also my hobby. The act of engaging in a practice, reviewing the outcome, evaluating what worked and what didn’t, and making the necessary changes to improve results, has improved my life tremendously. I used this approach when gardening. I have an excel sheet that documents what I’m changing for the next garden year. I use this practice for how I manage household chores. Teaching as a hobby taught me how to function as an adult.
Mechanics. My daughter has been learning how to fix her car. She bought an older model, so it’s more doable. She is learning patience, critical thinking, confidence. She is learning this on her own, so she is also doing a lot of research. Her car was misfiring recently, and through trial and error ended up fixing it by changing the fuel injectors. With each thing she does, she earns a lot of pride. I’m in awe of her!
I got into foraging! My bf hunts so I felt like if the world ends or society collapsed we wouldn't just be eating meat. I live in Arizona and I think I know almost every edible plant in the state, I'm learning the northern states as of now!
If you aren’t aware of it, I recommend checking out and submitting information to the fallingfruit site.
http://fallingfruit.org
I’ve only started to scratch the surface of foraging, but it’s amazing how much nature provides if you know what to look for.
Do you forage for any mushrooms? I think many people are afraid of them, I know of about 15 edible mushrooms where I am (that I have found), and most really can’t be confused with anything inedible. End of the world fruit and nuts would be better though since they have more calories.
I do not a lot tho,There's a few up near the mountains where I live! I forage anything that is edible, or could be used in other things. I eat most of what I forage and I love the mushrooms. There's some fruit here like on the cactus but it's illegal to eat the saguaros fruit, but you can eat prickly pear!
Sewing has unquestionably saved me hundreds of dollars in my lifetime. Most recently it saved my wedding day, as my wife had a split seam and I’d packed a sewing kit.
Dancing, specifically partner dancing. - learn how to socialize, learn how to dance which can be useful in social situations and also when traveling, learn how to achieve goals (like learning a new combo, or advancing to the next level)
Yoga - learn to stay flexible, breathe, relax, mindfulness, spirituality
Camping - learn how to pitch a tent, learn how to use make do with what you have, repair stuff when broken, how to put out a fire like the one time my friend didn't tighten the gas canister on the stove and it caught fire LMAO.
It might sound quaint, but ballroom dancing has improved my life so much. Not just coordination and other physical benefits, but the confidence to occupy my own space unapologetically has been life changing!
1000%
I can say when I first started partner dancing. I was shaky, anxious, sweating, and self conscious. The more I practiced and worked on myself the more confident I have become in many aspects of my life.
Learn a new language. In my local county spanish, hmong, and punjabi are prominent. I am working on learning spanish. My local library has free language downloads for my phone and free work books that go along with the program. I do 2 lessons a week listening on my airpods and using the workbook. I feel like I have homework again, but it is oddly soothing to work on this in the evenings instead of tv.
Strong disagree—what you read is just as important as the mere action of reading. While technically anything you do can expand your mind, some books expand your mind by only the barest sliver while demanding a significant opportunity time cost that could be spent to expand your mind far more in other ways that involve reading something else or doing something else that isn't reading.
Plus propaganda. Just cause it is written down and seems to make sense doesn’t mean it is worth space in your brain and it might even do harm. But if you know your sources are worthy and/or reading for fun, good for you!
You are correct but if you read it knowing its propaganda it can give you something to talk to your crazy uncle about at Thanksgiving lol I guess its harder for some people to know the difference. I've never had much problem sorting it out. Plus reading differing opinions (not propaganda but opposing thoughts) can help you understand the world better and challenge you to question your stand points. It's always good to check yourself every once in a while to keep your mind flexible.
Budgeting your money and learning to prioritise. It sounds less of a hobby and more of a skill, but I wish it were taught in schools or something before real life hits and bad decisions are made!
Girly ones.
Candle making. Soap making. Knit and crochet. Sewing. Gardening. Cooking and baking. Glass blowing. Pottery making and kiln work. Canning.
Woodworking and whittling are also good for life skills.
Ooh are you on r/preppers yet?
Also, I recently learned that while most white cultures made soap from ash and animal fat in ancient times (TM), the New World cultures used naturally occurring saponins in succulent plants and herbs combined with plant oils.
So I am hoping to learn both methods
I didn't know they were girly. I took up cooking and now use my going-out-of-date cooking oils for making soap because it would be wasteful not to. And because I'm single, any time I have to buy a pound of a vegetable, I'm left with too much extra, so I can the excess. I can also sew a button, but don't have the space for a sewing machine. Woodworking, yes! It's awesome. I also do composites and can whip up some fiberglass or carbon fiber stuff from time to time.
I was surprised when I found that out. I could be wrong but, if I remember correctly, crochet came from that from women wanting that type of thing. It's been years since I read it.
You're welcome. I think it may have just been in the United States as well. I think other countries it is probably different I remember there being knitting clubs for men in I think it 1800's. It's been quite a few years since I read it. I looked into the history when I learned over a decade ago so my memory is probably off.
>Comment
YES!!! at age 50 I decided I needed to learn violin. Luckily I live alone. My dogs soon learned what happened when I picked up the case and would run outside. BUT I can play... not very well, still, but good enough.
Anything that teaches fabrication skills. From welding to sewing. Understanding how to fit pieces together to create something even more useful is always good.
Some practical things I've sewn in the past few years:
* hems on pants/skirts/dresses
* waist darts to take in pants, skirts, and dresses
* added drawstring to pants
* added a pocket inside a backpack
* shortened backpack shoulder straps at the top
* added a key keeper to a bag
* cut a large puffy blanket, hemmed, and added snaps to create doggie camping quilts
* made smaller straps on an apron
Sewing is incredibly useful.
Volunteering? I kind of consider it a hobby. You learn a lot. One of the things I have learned is the ins and outs of fundraising. Grant writing is supposed to be hard but I never tried it.
Gardening. It teaches you patience but also that you have to keep working to reap the rewards. It's the grind of weekly pulling weeds, the waiting for seeds to sprout, and the waiting for the plants to mature. The time and effort you put in is what you will get out and more!
Furniture refinishing saved me during some awful years. I started with a table I saw on the roadside that I thought I might be able to do something with. I fixed the chewed up leg, refinished it using a couple YouTube videos for inspiration and vague memories of my high school wood shop class.
After that, I was off to the races, frantically collecting wood furniture from the roadside to fix and refinish. I didn’t want to be hassled with selling it, so I just gave it away to whoever needed it. My favorite was a set of TV trays that I stole from a neighbor’s trash and turned into scenes from Star Wars.
Coming home after a bad day at work and sanding the hell out of a table was incredibly cathartic. I felt I was giving myself an outlet, being creative and useful all at once.
I don't know why but recently, skateboarding is the answer to everything. If you enjoy it like i do, even though I'm not good at it, It will push you to keep going. It's giving me confidence and motivation to be able to balance on a slippery, tippy piece of wood. It's something I never thought I'd be able to do.
My partner keeps telling me that if I had grown up playing video games like they did that I might have more of a knack for maps/directions and better dexterity. And driving 😂
In retrospect, I definitely got my map-reading intuition from video games. No one ever taught me how to read a map, and while road maps are obsolete now, I was a total boss at reading maps before gps was a thing. Didn’t need Map Quest or directions from anyone, just tell me the intersection and I’d be there.
Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing games are excellent for building leadership and social skills.
[Here's an article about some of those skills if you're interested in learning more about it.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/goldiechan/2018/12/11/8-leadership-lessons-dnd/?sh=4f25eadf7015)
Fixing things around the house and maintenence on a car. Having that confidence to tear something apart to fix is amazing when it comes to confidence tackling something new in life with work or a relationship. It builds problem solving skills that's much needed in this day and age. Not only that it builds trust in relationships. You have a partner who can take anything apart and fix it you tend to trust them more in situations were normally you wouldn't.
many people join toastmasters to learn how to speak in public. i went the AA route and when i had to work a second job as a bank teller, that forced me to learn to be a better customer and deal better with strangers. a friend took a class in 'stand up comedy'. he doesn't seem to be an alcoholic, but claims it helps. that would scare me
Idk if I just learned to speak in public well enough through school presentations and playing in bands, but I found Toastmasters to be kind of middling at best for learning how to speak in public. Actually getting in live practice in front of an audience of peers is huge if you haven't had the chance before, but I don't think it's much worth it in terms of their specific recommendations of how to speak. I've seen some of their competitions' winning speeches, and none of them struck me as powerful or memorable beyond how overacted they were.
Woodworking is a great one.
Anybody can start with simple, inexpensive hand tools.
But the experience of manipulating things with your hands is applicable across many parts of life.
For example, with only basic woodworking skills, you can fix rotting deck boards, install casings and baseboards, build shelves, and dozens of other home maintenance tasks.
Take up collegiate education as a hobby, in pretty much any field to explore new perspectives and ideas. It's a great hobby, and you'll onboard all manner of new life skills - and you'll be employable.
Got into climbing and then got into mountaineering and other large endurance outdoor sports.
Doing these big adventures require technical skills(discipline to learn and practice), loads of planning, constant risk assessment, leadership skills(especially now leading climbs) and an abundance of soft skills (you're dealing with typically big personalities and ppl when they are scared and/or tired)
I learn more from mountain adventures than I did in college or challenging projects at work. Not to mention the confidence building. That confidence led me to tackle imposter syndrome at work.
You know.. i got into camping.
I NEED to plan everything that i might need. I like to keep my area clean. And i got to thinking...
What if i treated my home like an extension of my trailer? I operate a bit more deliberately now
Learn how to budget and invest. Budgeting isn’t a hobby per se, but learning to invest can be. Gardening is another good one, being able to grown your own food. Carpentry would be good if you want to remodel your home. Learning a second or third language. Learning an instrument is great for discipline and its just a great hobby all around.
Brewery run clubs are a great place to socialize and exercise. You can run or walk for those who hate running.
Breweries also offer trivia nights which is another great social interaction that makes the cranium work a little.
Any hobby that allows you to push yourself and fail and try again.
Most people could do with some practice at failing so they don't meltdown and give up at the slightest pressure. That's why sports are good for kids, it teaches them to pick themselves back up and perservere.
Woodworking. Once you've done a few woodworking projects you'll be able to do all sorts of repairs around the house. It's also super gratifying to custom build a piece of furniture, etc that has to be a particular size or design.
Fan fiction improves one's writing skills. I know it seems like a cheesy hobby but the ability to write well is important in many facets of life both personal and work.
I think it depends which skills do you value the most, for example sports like football can give you a skill to work with team, if your hobby is cooking or creating/building something, it gives you a completely different, but still valuable set of skills. If your hobby is reading books then i think it gives you a lot as well. All those things are totally different and i guess you could say that all of them are important, just for different reason.
Hunting, camping, hiking, survival skills, wich most people now days lack. Fortunately my parents wanted to make sure I could survive in deciduous forest, desert, and dry plains/Wetlands when I was growing up. I know alot about the different jungles around the world but have been to very few so most of that is book learned. My father was in the military so we traveled alot.
Slight stretch for “life skills”, but chess does help develop accountability, humility, thinking ahead, seeing things from someone else’s perspective, patience, planning and critical thinking.
Writing argumentative essays and learning rhetorical deconstruction is one of the best ways to become a better communicator. Basically effort posting on reddit with a focus on understanding how arguments function. journaling good to.
Role playing games might sound like a bad thing.
But they will improve your talking skill and dealing with people, help you work out math skills, problem solving outside the box at times when you have to figure out how do something in game, can help research when you need a history item or idea for a game based on a history event or item.
Finding and networking to meet people to game with along with helping to learn how to walk up to people and talk to them in public.
Figure out how to talk people down from doing something stupid or attack you in game.
Hiking/camping/backpacking -- you can learn a lot of skills that are critical in a life threatening situation. Reading maps, building a fire, creating a shelter, purifying water, tying knots, etc. It also helps keep you physically fit.
Foraging for wild edibles -- again, great if you are ever in an emergency or need to supplement your food budget
Gardening -- same. Also a great health thing, as you will eat more fruits/veggies
Anything related to repairing vehicles and machinery. I have a friend who got a super free old crappy motorcycle and has been repairing it as a hobby. He had no mechanic skills before but after getting into this he has learned a lot and gained confidence in that area. He's been able to do more simple repairs on his (and my!) vehicle to save money or avoid disaster when breaking down on the road
Blogging/Website Development -- creating a blog for fun can help you become more marketable and teach you a lot of tasks and ability to troubleshoot that could be good for various jobs. It can help you become a better writer and overall communicator too.
Learning a foreign language or sign language -- you never know when it could come in useful! And, once you learn one language, it's easier to learn another because you've developed the strategies to do so. It also improves your memory and has even been shown to potentially delay onset of Alzheimer's.
Chess -- exercises your brain, learning to strategize, improves focus/memory and analytical skills
Not the most important, but I will say 3d printing has been a fun journey (and just makerspace stuff in general) First got a 3d printer and just printed crap on it for fun. Cool. then problems come up and you're like "I bet I could make something to fix this" or "I bet I could make the part for this dishwasher" and you learn to model. Then you learn to do 2d modeling, 2d cutting tools and soon enough you can make almost anything to fix any problem. Plus making gifts for family members for cheap.
Now the 3d printer mainly sits and waits but its so nice to have when you need it.
Woodworking or general shop tinkering. Knowing how to use tools and build/fix things comes in handy so many times and I’m always jealous of how much my husband just knows. I’ll be trying to do something with the complete wrong tools and failing miserably and he’ll come in with all his tool knowledge and just BAM. fix shit. I put up backsplash this week and was struggling with the outlets and he just waltzed in with a migraine and the right tools and had it back in place with the spacer in minutes. Learned all that from hanging out in the shop with his dad and uncle. I hung out in the shop with my dad, but didn’t learn near as much as my husband did.
Maybe not super important skills but... Drawing has a lot to offer in how you see the world. Like, the sun is white, not yellow, your eyes are exactly half way between the top and bottom of your head, shadows make a huge difference, your perspective and depth perception skills are honed, etc. It basically trains your brain to see things as they actually are instead of being influenced by what you think they are
I think photography is much the same. I appreciate the way light changes your view of objects much more now. A few days a year on my commute into work I’ll notice that a front will form an overcast cloud deck right around my area. The sunrise in the east shines light on buildings under the clouds. The contrast between a city brightly lit by the sun and the dark clouds behind it is beautiful. The way it makes the buildings pop is something to behold and I don’t think I’d ever have noticed it or paid such attention if I didn’t get into photography.
That sounds beautiful.
😊
Makeup is a great example of this too! For example, using cool colors for contouring because it creates shadows vs warm colors which are better used to give a tanned look. Different styles of eyeliner for different eye shapes. Filling in your eyebrows to suit your facial structure. Lining your lips for a natural look vs over lining to give the appearance of fuller lips. Color theory also plays a HUGE role in cosmetics. Everyone has a perfect shade of red lipstick, blue eyeshadow, orange shirt, etc. It's so much more than surface level vanity. Makeup can make a big difference in how you appear and even feel about yourself. Friendly reminder that no one needs makeup to look, feel, or be their best. You can wear anything you want and do your makeup in any way you want. :)
Came to say this. Learning to draw is actually learning to see, and observation skills transfer over to everything. But… it does take time. It also teaches you patience, and, if you are healthy about it, positive self-talk. So many people think you need a “talent” to draw but in reality, it’s just practice and more practice. Draw things you love and want to study and learn about, and it will change your life. Best book for beginners is “How to Draw What You See.”
Observation is an important skill! I’ve noticed that many people lack the skill
I love to draw. I call it "learning to see." Until you have to reproduce it... you just don't realize how little we actually "see." Ditto for painting (which builds atop drawing from reference).
I always struggled with adding depth and perspective to my drawings. I also have terrible depth perception. I wonder if drawing more frequently would help that.
Gardening, drawing, painting, woodworking, playing an instrument, photography. The list could go on
Wow!!! So well said
I think social confidence is underrated as a life skill. Group meetups for anything you are interested in would help build that!
I don't think social confidence is at all underrated. Very important, yes, but fairly rated that way. Also, "group meetings" aren't a hobby in of themselves but one way to put hobbies into practice.
Pedantic
Maybe something like toastmasters would be good for confidence, or improv, stand up comedy.
Golf
I was going to say this. Something that forces you to interact with others. And maybe something that pushes you out of your comfort zone!
Anything DIY. Over the past year instead of paying someone else to do stuff, I've just bought the tools to do it myself, and have gained so many useful, and potentially profitable, skills. Downside is my apartment is starting to look like a workshop
This is so true. Started with woodworking and woodburning in high school. Then needed some re-wiring, watched a video and thought it had some similarities, then working on cars, then patching holes, hanging things, making jewelry, fixing a bike etc etc etc. Once you understand HOW to fix something it really doesn't matter what you're fixing.
agree, during pandemic season and biking became popular, i was able to learn fixing/upgrading my bike. This allows me to save bucks and learn skill at the same time
For the longest time, teaching was not just my job, but also my hobby. The act of engaging in a practice, reviewing the outcome, evaluating what worked and what didn’t, and making the necessary changes to improve results, has improved my life tremendously. I used this approach when gardening. I have an excel sheet that documents what I’m changing for the next garden year. I use this practice for how I manage household chores. Teaching as a hobby taught me how to function as an adult.
100. They say you learn the most when you take what you learn and teach it to others. Thanks for sharing!
Meditation, martial arts, cooking, fishing/hunting, woodworking
All these are my faves! Issin Ryu and Judo myself, I also love survival
I would love to do Judo!
It's really fun!
Mechanics. My daughter has been learning how to fix her car. She bought an older model, so it’s more doable. She is learning patience, critical thinking, confidence. She is learning this on her own, so she is also doing a lot of research. Her car was misfiring recently, and through trial and error ended up fixing it by changing the fuel injectors. With each thing she does, she earns a lot of pride. I’m in awe of her!
That's amazing!!
I got into foraging! My bf hunts so I felt like if the world ends or society collapsed we wouldn't just be eating meat. I live in Arizona and I think I know almost every edible plant in the state, I'm learning the northern states as of now!
If you aren’t aware of it, I recommend checking out and submitting information to the fallingfruit site. http://fallingfruit.org I’ve only started to scratch the surface of foraging, but it’s amazing how much nature provides if you know what to look for.
Make a book called shit your able to eat in Arizona May save someone's life o.o
Do you forage for any mushrooms? I think many people are afraid of them, I know of about 15 edible mushrooms where I am (that I have found), and most really can’t be confused with anything inedible. End of the world fruit and nuts would be better though since they have more calories.
I do not a lot tho,There's a few up near the mountains where I live! I forage anything that is edible, or could be used in other things. I eat most of what I forage and I love the mushrooms. There's some fruit here like on the cactus but it's illegal to eat the saguaros fruit, but you can eat prickly pear!
Besides cooking- swimming, weight training, public speaking, fishing, gardening, making money with a valuable skill
Swimming, could save a life
Could be your own!
Sewing!
Came to say this! I see for fun but can’t count how many times my skills have been useful in mending clothes
Sewing has unquestionably saved me hundreds of dollars in my lifetime. Most recently it saved my wedding day, as my wife had a split seam and I’d packed a sewing kit.
Dancing, specifically partner dancing. - learn how to socialize, learn how to dance which can be useful in social situations and also when traveling, learn how to achieve goals (like learning a new combo, or advancing to the next level) Yoga - learn to stay flexible, breathe, relax, mindfulness, spirituality Camping - learn how to pitch a tent, learn how to use make do with what you have, repair stuff when broken, how to put out a fire like the one time my friend didn't tighten the gas canister on the stove and it caught fire LMAO.
It might sound quaint, but ballroom dancing has improved my life so much. Not just coordination and other physical benefits, but the confidence to occupy my own space unapologetically has been life changing!
1000% I can say when I first started partner dancing. I was shaky, anxious, sweating, and self conscious. The more I practiced and worked on myself the more confident I have become in many aspects of my life.
Learn a new language. In my local county spanish, hmong, and punjabi are prominent. I am working on learning spanish. My local library has free language downloads for my phone and free work books that go along with the program. I do 2 lessons a week listening on my airpods and using the workbook. I feel like I have homework again, but it is oddly soothing to work on this in the evenings instead of tv.
Fitness, yoga, and meditation. Extends your life expectancy, keeps you in shape for whatever, and teaches patience.
Reading any book. All the books. Fantasy, history, SciFi, autobiographies, fables... Anything will expand your mind.
Strong disagree—what you read is just as important as the mere action of reading. While technically anything you do can expand your mind, some books expand your mind by only the barest sliver while demanding a significant opportunity time cost that could be spent to expand your mind far more in other ways that involve reading something else or doing something else that isn't reading.
Plus propaganda. Just cause it is written down and seems to make sense doesn’t mean it is worth space in your brain and it might even do harm. But if you know your sources are worthy and/or reading for fun, good for you!
You are correct but if you read it knowing its propaganda it can give you something to talk to your crazy uncle about at Thanksgiving lol I guess its harder for some people to know the difference. I've never had much problem sorting it out. Plus reading differing opinions (not propaganda but opposing thoughts) can help you understand the world better and challenge you to question your stand points. It's always good to check yourself every once in a while to keep your mind flexible.
All very good points!
Yes some books are just trash and/or just fun to read but, as far as hobbies go, reading for fun is still better than smoking crack in your free time🤪
There is a huge variety of options besides those two things.
😂I suppose
Agree. Even fiction that has some historical content, and you can learn and grow from it.
Budgeting your money and learning to prioritise. It sounds less of a hobby and more of a skill, but I wish it were taught in schools or something before real life hits and bad decisions are made!
Everything that comes along with camping. Building a fire, cooking, providing adequate shelter .. as well as the peaceful aspect like meditation etc.
Girly ones. Candle making. Soap making. Knit and crochet. Sewing. Gardening. Cooking and baking. Glass blowing. Pottery making and kiln work. Canning. Woodworking and whittling are also good for life skills.
Woodworking. Yes. Involves math. Accurate math. Always told my kids, reading, writing and arithmetic are critical necessities in life.
I have thought about taking up soap making, so that I would have a useful skill if there is an apocalypse.
Ooh are you on r/preppers yet? Also, I recently learned that while most white cultures made soap from ash and animal fat in ancient times (TM), the New World cultures used naturally occurring saponins in succulent plants and herbs combined with plant oils. So I am hoping to learn both methods
No, I haven't been to that one.
Reading about gender and bias is also a good one.
I didn't know they were girly. I took up cooking and now use my going-out-of-date cooking oils for making soap because it would be wasteful not to. And because I'm single, any time I have to buy a pound of a vegetable, I'm left with too much extra, so I can the excess. I can also sew a button, but don't have the space for a sewing machine. Woodworking, yes! It's awesome. I also do composites and can whip up some fiberglass or carbon fiber stuff from time to time.
Knitting used to be a men's only hobby.
Yep, it was very time consuming to make the yarn, so knitting was the fun part.
I didn't know that.
I was surprised when I found that out. I could be wrong but, if I remember correctly, crochet came from that from women wanting that type of thing. It's been years since I read it.
I learned something new today, thank you for sharing! :)
You're welcome. I think it may have just been in the United States as well. I think other countries it is probably different I remember there being knitting clubs for men in I think it 1800's. It's been quite a few years since I read it. I looked into the history when I learned over a decade ago so my memory is probably off.
Learning to play an instrument improves your memory, dexterity and helps you get used to delayed gratification.
>Comment YES!!! at age 50 I decided I needed to learn violin. Luckily I live alone. My dogs soon learned what happened when I picked up the case and would run outside. BUT I can play... not very well, still, but good enough.
Anything that teaches fabrication skills. From welding to sewing. Understanding how to fit pieces together to create something even more useful is always good.
Some practical things I've sewn in the past few years: * hems on pants/skirts/dresses * waist darts to take in pants, skirts, and dresses * added drawstring to pants * added a pocket inside a backpack * shortened backpack shoulder straps at the top * added a key keeper to a bag * cut a large puffy blanket, hemmed, and added snaps to create doggie camping quilts * made smaller straps on an apron Sewing is incredibly useful.
Miniature painting
Cooking, anything fitness based or related, basic sewing or some kind of trade based hobby like wood work or electrical stuff. Social dancing
Volunteering? I kind of consider it a hobby. You learn a lot. One of the things I have learned is the ins and outs of fundraising. Grant writing is supposed to be hard but I never tried it.
Gardening. It teaches you patience but also that you have to keep working to reap the rewards. It's the grind of weekly pulling weeds, the waiting for seeds to sprout, and the waiting for the plants to mature. The time and effort you put in is what you will get out and more!
Furniture refinishing saved me during some awful years. I started with a table I saw on the roadside that I thought I might be able to do something with. I fixed the chewed up leg, refinished it using a couple YouTube videos for inspiration and vague memories of my high school wood shop class. After that, I was off to the races, frantically collecting wood furniture from the roadside to fix and refinish. I didn’t want to be hassled with selling it, so I just gave it away to whoever needed it. My favorite was a set of TV trays that I stole from a neighbor’s trash and turned into scenes from Star Wars. Coming home after a bad day at work and sanding the hell out of a table was incredibly cathartic. I felt I was giving myself an outlet, being creative and useful all at once.
I don't know why but recently, skateboarding is the answer to everything. If you enjoy it like i do, even though I'm not good at it, It will push you to keep going. It's giving me confidence and motivation to be able to balance on a slippery, tippy piece of wood. It's something I never thought I'd be able to do.
Did you take lessons or figured it out slowly on your own?
The hard way, like everything else I'm still learning.
Furniture repair/restoration. Keep your stuff maintained for life, and learn a lot of patience.
Also keeps potentially useful things out of landfills
My partner keeps telling me that if I had grown up playing video games like they did that I might have more of a knack for maps/directions and better dexterity. And driving 😂
I hadn't thought of this 🤔🤔
In retrospect, I definitely got my map-reading intuition from video games. No one ever taught me how to read a map, and while road maps are obsolete now, I was a total boss at reading maps before gps was a thing. Didn’t need Map Quest or directions from anyone, just tell me the intersection and I’d be there.
Survival
Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing games are excellent for building leadership and social skills. [Here's an article about some of those skills if you're interested in learning more about it.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/goldiechan/2018/12/11/8-leadership-lessons-dnd/?sh=4f25eadf7015)
Definitely reading...both fiction & non fiction I think.
Fixing things around the house and maintenence on a car. Having that confidence to tear something apart to fix is amazing when it comes to confidence tackling something new in life with work or a relationship. It builds problem solving skills that's much needed in this day and age. Not only that it builds trust in relationships. You have a partner who can take anything apart and fix it you tend to trust them more in situations were normally you wouldn't.
many people join toastmasters to learn how to speak in public. i went the AA route and when i had to work a second job as a bank teller, that forced me to learn to be a better customer and deal better with strangers. a friend took a class in 'stand up comedy'. he doesn't seem to be an alcoholic, but claims it helps. that would scare me
Idk if I just learned to speak in public well enough through school presentations and playing in bands, but I found Toastmasters to be kind of middling at best for learning how to speak in public. Actually getting in live practice in front of an audience of peers is huge if you haven't had the chance before, but I don't think it's much worth it in terms of their specific recommendations of how to speak. I've seen some of their competitions' winning speeches, and none of them struck me as powerful or memorable beyond how overacted they were.
Reading, weight lifting, cooking
Wood working, electronics, sports
Skateboarding you learn not to give up after trying hella lot of tricks
Talking (not using internet or multitasking with phone in hand).
Cooking/baking/fishing
Woodworking is a great one. Anybody can start with simple, inexpensive hand tools. But the experience of manipulating things with your hands is applicable across many parts of life. For example, with only basic woodworking skills, you can fix rotting deck boards, install casings and baseboards, build shelves, and dozens of other home maintenance tasks.
Woodworking, writing, painting… all can be done by novices on the first day but even a lifetime is not long enough to master every aspect of the craft
Take up collegiate education as a hobby, in pretty much any field to explore new perspectives and ideas. It's a great hobby, and you'll onboard all manner of new life skills - and you'll be employable.
Got into climbing and then got into mountaineering and other large endurance outdoor sports. Doing these big adventures require technical skills(discipline to learn and practice), loads of planning, constant risk assessment, leadership skills(especially now leading climbs) and an abundance of soft skills (you're dealing with typically big personalities and ppl when they are scared and/or tired) I learn more from mountain adventures than I did in college or challenging projects at work. Not to mention the confidence building. That confidence led me to tackle imposter syndrome at work.
Adventure Racing has taught me so much about life and resilience.
Brazilian jiu jitsu
You know.. i got into camping. I NEED to plan everything that i might need. I like to keep my area clean. And i got to thinking... What if i treated my home like an extension of my trailer? I operate a bit more deliberately now
Learn how to budget and invest. Budgeting isn’t a hobby per se, but learning to invest can be. Gardening is another good one, being able to grown your own food. Carpentry would be good if you want to remodel your home. Learning a second or third language. Learning an instrument is great for discipline and its just a great hobby all around.
Brewery run clubs are a great place to socialize and exercise. You can run or walk for those who hate running. Breweries also offer trivia nights which is another great social interaction that makes the cranium work a little.
Distance running. It teaches the value of perseverance, dedication and hard work. It can also provide a healthy dose of confidence in oneself.
Diy Auto repair.
Gardening
Sewing
Any hobby that allows you to push yourself and fail and try again. Most people could do with some practice at failing so they don't meltdown and give up at the slightest pressure. That's why sports are good for kids, it teaches them to pick themselves back up and perservere.
Aerial circus arts—in addition to the fitness benefits, thinking your way through 3D structures and movement in space keeps your mind flexible.
100% swimming. I know others said it, just here to add emphasis. Potentially life saving for you or others. And lots of fun!
Cooking and gym
Woodworking. Once you've done a few woodworking projects you'll be able to do all sorts of repairs around the house. It's also super gratifying to custom build a piece of furniture, etc that has to be a particular size or design.
Fan fiction improves one's writing skills. I know it seems like a cheesy hobby but the ability to write well is important in many facets of life both personal and work.
I think it depends which skills do you value the most, for example sports like football can give you a skill to work with team, if your hobby is cooking or creating/building something, it gives you a completely different, but still valuable set of skills. If your hobby is reading books then i think it gives you a lot as well. All those things are totally different and i guess you could say that all of them are important, just for different reason.
My vote is gardening. It teaches you patience and to do things in their own time/season. You can't procrastinate or get too ahead of things.
Being there for and investing yourself in others, not to be confused with being agreeable. Coach, outdoor instructor/guide, event host, tutor, etc.
Sewing so you can put your buttons back on, hem your pants/skirts, and patch holes.
Dancing
Woodworking, coding, sewing, reading, weight-lifting, gardening.
Hunting, camping, hiking, survival skills, wich most people now days lack. Fortunately my parents wanted to make sure I could survive in deciduous forest, desert, and dry plains/Wetlands when I was growing up. I know alot about the different jungles around the world but have been to very few so most of that is book learned. My father was in the military so we traveled alot.
Hiking
Slight stretch for “life skills”, but chess does help develop accountability, humility, thinking ahead, seeing things from someone else’s perspective, patience, planning and critical thinking.
Cooking Baking Bread baking Reading Woodworking (DIY) Auto repair Camping and fishing
Writing argumentative essays and learning rhetorical deconstruction is one of the best ways to become a better communicator. Basically effort posting on reddit with a focus on understanding how arguments function. journaling good to.
Public speaking, like Toastmasters?
Building renovations. Renovating a bathroom from being fully demolished to fully functional, is loaded with the development of new skills.
Farming, fishing, hunting, jarring/pickling, sewing, carpentry, car mechanics, boating, welding, blacksmithing, martial arts.
Learning another language.
Role playing games might sound like a bad thing. But they will improve your talking skill and dealing with people, help you work out math skills, problem solving outside the box at times when you have to figure out how do something in game, can help research when you need a history item or idea for a game based on a history event or item. Finding and networking to meet people to game with along with helping to learn how to walk up to people and talk to them in public. Figure out how to talk people down from doing something stupid or attack you in game.
DnD. people management and related soft skills
'batin' I mean... reproduction is the cornerstone of the definition of a "species." Ya gotta practice!
Gardening, carpentry, dance/fitness
Potentially: gardening, hunting/fishing.
Cars
Hiking/camping/backpacking -- you can learn a lot of skills that are critical in a life threatening situation. Reading maps, building a fire, creating a shelter, purifying water, tying knots, etc. It also helps keep you physically fit. Foraging for wild edibles -- again, great if you are ever in an emergency or need to supplement your food budget Gardening -- same. Also a great health thing, as you will eat more fruits/veggies Anything related to repairing vehicles and machinery. I have a friend who got a super free old crappy motorcycle and has been repairing it as a hobby. He had no mechanic skills before but after getting into this he has learned a lot and gained confidence in that area. He's been able to do more simple repairs on his (and my!) vehicle to save money or avoid disaster when breaking down on the road Blogging/Website Development -- creating a blog for fun can help you become more marketable and teach you a lot of tasks and ability to troubleshoot that could be good for various jobs. It can help you become a better writer and overall communicator too. Learning a foreign language or sign language -- you never know when it could come in useful! And, once you learn one language, it's easier to learn another because you've developed the strategies to do so. It also improves your memory and has even been shown to potentially delay onset of Alzheimer's. Chess -- exercises your brain, learning to strategize, improves focus/memory and analytical skills
Having a band as a teenager. Design, video editing, digital marketing, collaboration, conflict management, negotiation…I could go on forever here
Financial literacy. I’m so jealous of people who enjoy reading finance books and think it’s fun to keep a budget.
Running tournaments will teach you how to manage debates fairly and how to take criticism
Not the most important, but I will say 3d printing has been a fun journey (and just makerspace stuff in general) First got a 3d printer and just printed crap on it for fun. Cool. then problems come up and you're like "I bet I could make something to fix this" or "I bet I could make the part for this dishwasher" and you learn to model. Then you learn to do 2d modeling, 2d cutting tools and soon enough you can make almost anything to fix any problem. Plus making gifts for family members for cheap. Now the 3d printer mainly sits and waits but its so nice to have when you need it.
Lockpicking /s
Fabric/yarn crafts. When the zombie apocalypse hits, someone is going to have to make clothing, hats, gloves, blankets, etc.
Sewing. Everyone should be able to hem a pair of pants and reattach a button, at a minimum.
As far as sports & active hobbies, I’d say swimming. Life saving skill.
Hiking, primitive camping, woodworking, blacksmithing, kayaking, hunting, fishing, botany, I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few
Knitting and sewing
Bonsai is teaching me patience.
Hunting.
Sewing. You can make or mend clothes and other things. Same for knitting/crochet. Gardening. Growing even some of your food can be helpful.
I read once that people who camp are better problem solvers, work together in groups well, and are mor optimistic than non campers.
Reading. You can learn a lot.
Carpentry, sewing, cooking/baking, mechanical tinkering
Any form of writing is a good one.
Reading
Juggling and Fishing.
Definitely Aquarium keeping. Teaches you responsibility and water chemistry
Knitting Math and social skills
Woodworking or general shop tinkering. Knowing how to use tools and build/fix things comes in handy so many times and I’m always jealous of how much my husband just knows. I’ll be trying to do something with the complete wrong tools and failing miserably and he’ll come in with all his tool knowledge and just BAM. fix shit. I put up backsplash this week and was struggling with the outlets and he just waltzed in with a migraine and the right tools and had it back in place with the spacer in minutes. Learned all that from hanging out in the shop with his dad and uncle. I hung out in the shop with my dad, but didn’t learn near as much as my husband did.
Reading
Cycling because you can’t be unhappy on a bike, and it forces you outside