What hobbies do you enjoy ?
 

Since I have not been working and my children are gone I am looking for hobbies to do.

I used to enjoy walking for exercise but I can only walk about 15 minutes until my legs feel very weak and my gait gets very wonky. :(

I am looking for somewhat sedentary hobbies and I am wondering what you do to keep busy and to keep from getting bored.

I have some photos to scan and I am interested in genealogy so these might be things I pursue in the fall. I have been reading this summer. I have no artistic ability whatsoever although I wish I did!

What do you do for fun?

There is a thread for Crafty MSers.

I crochet, knit, read, have dabbled a little bit in writing fanfic, but I mostly read fanfic. (fanfiction are stories about tv and movies, written by the fans for the fun of it, and in some cases to fix mistakes that the original writers might have made)

I also enjoy crocheting, painting with assistance, reading... Way too much reading at times. Counted cross-stitch is fun as well but I've never finished a single project it outstretches my attention span.

Since you mentioned not being that artistic, the net helps a lot to cover that up. A printer, some paper and some kind of canvas (wall or art board) and you'd be amazed at what you can create.

Below is an example, I printed out the logo in various sizes, used a sharpie to trace it onto some contact paper, cut it out with a razor knife, voila stencil! I did paintings in the same manner when I was younger, using the sharpie to trace directly onto the canvas then just fill it in homemade paint by numbers :p

*it has to be a sharpie on regular printer paper to "bleed" through*

I don't have or even like hobbies anymore..:D
I'm bored, of course, but it only bothers me
once in awhile.. I've done it all, in the past,
and now just like to play on my Mac and watch TV.:rolleyes:

Good luck to you in finding something fulfilling
to do and enjoy.

I have done counted cross stitch and quilting. I know others who do scrap booking. Some take on line courses from colleges. I agree with Sally, good luck finding something to do.

Oh, just thought of something else to do. I don't know if you belong to a church or not but if you are mostly home bound, they love to have some one who is home bound head up a card ministry or folding monthly newsletters.

Can you learn to crochet or knit on your own using a book?

I think that would be a good hobby for the winter.

Both my mom and mother-in-law crocheted but they are both gone. They both crocheted beautiful afgans that I still have.

I tried to learn to crochet when I was 10 or 11 but never kept at it! :(

On-line courses is something else that appeals to me. I'll have to see if our local community college offers any on-line courses that I would like to take.

I do spend too much time on-line and playing too many computer card games. I should be a master at solitare by now with all of the time I spend playing it! :eek:

Thanks everyone for all of your ideas!

You can learn both knitting and crocheting 'easily' (being relative)from a good book. Look for one with lots of pictures!! But YouTube also puts out a ton videos on how to crochet or knit. For knitting though I would suggest finding a cast-on tutorial that works for you, there are a multitude of ways to start your knit and really the most confusing part in knitting is getting stitches on the needles. Once you figure that out, everything else is easy.

I don't know how old you are but I'm sure some one at a senior center could help you. Or maybe ask around to different nursing homes or senior retirement homes, the self care ones, and their activities director would know of some one who just love to tutor you.

I started painting about a year after I was dx. I took art classes when I was younger and took a couple classes in college but never really had time for it. After I was dx, I had the time. For the past year or so, I haven't done much painting but have done lots of doodle designs and drawings. I found them easier because then I wasn't left with such a mess to clean up. Dang fatigue!

I learned how to knit a couple of years ago. An elderly neighbor told me how she knits and I thought it was a good way for us to get together and help her feel a purpose in her life, so to speak. It was wonderful! Not the knitting part. I didn't care for that very much. She would tell me all sorts of stories of growing up in NY in the 20's and 30's and about her life with her husband and friends and all the things she has done with her life. She is just an amazing woman!! I adore her. She moved in to a assisted living type place that was too far for me to get to and I don't get to see her often. We do keep in touch with phone calls though. With that said, she forgot to tell me how to cast off and I was home working on a dish rag (that's all I've made so far is dish rags :D), so I checked out YouTube. There are plenty of how to knit videos on there that you could easily learn on your own. That is, if you are interested in learning to knit.

Never say that you are not creative. Creativity is not limited to the "arts" like drawing or painting. There many other creative avenues you can take that don't require drawing, painting, etc. Since you like to read, have you thought of writing or doing creative journaling. Since you walk daily, maybe you could take a camera with you and start taking pictures. I think once you find something, you will find that you are more creative than you gave yourself credit for.;)

Hobbies are good but can also be frustrating, when you have symptoms that interfere with them! Sometimes your "want to" outpaces your "able to". I guess it's good to have a few different ones in different arenas, so to speak. One hobby that I would LOVE to take back up is horseback riding! I owned 2 horses when I was young and rode a lot. Now I can't find a way to do it! We live on an acre lot in a subdivision, no horses permitted of course, and even if I were to buy one and had room for it, I wouldn't physically be able to care for it. Boarding is also out, because of the expense.

I've even tried to reach out to horse owners in the area and see if anyone would just let me BORROW or lease a riding horse, but nobody seems to be interested at all. I guess for them it's a liability issue. The worst thing is, horseback riding is extremely therapeutic for MS, so not only would I be doing something I love, I would be getting exercise and doing therapy at the same time. Grrrrr, so frustrating.

I do play the piano at church, when I'm able - sometimes RA gets in the way of that. Sometimes, like last Sunday, I have MS brain and get really interesting results! My brain and my hands just couldn't agree on what key to play in! I had to give my hands a stern talking-to.

I used to love to cook, but I basically stopped because it got kind of dangerous. Now that I'm feeling a little better, I'm making a few small attempts at it again. Today I'm trying for turkey meatloaf. Ya'll better pray I don't burn the house down, or chop off a finger or something - I could tell you some stories that would make your hair curl.

Before MS came along, I sang in choruses, played the piano, did quite a bit of gardening outdoors and in, and I cooked.

After several decades with MS, the piano and the singing aren't possible, outdoor gardening is limited to a few patio plants, and cooking is really minimal.

For a number of years I played the recorder even though I had MS. I taught myself and had a good time with it but arthritis in my hands made it almost impossible to close the holes on the recorder in the right way.

I used to listen to music on the radio and recordings a lot.

Most of my adult life I've had a cat but since the last one died a year ago I haven't felt up to pet care.

I do tend to a few house plants and take photos now and then.

For many years I did a lot of counted cross stitch, needlepoint, knitting, crocheting, and quilting. I did teach myself to crochet. For the quilting I watched TV shows about it and got library books.

I knitted and crocheted quite a number of afghans, mostly as gifts for people, and a few sweaters, and I made needlepoint pillows as gifts too.

I haven't done knitting in years but can still crochet.

Do you enjoy writing? As tkrik suggested, you might try keeping a journal. Reading your journal later on can be fun and helpful too.

Agate, why can't you sing anymore? Once a singer, always a singer

I thought that too, doydie, but I can't carry a tune any more, and my voice goes out on me after a short time. I go hoarse and start losing whatever voice is left.

So I sound off on message boards.:sing:

agate, I can sing part of a song pretty well but by the end of it my voice has pretty well gone. But as part of a choir, I just lipread the last couple of notes. In our Christmas cantata there is always narration between each song!

I think it's great that you're keeping on with the choral singing, doydie.

The narration in between each song must give you a nice chance to rest and collect yourself.

Hey who says you have to 'sing' to sing though? I sing all the time of course occasionally my cat starts stalking the dying goose I'm apparently impersonating, but hey that's why God invented selective hearing isn't it:confused::confused:....

Just hide all implements of vocal recording and sing as much as you like :D if the cats or dogs around start eyeing you too hungrily they're won over easily with a few treats.

Hey all of you who says they can't sing. The Bible says to sing a joyful noise unto the Lord!

I still sing at home alone when nobody can hear me. I don't want to subject anyone else to this painful experience but I sing along with recorded music that I play, or just sing songs I remember, or hum tunes.

And how about whistling? Whistling's not so easy now, what with some dental work I've had, but I still try.:)

Thanks everyone for all of your replies.

I have been reading this summer and have really enjoyed it! Sitting on my porch in the shade sipping on ice tea and reading has been so relaxing. I have been reading books authored by John Grisham, James Patterson and Danielle Steel mostly. I forgot how much I used to enjoy reading!

I think I might try crocheting or knitting this winter. I watch a lot of TV and I am hoping once I learn how to crochet or knit I can do it while watching my favorite shows. :D

I envy you who can draw, sing and write! I might try to look into volunteering and/or taking a class. I also would like to explore my genealogy. Thanks again for all of your suggestions! :hug:

Good ideas, Doydie! Another place to look for instruction is the local yarn store - often they have a group of women who meet on a regular basis to knit and chat. Our local yarn store calls these sessions "Stitch and Biotch." Anyway, there might be someone there who'd be willing to get you started. Can't hurt to ask!

Learning and reading
 

My hobby is learning. I never want my brain to falter. I read and now there are these free education sites called "MOOCs" massive online open colleges. Colleges like Stanford and many others publish learning through these. My hobby is to learn something new ever day. Coursera is one of these sites.

Mcsisters, I have several women on my My fitness pal forum for ladies over 50 that use Courera and they love it