Tag: guestblogger

Small Hobbies, Big Impact: Everyday Skills That Bring Joy and Community by Stephanie Haywood

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Most people want something in their week that isn’t work, chores, or scrolling. A hobby—simple, low-pressure, even tiny—can be that spark. Whether you lean creative, active, curious, or tech-minded, there are countless ways to learn something fun online while building fresh social connections offline.

Key Takeaways

  • Pick hobbies that feel light, not intimidating.

  • Look for ones that give you both a personal outlet and a social option.

  • Creativity, movement, writing, and basic tech are all beginner-friendly.

  • The real value isn’t mastery; it’s energy, connection, and small wins.

How to Choose the Right Hobby for You

Decision FactorWhat It MeansQuestions to Ask YourselfExamples of Activity Styles
Energy LevelHow much physical or mental effort you want to spend“Do I want something calming, energizing, or somewhere in between?”Calming crafts, light movement, stimulating creative challenges
Social AppetiteHow much interaction you want“Do I want company, or do I want something just for myself?”Solo-friendly skills, group-based activities
Learning CurveHow steep or simple the skill is for beginners“Do I want something I can enjoy immediately or something I can grow into?”Instant-gratification skills vs. slow-build skills
BudgetHow much you want to spend starting out“Do I want free, cheap, or am I fine buying some gear?”Free digital hobbies, minimal-cost creative tools, moderate investment paths
Time AvailableWhen and how often you can realistically practice“Do I have 10 minutes a day, or a couple hours a week?”Micro-hobbies, weekly commitments, flexible online lessons
Personal GoalsWhat you’re hoping the hobby will give you“Do I want relaxation, confidence, creativity, friends, or new skills?”Restorative activities, expressive activities, growth- or career-oriented skills

Creative Arts: A Doorway Back Into Play

Creative hobbies work because they let you make something that didn’t exist an hour ago. You don’t have to be “good” to enjoy them.

Try:

Why it works socially: People connect easily when they’re side-by-side making things, not trying to impress each other with small talk.

Small Experiments to Get You Started Fast

  • Attend a community board game night.

  • Try a free online stretching or dance class.

  • Start a two-person creative writing exchange.

  • Walk a new route with a friend.

  • Join a casual hobby meetup just to observe.


Each is low cost, low stakes, and high return.

How to Begin a Hobby Without Overthinking

  1. Pick one category (creative, movement, writing, tech).

  2. Shrink it down: choose a 20-minute beginner goal.

  3. Choose one online input—a playlist, blog, newsletter, or short course.

  4. Add one social layer: invite a friend or join a group once a month.

  5. Schedule your first two sessions right now so momentum doesn’t drift.

  6. Reflect after four weeks: Do you feel more energized or connected? If yes, continue; if not, swap hobbies—no guilt.


Movement-Based Hobbies: Fitness Without the Pressure

If the word “exercise” makes you tired, shift the frame and think of movement as simply shaking the dust off your brain.

Gentle ways to start:

  • Dance fitness videos at home so you can experiment privately.

  • Walking clubs where conversation flows naturally without eye contact.

  • Beginner yoga or mobility sessions to reset your body after long workdays.


These hobbies lift your mood, help you sleep better, and give you something grounding to share with others.

When You’re Ready for Something Bigger Than a Hobby

Sometimes the best “hobby” is one that blends personal interest with long-term skill building. Many adults are turning to online programs to expand what they can do—especially when balancing work, family, or an uncertain schedule.

If you’re someone who enjoys structure or wants to explore tech, pursuing coursework in information technology can be both practical and surprisingly fun. These programs support goals like entering IT, shifting roles at work, or simply understanding how the digital world functions. Because these programs are built for busy professionals, you can study at your own pace without disrupting your life.

Social Writing: A Hobby Made for Connection

Writing is one of the easiest hobbies to start because you don’t need anything fancy—just a prompt and a few minutes.

You might:

  • Free-write in a notebook each morning,

  • Join an open mic to listen before you participate,

  • Trade short stories with a friend once a month.


The surprising outcome? You learn how you think, and other people learn more about you. That’s a connection on a deeper level than small talk.

FAQs

Do I have to be naturally talented?
No. Most hobby groups expect beginners.

What if I hate the first thing I try?
That’s normal. Swap it and move on.

How much time do I need?
Even two 20-minute sessions a week can spark real momentum.

What if I’m shy?
Start online, then ease into small in-person events.

Closing Thoughts

You don’t need a dramatic lifestyle makeover to feel more alive—you just need a small, enjoyable skill you return to each week. Hobbies add texture to your days, introduce you to good people, and remind you that you’re allowed to have fun. Start tiny, stay curious, and let the habit grow at its own pace.

Guest blog post by Stephanie Haywood, read her previous guest blog post HERE and HERE or visit her website: MY LIFE BOOST.

DID YOU ENJOY WHAT YOU JUST READ? IF YES, THEN SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG, GIVE THE POST A LIKE, OR LEAVE A COMMENT! NEW POSTS ARE UP EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY!

Creative Outlets for Writers: Managing Stress Through Expression and Play by Stephanie Haywood

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Writers aren’t immune to the pressures of daily life—if anything, the creative process can sometimes amplify stress. You carry stories, characters, and emotions in your head while managing deadlines, critiques, and the strain of always trying to outdo your last piece. Finding productive ways to navigate that pressure isn’t just good for your craft—it’s essential for your mental health. That’s where creative outlets beyond the page come into play, offering new ways to release tension, reconnect with yourself, and reignite inspiration.

The Unexpected Magic of Dance

You probably think with your hands when you’re writing, but your body holds untapped creative power. Dance isn’t just movement—it’s storytelling in physical form. Letting yourself flow to music, whether in a class or your living room, can shift your emotional state more quickly than you expect. As a writer, this outlet can unstick mental blocks by giving your mind the space to rest while your body takes over, helping you re-enter the page more grounded.

Create Art Using an AI Painting Generator

When you’re creatively drained but still need an expressive outlet, using an AI painting generator can be a stress-free entry into the world of visual storytelling. These tools allow you to create digital artworks by inputting simple text prompts, transforming ideas into images that emulate traditional mediums like watercolor or oil painting while also allowing users to make adjustments to style, color, and lighting effects. That means you can create without needing to learn technique—and yet still get something beautiful back. The intersection between AI painting generator and classic art offers a rare bridge between imagination and execution, letting you explore themes, moods, or even character settings in a whole new format.

Photography as a Mindful Pause

There’s something about holding a camera or even just a smartphone that invites you to slow down. Photography trains you to see—really see—the small details: the shadows on a sidewalk, the expression in someone’s eyes, the colors right before sunset. For writers constantly lost in abstractions or plotlines, taking photos creates a mindful pause. You begin noticing your surroundings in a new way, and those visual notes often return later as textures in your prose.

Play a Musical Instrument You’re Not Good At

If you’re a perfectionist writer, try picking up an instrument you have zero skill with. Let yourself be bad on purpose. Strumming out chords that barely make sense or tapping away at offbeat rhythms can trigger laughter and a break from self-judgment. The creative pressure lifts when the stakes are low, and that experience alone can refresh how you approach structure, tone, or voice when you return to writing. It’s not about mastery—it’s about joy and surprise.

Journal Without a Storyline

Sometimes, you need to write, but not write for others. Journaling without structure, plot, or grammar lets your internal voice roam. It isn’t a draft or an essay—it’s a raw, unfiltered glimpse into your own mind. When you write without the pressure of form, something powerful happens: your subconscious starts to loosen, and emotions surface without resistance. That release can act like an emotional detox, unclogging stress and clearing a path for more deliberate creativity later on.

Create Soundscapes for the Worlds in Your Head

If you’re someone who builds entire worlds in your stories, creating ambient soundscapes can add a surprising layer to your imagination. Using white noise machines or apps to blend forest sounds, city traffic, haunted echoes, or jazz from a faraway club turns your story’s setting into something you can hear. It’s oddly immersive and helps you “enter” your world in a deeper way. Plus, creating audio gives your mind a break from text and grammar, allowing you to connect with tone and vibe through a different sensory channel.

Mind Mapping With Colors and No Words

You’ve probably tried outlining or storyboarding with black ink on a whiteboard. But what if you took words out of the equation entirely? Using markers, colored pencils, or pastels to build a visual representation of your mental state or creative goals engages a different part of the brain. You’re no longer trapped in the loop of left-brain analysis. Instead, you’re engaging symbols, movement, and mood—and that might just unlock the solution to a plot twist you’ve been stuck on for weeks.

Creative burnout is real, especially when writing becomes entangled with deadlines and expectations. But your creativity isn’t limited to just writing—it’s a living, breathing thing that thrives on novelty, texture, and curiosity. Finding stress relief through alternative creative outlets doesn’t take you away from your writing; it fuels it in ways you can’t always anticipate. So the next time stress creeps in, don’t push through blindly. Step sideways into dance, color, clay, or music—and find yourself coming back to the page not just lighter, but inspired.

Discover a world of captivating stories and insightful reviews at The Inkblotters, where every page turn is an adventure waiting to unfold!

Guest blog post by Stephanie Haywood, read her previous guest blog post HERE and HERE or visit her website: MY LIFE BOOST.

DID YOU ENJOY WHAT YOU JUST READ? IF YES, THEN SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG, GIVE THE POST A LIKE, OR LEAVE A COMMENT! NEW POSTS ARE UP EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY!

Unlock Your Creative Potential with These Effective Tips by Stephanie Haywood

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In a world where innovation is critical to success, creativity plays a vital role in personal growth and professional progress. However, even the most inventive individuals can experience periods where inspiration fades, making it challenging to find new ideas. When this happens, the methods that once drove your creativity might start to feel limiting, prompting a need for fresh approaches. Fortunately, there are effective ways to reignite that creative energy. This article offers practical strategies, from rethinking your work environment to trying new experiences, aimed at revitalizing your creativity and helping you reach new levels of inspiration.

Transform Your Workspace into a Creative Hub

Creating a collaborative environment can significantly boost your team’s creativity and productivity. Designing a workspace with flexible layouts and modular furniture allows everyone to adapt the area to their specific needs. This adaptability encourages both solo work and group collaboration. Integrating natural light and greenery can also enhance creativity and overall wellness. Seamlessly incorporating digital tools for communication and planning ensures that your team can share ideas effectively, making the most of physical and virtual spaces.

Begin Your Day with Analog Inspiration

Starting your day away from screens can do wonders for your creative thinking. Dedicating morning time to analog activities like reading or journaling gives your mind the freedom to explore ideas without digital distractions. This practice enhances focus, lowers stress, and prepares you to tackle daily challenges with a fresh perspective. Establishing a tech-free morning routine can lead to creative breakthroughs and a more productive day.

Leap into Creativity with a Career Shift

Sometimes, a career change can provide the creative boost you need. Consider the benefits of a computer science degree online, which allows you to acquire new skills in IT and programming while maintaining your current job. This flexibility lets you apply new knowledge immediately, enhancing your expertise and career prospects. Embracing this dual engagement equips you to tackle modern challenges creatively and effectively.

Dance Your Way to Enhanced Creativity and Awareness

Dance offers a unique blend of physical exercise and artistic expression, which can rejuvenate both your mind and body. Whether you’re drawn to the grace of ballet or the energy of salsa, dancing connects your movements to your emotions, heightening body awareness and mood. Exploring various dance styles can reduce stress and boost cognitive performance, enriching your creative spirit through movement.

Fuel Imagination with Daily Reading Adventures

Allocating time each day for reading can significantly enhance your imagination. Engaging with literature allows your mind to visualize worlds and characters, fostering creative thinking and empathy. This daily habit improves language skills and mental agility, equipping you to solve complex problems with innovative solutions. Even a short, focused reading session can transform your imagination and open new possibilities. Visit The Inkblotters for ideas on your next read!

Discover Fresh Ideas at Cultural Festivals

Attending cultural festivals is a fantastic way to experience diverse artistic expressions. Events like local music or film festivals offer unique insights into different perspectives, inspiring new creative endeavors. By engaging with various cultural outputs, you return home with fresh ideas and renewed inspiration that enrich your personal and professional life, broadening your worldview and sparking creative reinvigoration.

Creativity is the vibrant thread that weaves new patterns into the fabrics of our experiences. By daring to shift paradigms and embrace the unfamiliar, you open doors to infinite possibilities where innovation flourishes. Let this journey be a canvas for rediscovery, where each brushstroke marks a glorious intersection between ambition and imagination. Trust in the transformative power of creativity to sculpt your path, knowing that you forge a legacy of brilliance, resilience, and boundless potential with every step.

Discover captivating book excerpts and spotlights at The Inkblotters, and immerse yourself in a world where stories come to life!

Guest blog post by Stephanie Haywood, read her previous guest blog post HERE and HERE or visit her website: MY LIFE BOOST.

DID YOU ENJOY WHAT YOU JUST READ? IF YES, THEN SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG, GIVE THE POST A LIKE, OR LEAVE A COMMENT! NEW POSTS ARE UP EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY!

5 Ways to Improve Your Writing That Have Nothing to Do With Grammar by Stephanie Haywood

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It doesn’t matter whether you write fanfiction, marketing copy, or a blog delving into your innermost demons; at the end of the day, you want to write your best. That’s why The Inkblotters have put together these five non-writing tricks you can use to help the words flow more freely and smoothly.

Create a positive home environment.

Writing requires silence for some, busyness for others, and something in between for others, still. Whatever you need to focus your mind on is exactly what you should do. Leadership coach Ciara Conlon recommends dedicating a space in your home just for the task at hand. You’ll also want to pay attention to the rest of your home. If it’s filled with negativity, you’ll take these emotions into the place that is supposed to be your safe space. Clear out negative energy by cleaning and decluttering, or take a tip from ancient Native Americans and burn sage to symbolically banish bad spirits.

Get to know your subject.

You’ve heard the phrase “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” your entire life. As it turns out, this is simply the act of feeling empathy, and it can be a huge help when writing. When you can walk someone else’s proverbial path, you can write in a way that’s more accurate to how they might react to certain situations. Similarly, you must take the time to get to know the era in which your story is set. If you’re writing a book about mythology, for example, you’ll find plenty of resources to immerse yourself in this world on this list from Redeemed Reader.

Read often.

It’s true that reading often will help improve your writing by increasing your grammar skills and vocabulary, but there are other benefits as well. When you read many different types of works, you expose yourself to new styles, which you might want to incorporate into your own manuscripts. Importantly, reading someone else’s words takes your mind off your own. This will give you an opportunity to look at your keyboard/screen with a fresh set of eyes if you experience writer’s block or other delays.

Learn to spot fluff and remove it.

Words are beautiful things, but not every word belongs in every piece. When writing for an audience, remove fluff and filler, get straight to the point, and keep redundancy to a minimum (unless you’re trying to make a point by over-accentuating a thought, feeling, or action).

Visit faraway places.

If you want to be a better writer, travel. Like getting to know ancient civilizations, visiting faraway places will add authenticity to your tales, and it might even help you come up with a new storyline for your next great work. The Creative Penn blog also asserts that traveling can help extend your network, especially if you attend a conference or writer’s retreat in another country.

The idea of improvement is unique to all of us. But the tips above, from creating a more positive environment at home to traveling, reading, and getting to know your subjects, can help you be a better writer, no matter what it is you write. Tell your stories with as little fluff and filler as possible, and don’t be shy to look for ways to enhance your technique that don’t include getting to know the inner workings of the English language.

Guest blog post by Stephanie Haywood, read her previous guest blog post HERE and HERE.

DID YOU ENJOY WHAT YOU JUST READ? IF YES, THEN SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG, GIVE THE POST A LIKE, OR LEAVE A COMMENT! NEW POSTS ARE UP EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY!

Book Review: Dakota – A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris

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dakota_book

Synopsis:

In 2001 Kathleen Norris published a memoir titled Dakota: A Spiritual Geography. This rousing story illuminates what life is like in a rural town––but more than that, it begs the question of what it means to live life as fully and intimately as possible.

About the Author:

Norris is a well-known poet and essayist who lives deep in the rural Dakotas, in the little town of Lemmon. She moved here after spending much of her life in New York City, but also spends some of her time in Hawaii.

Other publications of hers include Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, The Virgin of Bennington, and The Cloister Walk.

Themes––Land, Humanity, Love, Prosperity:

The themes in Dakota are simple, yet profound. In this review I strive to provide an overview, and break down the whole of the book into four clear themes; however, the reader should note that each theme is like a lake––placid on the surface, but immeasurably deep. This review is meant to be just an introduction, not a full in-depth analysis, that will hopefully entice the reader to enjoy the book.

Our odd, tortured landscape terrifies many people. Some think it’s as barren as the moon, but others are possessed by it.
(p. 36)

Dakotans know why they like living here, where life is still lived on a human scale.
(p. 35)

Watching a storm pass from horizon to horizon fills your soul with reverence. It makes your soul expand to fill the sky.
(p. 9)

Norris muses about the wide, open plains and the lack of trees and large cities. To Norris, especially as a poet, the solitude of the land inspires her to a deeper connection with God, to the grittiness of real life, and to her creative pursuits.

Even urban monasteries run on a rural rhythm, taking notice of sunrise and sunset with morning prayer and evensong.
(p. 184)

Together, the monks and coyotes will sing the world to sleep.
(p. 217)

Norris writes that the 21st century has stripped us of all realness. She asks: What if we rose and set with the sun, just as God made us to do? She argues that humans have created their own sense of time, one that runs on hours and minutes and seconds, where we focus too much on the numbers of a clock and less on how our bodies are meant to flow with the days.

At first glance, these notions may sound strangely new-age––rhythms? Follow the sun? But Norris is not advocating for the worship of nature by any means; rather, she spends much time with the Benedictines who teach her spiritual disciplines and ground her in the teachings of Christ.

True hospitality is marked by an open response to the dignity of each and every person.
(p. 197)

Norris often mentions the extreme love monks have for their fellow humans. She is inspired by age-old proverbs of desert monks who gain knowledge by solitude––and who find that this intense solitude, such as experienced on the Dakotas, provides immense joy when social interaction is received.

In short, Norris writes that she is becoming like a monk: She sees a trip to someplace bigger than Lemmon as a great joy, a feast.

Both monks and country people take for granted that prayer works, and that it’s worth doing. Why not relax and enjoy it? Why not make it beautiful?
(p. 211)

Why not become all flame?
(p. 123)

Norris writes of the hard times in the poor, rural Dakotas. She recognizes the blessings this area has to offer but does not sugarcoat the struggles these people have endured throughout history.

Last Statements:

She leaves the readers with a sense of aloneness––but not loneliness. This idea, to be “all flame,” to transform into one whose religion is not a rigid set of rules, but a faith that at its root seeks truth in Christ, provides hope to the poor Dakota soul. In turn, the reader can also find hope.

Maybe the desert wisdom of the Dakotas can teach us to love anyway, to love what is dying, in the face of death, and not pretend that things are other than they are.
(p. 121)

Guest Post by: Amy

About Amy:  Amy is a lover of lilacs, old books, and authentic community. Her work has appeared in the Southwest Metro and Plymouth magazines, and the Crow River Ink literary magazine. She runs a blog called The Writer’s Refuge.