In a consistently restless world, finding enjoyment is a challenge, especially when you’re depressed. Your body and brain start going into power-saving mode, and all you crave is sleep. There’s a special word for this: anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure from activities that usually are pleasurable. This numbing loss of interest can be debilitating, and in turn, it can make waking up in the morning feel almost Sisyphean.
During times like these, I gravitate towards hobbies that require minimal energy. As much as I would love to pick up a sport or do something intensive the moment I feel familiar blues, my body and mind are in survival mode and focused on not overextending myself when I’m vulnerable. Here are just a few hobbies that I’ve picked up recently that help me when I’m running nearly on empty:
Junk Journaling
I’ve done junk journaling before, and I can say, for those of us with cluttered minds and a creative drive, this is the hobby for when you’re depressed. If you don’t know what it is, junk journaling is the art of making collages out of repurposed things like concert tickets, newspaper clippings, or receipts. You can essentially create your own crafty collages using anything that has meaning to you. I like keeping receipts, ticket stubs, and sticky notes from friends, so my junk journals are full of first-date restaurant receipts, movie theater stubs from the times I’ve gone to movies with friends, or just sticky notes that just say “Thanks, Fatimah :)” or “Hi” on them.
It’s immensely therapeutic for me, and it feels so meaningful to have a journal with things that may seem odd to keep but can be reworked into a wistful mosaic of your life. I also like to add quick blurbs and doodles next to anything that I glue or tape in my journals, just to really capture what I was feeling in the moment.
Photography
I only recently got into digital photography, but it’s by far my favorite hobby that helps me weather an oncoming depressive phase. Almost anywhere I go, I take my Canon camera with me. I appreciate photography as an intricate art, but I also appreciate the simplicity of capturing a moment or a landscape. Even on my low-energy days when I can barely get out of bed, I can still find it within me to go outside and just take a few shots. I get this thrill when I spot potential photo opportunities, and I think it really helps refresh me.
For me, photography embodies something poignant. When I’m depressed, I see things around me in greyscale, and it can be hard to find vibrancy in everyday life. When I capture a moment in time, whether it’s an everlasting sunset at the Delaware Water Gap or my cat sleeping on my mom’s lap, I’m reminded of how artful life can be.
Calligraphy
Calligraphy takes mindful writing to a whole new creative level. Not only is it good for stress relief, but it can help with depression and anxiety as an emotional outlet. A study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that adults associate calligraphy with mindfulness, improved health, and an overall better mental headspace.
This art, which combines lettering and aesthetic design, can serve as a necessary distraction to help you concentrate or be patient. I found so much catharsis in learning how to write like a 17th-century scribe and mastering lettering techniques. I think if you’re an aesthetic-oriented person, it’s the perfect hobby, and it doesn’t require a lot of money or energy to commit to it when you’re going through the motions. I love how much I can focus when I’m trying to imitate fonts like italics or copperplate.
Cooking (Or Anything that Involves Creating)
Since high school, I’ve found emotional solace in cooking. Cooking a homemade meal is so therapeutic, and I find it heartening when I manage to prepare a successful meal. My favorite meal is homemade chili, and making it always lifts my spirits. I’m no Anthony Bourdain, but when I get just the right consistency for the chili sauce or add just the right amount of tomato sauce to ground beef, I feel like a world-renowned chef. But, I especially find enjoyment in cooking something small because if I can do that, I have it within me to take on much more than I think.
It doesn’t even need to be cooking. It can be any creative or heartening outlet, such as baking, painting, or knitting, that can put your mind to work and soothe your worries away. You don’t need to be a master at the craft for it to be fulfilling to you, and that’s how I feel about cooking. I don’t always succeed with every meal I make, but the fact that I made the effort to cook means that I still have it within me to keep going no matter what.
