The Enduring Power of Pursuits: Why Hobbies Are More Than Just Pastimes
Winston Churchill, the indomitable wartime British Prime Minister, famously championed the notion that everyone should have a hobby, ideally two or three. His own eclectic interests ranged from daubing landscapes in oil and collecting butterflies to the surprisingly physical pursuit of bricklaying – all activities he used to deflect from the looming threat of Nazi invasion. Churchill, a proponent of the restorative power of a well-timed power nap, particularly after a hearty lunch, firmly believed that engaging in hobbies could act as a bulwark against depression and a potent catalyst for creativity.
Indeed, a growing body of evidence supports the idea that what might appear as mere frivolous extracurricular activities – be it quilting, choir singing, bush dancing, boat-building, or restoring vintage motorcycles – can significantly contribute to our mental well-being. Crucially, these pursuits can enhance our capacity for sustained focus. This is especially true when they induce the coveted state of “flow,” a concept articulated by Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow describes a state of complete absorption in a task, where the external world fades away, leaving only the activity at hand.
“Sometimes a hobby finds you,” reflects Coral Ware, a former librarian who now finds herself playing the ukulele in an amateur ensemble. “I’d never touched a musical instrument before, couldn’t read music – still can’t – but I’d promised myself that one day, when I retired, I’d learn to play something,” she shares. Her journey began when she encountered a ukulele teacher, gave it a try, and one thing led to another. “I love performing, and when I’m doing that, I don’t think about anything else. That’s why I keep at it, even if they sometimes choose music I don’t particularly enjoy, like Frank Sinatra.” Beyond her musical endeavours, Coral also dances classical ballet, tends to her garden, knits, sews, and indulges in reading “whodunits.”
The question inevitably arises: is watching television a hobby? Are some hobbies inherently superior to others for our well-being? And should we all, in principle, cultivate such pursuits?
Defining the Hobby: More Than Just a Pastime
The very definition of a “hobby” can be somewhat fluid, partly because the word itself can feel a little dated, conjuring images of creaky model railways and musty stamp collections – popular in Churchill’s era. Today, we might opt for more contemporary terms like “pursuit” or “passion” to describe our interest in vintage vinyl or Bitossi ceramics.
Nevertheless, we generally recognise a hobby when we encounter one. At its core, a hobby is an activity undertaken for enjoyment, separate from paid employment. It’s distinct from passive relaxation, such as watching television, and typically demands a degree of dedication.
Experts in leisure behaviour generally agree that a good hobby should be engrossing, offer avenues for skill development or knowledge acquisition (or satisfy a completist urge), and crucially, provide an escape from the everyday worries of life. “You need to learn something, you need to have commitment, dedication to something, and then it becomes part of your identity after a while,” explains Yazdan Mansourian, an expert on leisure behaviours at Charles Sturt University.
The intrinsic purpose of a hobby is paramount: it should be pursued for the sheer pleasure it brings, not for external reward. Consider the diverse array of activities that fit this description: fishing, sudoku-solving, Lego-building, scrapbooking, bonsai-growing, language-learning, pub-quizzing, birdwatching, pot-throwing, harpsichord-playing, colouring-in, woodworking, and no-knead sourdough-baking. Depending on one’s definition, other activities like pickleball, tai chi, scouring op shops for treasures, niche cinema appreciation, bodybuilding, wild swimming, and unicycle riding might also qualify.
Joshua Rothman, in his 2025 New Yorker essay “Do We Need Hobbies?”, suggests that the distinction between different leisure experiences, even if fuzzy, is valuable. “To a degree, it matters how you do what you do. Certain kinds of video-gaming might be a hobby; others could be more like an escape. I listen to a lot of music, but I’d consider music an interest, or maybe just a source of happiness. Photography, on the other hand, is – for me – a traditional hobby. I read publications, acquire skills, buy and sell equipment, set goals, and mull various photographic problems and dilemmas in a not-quite-professional way that’s also not exactly amateurish.”
The celebrity world also showcases a spectrum of dedicated hobbies. Tom Hanks is known for hunting for vintage typewriters, Julia Roberts enjoys knitting, Rod Stewart constructs elaborate model railway dioramas, and Angelina Jolie collects vintage daggers. American songwriter Jimmy Webb amassed a remarkable collection of memorabilia from the now-defunct supersonic airliner Concorde, including rare cockpit dials and passenger seats. Joshua Sapan, former CEO of the AMC television network, once amassed the world’s largest collection of lightning rods.
In Japan, a fascinating subculture of train enthusiasts exists, with specialists focusing on minute aspects of the rail network. The yomi-tetsu collect train schedules, the eki-tetsu admire stations, and the ekiben-tetsu are captivated by the diverse and often delicious boxed meals sold at train stations. Such a passion can be described by the Japanese concept of ikigai, meaning something that brings value and joy to life.
Conversely, the Japanese term otaku, often translated as “geek” or “nerd,” can describe individuals whose hobbies verge on unhealthy obsessions. It’s also crucial to avoid letting a hobby morph into a chore or a side hustle, as Mansourian warns. “The spirit of a hobby, the essence of a hobby, is choice. If it becomes compulsory, if it becomes a kind of a to-do list, it’s not a hobby any more. It becomes work again.”
A Look Back: Hobbies Through the Ages
Historically, hobbies were often the exclusive domain of the affluent. In 17th-century Britain, the nobility, who had the luxury of leisure time unlike the rural poor whose daily tasks were work, enjoyed pursuits like falconry and hunting. A century later, Jane Austen, much like her literary characters, occupied her time with letter writing, piano playing, and sewing. The Victorian era saw a surge in “pteridomania,” an obsession with collecting and displaying rare ferns, often housed in elaborate greenhouses or novel terrariums. An 1877 book, The New Practical Window Gardener, noted that “No home was complete without a fern under glass.”
The early 20th century, with its gradual improvement in working hours and the emergence of leisure time beyond drinking or the then-non-existent television, witnessed the rise of popular fads. Coin collecting, railway modelling, macrame, flower-pressing, and pigeon fancying captured public imagination. In 1933, an astonishing crowd of 30,000 Britons gathered to witness a model yacht race.
Hobbies became newsworthy. In 1938, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the pastimes of several “well-known girls”: Miss Margaret Allen was noted for modelling “fascinating” clay horses and breeding Dalmatians; actress Mrs Ian Gibson was a “ping-pong enthusiast”; Mrs Lorimer Dods combined her “skiing prowess” with a talent for sculpture; Miss Jean Monckton, a member of the Australian hockey team, played the piano-accordion; and Miss Joan Marks demonstrated equal skill in painting, cooking, sewing, and teaching.
The newspaper even featured a regular column, “Hobby Corner,” where readers could share their tips and interests. Stamp collecting emerged as a dominant hobby, popularised by King George V in Britain and Australia, and President Franklin Roosevelt in the United States, who himself sketched stamp designs. The hobby flourished in the US during the 1930s and 1940s, promoted on the radio as an affordable pastime for those affected by the Great Depression. By 1949, philately was the most popular hobby in the US, with an estimated 2 million active collectors.
By the time of the 1956 annual exposition of the Hobby Industry Association of America in New York, the landscape of hobbies had expanded considerably. Hundreds of booths showcased newly popular plastic models of planes, trains, cars, and boats, and there were approximately 6,500 specialised hobby shops across the US, with another 10,000 stores selling hobby merchandise.
More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for many to rediscover the world of hobbies. Seeking creative ways to fill the long days of lockdown, individuals turned to activities like sourdough bread baking and crocheting pot plant holders, attempting to minimise screen time while “looking for meaning and purpose,” as Mansourian observes.
Public servant Lisa Reed experimented with learning the ukulele, knitting, and crochet, but found they didn’t quite stick. However, she discovered metal detecting, purchased an inexpensive machine, and was instantly hooked. Her enthusiasm wasn’t driven by the prospect of striking gold, but by the joy of unearthing interesting historical artefacts like old badges and tin toys, and more importantly, by having a reason to get outdoors and connect with others. “It makes me feel very content and happy if I do it every week,” she states.
Web designer Jim Yencken, another casualty of COVID-induced lockdowns, initially took up collecting vintage computer games before pivoting to building Lego sets. He enjoys both meticulously following instructions and constructing his own unique creations. His current ambitious project, displayed with the Melbourne Lego Users Group, is an incredibly detailed rendition of an imaginary landscape inspired by the popular Nintendo game Animal Crossing. This colossal build, comprising some 30,000 individual blocks, is meticulously organised within an IKEA-based drawer system, ensuring his home remains uncluttered.
“I have spent far too much money on Lego,” Yencken admits, estimating he owns around 400 sets. He finds Lego appealing as both a creative outlet and a means of mental decompression. “It is incredible for my mental health. I work a very, very stressful job in tech. It’s very difficult sometimes to put it to sleep, so that you can get to sleep. My mind’s always going and thinking about the next day and trying to solve problems that you know can probably wait, but my brain won’t turn off. And doing Lego sets, or sorting Lego pieces, is an incredible way to just turn off and be mindful and focus on what you’re doing.”
Eve Sellars, an artist with a background in financial planning, shares a similar enthusiasm for Lego. “So I have both a creative and a mathematical brain, and Lego just taps into both of those things. It’s all about problem-solving. It’s all about colour and creativity. It’s about engineering and making things fit and making things work. So it taps into both of those sides of my personality. It’s just perfect.”
For IT professional Justin Baker, his hobby offers more than just relaxation; it provides a profound perspective on existence. By night, he uses a specialised telescope to capture images of distant galaxies. Some mornings, his efforts yield only a washed-out blur, while others reveal extraordinary celestial visions.
“Every morning, I get a buzz out of it,” he shares. “It’s relatively inexpensive and peaceful and gives you a bit of opportunity to reflect on the bigger picture. Last week, I took a really beautiful picture of the Orion Nebula, which is probably the easiest and brightest thing to see from the southern hemisphere. And it’s just got these incredible colours and beautiful shape. It’s really quite mesmerising.”
The Science Behind the Joy: Hobbies and Well-being
The reasons why hobbies can offer such profound satisfaction, often surpassing passive recreation, are increasingly a focus of scientific inquiry. “The research shows that people who have hobbies tend to have better mental health and wellbeing, and they’re more satisfied with their overall life,” states Sharon Parker, a professor of management at Curtin University’s Future of Work Institute in Perth, who herself creates beautiful objects from super-heated glass in her spare time.
“Having a hobby reduces depression, anxiety and stress,” says Danielle Le Lagadec, a senior lecturer at CQUniversity, who co-authored a recent scoping review of 11 studies on hobbyists. “It improves wellbeing, quality of life, which is closely linked to depression and anxiety, of course. And then there’s social connections, the interactions, the support. All of these things are closely related.”
Her paper, published in the journal Issues in Mental Health Nursing, also suggests that hobbies can provide emotional respite from work demands. “Individuals can achieve a healthier and more fulfilling balance between work and life by making time for personal interests,” it concludes, adding that maintaining this balance is “key to a sustainable career” and can mitigate fatigue and burnout.
This was echoed by a recent study of approximately 2,400 working professionals, reported in the Harvard Business Review. The researchers, led by workplace researcher Alexander Hamrick, focused on what they termed “leisure crafting” – an approach to recreational pursuits that emphasises goal-setting and personal development. They found that participants who engaged in structured leisure time experienced improved mental health, greater overall life satisfaction, and even enhanced work performance compared to those who primarily engaged in passive activities. Crucially, the study suggested, “it’s not about the specific hobby but rather the approach to it. The right approach to gaming, cooking, or hanging out with friends can have restorative benefits that spill over into the workplace.”
Luke Smith, a clinical neuropsychologist at the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, posits that the key lies in being present in the moment. “When you find an activity you’re interested in, it naturally lends itself to that quality of just paying fully immersive attention to something.” Sharon Parker concurs, explaining, “That’s partly why it’s such a good form of recovery from work, because you’re in that flow state. You’re fully absorbed in the activity or hobby, what you’re doing and that, by definition, means you’re not thinking about work and worrying about work and ruminating about what you need to do tomorrow. It’s psychologically healthy for people, it gives your brain a bit of a rest.”
This is particularly relevant in a society that increasingly prioritises paid work above all else, according to Mansourian. “If you are not busy, it means you are lazy, you know. And then we actually overestimate the value of work [as a source of wellbeing and personal identity]. And then, in the long term, it exhausts people. And we don’t have enough time just to be, just to be who we are, to do something that we really wish to rather than we have to.”
David Donohue’s experience exemplifies this. Ten years ago, he found himself in an all-consuming senior management role. “I found I was getting to work then getting home from work, and by the time I wound down, it was time to go to bed and then get up and start all over again. After a while, that gets wearing and takes a toll on your mental health to the point where you go, I can’t do this, why am I here?”
He turned, almost by chance, to a hobby he’d enjoyed as a schoolboy in the 1970s: gluing together and painting model planes. “It’s just such an absolute contrast to work. The phone doesn’t ring. There’s no email involved. The thing I love is a process – clear steps, read the process, understand the process. Glue A to B. Don’t get glue on your fingers, glue on the outside of the parts. It’s not rocket science.”
Developing mastery in any chosen activity, however niche, can be profoundly beneficial, according to Parker, as it fosters a sense of accomplishment. “Your hobby is a really powerful form of growth and development and self-esteem,” she asserts. “The research… actually shows that people who engage in activities that involve mastery recover better from work. It helps you to feel good about yourself and recover and replenish yourself.” However, experts also caution against pursuing perfection at the expense of enjoyment; dabbling can be equally beneficial.
Hobbies that foster social interaction bring an added layer of benefits, explains Smith, who enjoys swimming and collecting vinyl records. “When you look at longitudinal studies that have explored human wellbeing, things like our success in life, our happiness, longevity and health, research tells us that the quality of our relationships and connections to other people is crucial for most of these things. So you could have an individual hobby, which is wonderful, where you feel really immersed and interested, but you could also have a hobby where you get to share that passion with other people.”
Pauline Moncrieff wholeheartedly agrees, finding immense joy in solving cryptic crosswords with a group of like-minded puzzlers convened by the University of the Third Age. “I just love the group interaction as well. If you’ve got a hobby, it’s lovely to be able to do it with someone else. There are embroidery groups and knitting groups, and they get together and have a good old natter while they’re doing it. And I think it’s very healthy.”
While David Donohue admits he’s not naturally inclined to join groups, his hobby led him to discover his own tribe through a notice at the local library: The North Queensland Scale Modellers. “People talk about what they’re building, ask you what you’re doing, glue some stuff together, have a chat, a few jokes. It’s just very casual, no dramas, and it was really a comfortable place to be.”
Ultimately, as Mansourian concludes, “Looking for meaning and purpose, that’s the main thing. We are looking for ourselves. We are looking for a sense of agency. We want to have a space to be whoever we are and do whatever we wish.”
