Episode 21: Choosing Hobbies Over Social Media — A Return to What Is Real

In this episode, Holly explores why she's been choosing hobbies over social media — and why it might be one of the most radical acts of self-care you can do. From crocheting and baking bread to gardening and arranging flowers, she shares how returning to hands-on, analog activities has quieted her nervous system, restored her creativity, and brought her back into the present moment. If you've been feeling overstimulated, mentally cluttered, or disconnected from your own life, this episode is for you. A gentle reminder that real life is happening right here — in your hands, in your home, in the quiet ordinary moments.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Introduction
0:19 — Choosing real life over constant consumption
0:26 — The overwhelm & guilt of being online
0:47 — Craving something slower & more real
1:08 — How scrolling disconnects us from creativity
1:29 — Returning to hobbies that use your hands
1:51 — The healing rhythm of making things
2:16 — The beauty of an unshared life
2:34 — Creativity without performance or pressure
3:03 — Hobbies soften the nervous system
3:29 — Choosing hobbies as coming home to yourself
3:47 — Closing thoughts & Holly's invitation to you

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome back to Holistic Aesthetics, the Nora Bloom Method. I'm Holly, and today I want to talk about something that's been quietly shifting my life lately. Choosing hobbies over social media. Yes, I did, I sure did say it. Choosing hobbies over social media, or maybe more honestly, choosing real life over constant consumption. I think many of us are feeling overwhelmed by how much time we spend online and even guilt, feeling very guilty about what we're doing online or what we're not doing in our homes and our lives. Even social media can inspire us. It can still leave us feeling overstimulated, distracted, or disconnected from ourselves. And recently I've been craving something slower, something a little more tactile and a whole lot more real. So the feeling of constant consumption, let's chat about that, because there's a strange exhaustion that comes from always consuming, scrolling endlessly, taking in everyone's thoughts, opinions, their lives, their routines. And I've noticed that the more I spend time online, the less connected I actually feel to my own creativity. I started feeling like mental clutter and restlessness, pulled away from my present moment. And I didn't realize I didn't want to spend all my free time watching other people's life happen through a screen. I wanted to participate in my own life again. Returning to my hands. One of the things that's helped me most is returning to hobbies that use my hands: crocheting, knitting, baking bread, gardening, painting, arranging flowers, and just working slowly in my kitchen. These were things that seem simple, but they've grounded me in ways that social media never ever will. They bring me back into my body, back into my rhythm, back into creativity without pressure or performance. There's nothing like the rhythm of crocheting a blanket with endless loops. My hands are moving, my brain's relaxed, I'm in my body, I'm breathing. It's the most lovely feeling. And I think there's something deeply healing about making things simple because they bring us joy. The beauty of an unshared life. I also think we have forgotten that not everything needs to be shared. Some moments become more meaningful when they really just belong to you. A quiet morning, a loaf of bread fresh from the oven, or a walk in the garden at sunset. There's beauty in experiencing life without immediately turning it into content. And honestly, I think protecting some parts of our life from constant visibility creates a kind of peace that's hard to explain until you feel it. Creativity without performance. Something beautiful happens when creativity is no longer tied to productivity or intention. You can begin creating because it feels nourishing and not because it's marketable. And that shifts everything. I've found that hobbies soften the nervous system, they quiet the noise, and they remind us that life is meant to be lived slowly sometimes, not optimized constantly. So I don't think social media is inherently bad, but I also think many of us are hungry for more real experiences, more presence, more slowness, and more moments that feel just fully belonging to ourselves. And maybe choosing hobbies is really about choosing to come home to ourselves again. To remember that life is happening here in our hands, in our homes, with our children and our grandchildren, in the quiet, ordinary moments that we almost rush past. If this episode resonated with you, feel free to share with a friend. And today, how about not scrolling on social media? How about taking a walk and just feeling everything around you and listening to the birds? How about returning to a hobby that you once had as a child, whether it was knitting or crocheting or painting or anything that makes you feel good inside? I'll see you next time!