It’s Never Too Late to Try Something New: Finding a Hobby at Any Age
Before 2014, if you had asked me to draw something, I probably would have told you, “I can’t even draw a heart right.” I believed that about myself for years.Then, well into adulthood, I went to a paint-and-sip bachelorette party, picked up a brush, started blending a sky, and had one very unexpected thought:
Wow. I am actually creative.
That one night did not magically turn me into an artist. But it did make me question something I had believed about myself for a very long time.
Maybe I wasn’t bad at art. Maybe I had just never really tried it.
And that is one of the reasons I think finding a new hobby as an adult can be so powerful.
I did not walk into that paint-and-sip in 2014 thinking I needed more creativity in my life. I was going to a bachelorette party. That was it.
But I remember the painting. In fact, it is still hanging on the wall in my office. I remember the feel of the brush in my hand. I remember how much I loved blending the colors in the sky. And I remember being genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed making something.
Something clicked.
A few years later, in 2018, I found Pinot’s Palette and started painting more often. I eventually started taking art classes at my local community college because I wanted to learn more.
In 2020, I began working at the studio. From there, one thing led to another. I became an artist, then a manager, and eventually the owner of Pinot’s Palette Huntington Beach.
None of that was part of a plan. There was certainly no moment at that first paint-and-sip when I looked at my canvas and thought, “Clearly, I am going to own an art studio someday.”
I just loved the feeling I had while I was painting. And that was enough to keep going.
The Biggest Change Wasn’t Learning How to Paint
Today, I still don’t think I can draw a perfect heart.
The difference is that I no longer think my hearts are bad.
Before I started painting, I would have looked at something I drew and immediately judged it. The shape was wrong. The line was wrong. It didn’t look the way it was “supposed” to look.
Now I can look at it and think, that’s my heart.
And I’m not afraid to draw a horse.
Will every horse I draw be beautiful? Absolutely not. But I will draw it.
That shift is much bigger than learning a painting technique. Somewhere along the way, I stopped needing to know I would be good at something before I was willing to try it.
Adults Need to Be Beginners Sometimes
One of the interesting things about adulthood is how easy it is to stay inside the things we already know how to do.
We work. We raise families. We manage homes, schedules, businesses, appointments and responsibilities. Most days give us plenty of opportunities to be competent.
They don’t always give us many opportunities to be beginners.
That is part of what makes trying a new hobby so valuable.
Maybe your new hobby is painting. Maybe it is gardening, pottery, photography, baking, dancing, pickleball, sewing, writing, music or something completely different.
You do not have to become great at it. You do not have to turn it into a side hustle. You do not have to post the results online. And you definitely do not have to know where it is going to lead.
You are allowed to do something simply because you enjoy doing it.
A New Hobby Can Bring More Than You Expect
Painting brought much more into my life than paintings.
It brought creativity and confidence. It brought friendships and community. It introduced me to people I never would have known otherwise.
Eventually, yes, it also brought me an entirely unexpected career.
Most hobbies will not become careers, and I don’t think they need to. That is not what makes them worthwhile.
Sometimes a hobby gives you somewhere to go once a week. Sometimes it introduces you to new friends. Sometimes it gives you a couple of hours when you are not thinking about work, kids, laundry, emails or everything else waiting for you.
And sometimes it changes the way you see yourself.
That may be the biggest gift painting gave me.
“But I’m Not Artistic”
Now that I own a paint-and-sip studio in Huntington Beach, I hear versions of my old sentence all the time.
“I’m not artistic.”
“I can’t draw.”
“I can’t even make a stick figure.”
“I’m going to be terrible at this.”
I understand those people because I was one of them.
Then the class starts.
They mix a color. They blend a sky. They add a highlight or paint a tree. At some point, they step back and actually look at what they have created.
And every once in a while, you can see the exact moment it happens.
Wait. I made this.
I know that feeling very well. It is the same feeling I had at that bachelorette party in 2014.
Looking for a New Hobby? Start Somewhere
If you have been thinking about finding a new hobby, taking an art class, trying a paint-and-sip, or simply doing something different with your free time, you do not need to wait until you feel ready.
You certainly do not need to wait until you think you will be good at it.
Try the pottery class. Join the book club. Plant the garden. Learn the song. Take the painting class.
If you are looking for creative things to do in Huntington Beach, you are always welcome to start with us at Pinot’s Palette. But whether it is painting or something completely different, the important part is giving yourself permission to try.
Before I started painting, I thought I couldn’t even draw a heart right.
Today, I still may not draw a perfect heart. But I don’t think my hearts are bad anymore.
And I’m not afraid to draw the horse.
That might be the best thing painting ever gave me.
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