A virtual writers’ group I belong to, has a set check-in at the top of each studio hour we share. Its protocols include a welcome question posed to the writers, directors and managers of mostly film and theatre projects. We beam in from all over North America and sometimes Europe. 
Today, the ask in the last hour block was, “What is your favourite pastime?”
First, let me say, what a nice feeling it is to say, ‘belong’ as most writers work, and many of us also live ‘solo’. So, this group ensures we are not alone, yet still have the space and time we need without working in isolation. Beyond the welcome exercise or the brief breakouts for active ‘listening sessions’, we can look up to see each other but work independently, in silence. Plus, we can be off screen or in a ‘quiet’ room solo or with very few others in our workspace to further reduce visual disruption.
At the end of the hour, there is an optional fitness video to be sure we also move it, move it.
As for pastimes; my default for decades now is walking, reading, swimming.
Today I offered – sketching. Aspirational really, but I felt the pressure to say something….active and productive. So, I dug back to when that or a craft like knitting, crocheting or similar would have been current.
The first person to respond, a fellow Vancouverite, said: sleeping. Heads nodded. People smiled.
The next most popular picks were board games, to play with others. I felt a twinge as I live and work solo, so no nearby play hands.
Fear not, quiet creatives continued with my ‘real and active pastimes’.
Walking
Reading
Cooking
*Cleaning – No one mentioned this but to each their own stress relievers and productivity percolators… It works for me.
These are all things I do on the daily. They are not hobbies – no one said THAT word. I didn’t think they qualified as pastimes in a public forum. They are necessities of life for me, with the exception that I describe them as my ‘brain breaks’ from work.
Even if dread or other reasons for procrastination grips me, I do a little bit, and then escape a bit.
In business, we would call that first forray ‘a minimal viable product’ or MVP. A starter effort on the road to further accomplishments. (See a 5 min video with fun examples from Eleken here)
As a creative, with my product being a finished piece to entertain, communicate a message or market something. My mighty mini step might be writing (or doodling) down a concept, a word or a completed first draft if inspiration hits. Although, let’s understand that while a first ‘shitty draft’ also counts big time as an MVP, we might only keep the proverbial 20%, if that.
What others listed as pastimes are part of my mode of earning and producing. I integrate them into my work schedule. A little activity mixed with hard core productivity. But really, isn’t the time we spend dreaming, thinking, dreading, dismissing and revisiting our work also valuable?
It is part of the process. So is stepping away. We can let our silent partners – mind and imagination, continue to develop first thoughts. I find this a great use of my time. Housework, a walk for the fun of it or a walk on a mission for errands or food, are all part of my actual work time. Subconscious thoughts. Stimulation of new environment. Chance conversations in the lobby getting mail or in the line up at the cashier.
UPDATE post publishing: I viewed this video featuring Professor Arthur C. Brooks on finding your purpose. At the midpoint he explains our all day obsession at work and then at home with left brain work… so, what do the pastimes I engage in have in common? They all rest my hard working work and world processing left brain and our tendency to occupy it further with devices in leisure hours. By moving away from the screen to mundane, bordering on boring activity, compared to all the stimulation of screens and work routines, I engage with other parts of my brain and myself. Creativity and even purpose reveals itself when we are not necessarily chasing it. Chillax. Move to your right brain by moving away from modern day capture and the clang of the computer prison bars.
“It’s all grist for the mill” or more accurately, “It’s all copy”. The latter is how Nora Ephron repeated the quote from her screenplay writer mother. The highly talented producer in various media understood it as, all life events, are fodder for her creative mill. For me, I say all activity fuels the end product.
Get to that grist with grit and don’t second guess how you spend your alleged leisure time or its value to the quality of your life or work.
