A Plan on How to Spend Time over the Weekend and My Hobby is Listening Song
For college students, weekend plans seem pretty clear. Go to a party; hang out with friends; go shopping at the mall; maybe even do some homework on Sunday night. All of these are the obvious choices. None of them are my plans. My weekend plans typically consist of one or more of my three favorite hobbies: reading, art, and listening to music. Reading is the hobby that allows escape from the real world. When I read, it relaxes me because I can escape into a world that is not my own. I can insert myself into the life of the characters I am reading about; forget about my own problems even if only for a short while.
I typically read crime novels. I immerse myself into the mystery, and try my best to keep up with all the details so that I can solve the crime with the characters in the novel. I will also read fantasy novels; dissolving myself into the magic that is the world of Harry Potter, and allowing myself to believe that it is real. Reading is my escape from reality similar to how art is my escape from my own mind. Art allows me to forget what is going on around me and in my own head. It creates an atmosphere in which I can focus solely on my creations and their meaning to me.
Drawing and painting allow me to express thoughts and feelings in a creative way. They are my outlet. They prevent me from keeping everything bottled in my head. Coloring is a way for me to forget my problems and become immersed in the patterns and colors that unfold as I color. Coloring takes up so much focus and concentration that it forces my brain to stop and reassess what it needs. It also gives me the necessary tools to keep a straight head when I am stressed out. Just as art allows me to express my thoughts and feeling in a creative way, music allows me to put them into words.
Music is my way of putting my feelings into words when I cannot come up with the words on my own. When I am angry or frustrated, hard rock and metal are my outlet. They create a way for me to vent the negativity in a way that I won’t regret later. When I am happy, pop and punk music are my default. The upbeat instrumentals and energetic lyrics create an atmosphere that expresses the happiness and joy I am feeling. When I am sad or upset, country music allows me to put the melancholy, sadness, and regret into words so that I don’t have to. Singing to these songs allows me to vent whatever emotions I am feeling in such a way that is productive yet still representative of who I am and what I am feeling at the time.
My weekend plans are not the typical plans for a college student. I read so that I can take a break from the realities of college life and the stress that that entails. I paint and draw and color to escape the thoughts running through my own mind, allowing me at least a little bit of peace. I listen to music and sing so that I can take all that I am feeling and thinking and put it into the words I cannot think of myself. These hobbies are what keep me grounded in life and I do not know what I would do if they were not available to me.
