There are certain things that follow us from childhood into adulthood, little dreams that never really left but simply got pushed aside because life became “serious.” One day you suddenly remember them again and realize that the desire never actually disappeared. It was just waiting patiently in the background.

I was talking to one of my closest friends and they have been very inspiring. They’ve been picking up hobbies that they were never able to do as a kid, and just to see them do it and go for it makes me oh so happy. But I can only imagine how happy it makes them. I can see how happy it makes them, how excited they are for it, and it made me think: I don’t see why we are not engaging in childhood hobbies.

Other than the fact that we are “an adult”. So being an adult suddenly makes you too old to do new things.

On that note, I thought it would be a good idea to remind you to pick up the childhood hobby you’ve been wanting to do. And here are a few reasons why.

1. It reconnects you with your inner child

There’s a big chance that when you were a kid there was something you really wanted to do, something that truly felt like a dream. Maybe you wanted to become the world’s best jump rope athlete. Maybe you wanted to be the first to create an entire domino effect shaped like the Tower of Pisa with waterfalls falling down the sides. Maybe you simply wanted to learn to play the flute.

But because it wasn’t “useful,” as some adults would like to say, they told you no. You had to pick a hobby that was more useful and that could add value to your life. And just like that, the dream was gone.

You never got to participate in that hobby, but somewhere in the back of your heart and in the back of your mind you still yearn to do that one thing. That yearning you feel is still your inner child saying, “I wish you could do that.”

A lot of us were told we couldn’t do certain things because they didn’t add value, because everything we did supposedly had to be productive. Otherwise we were wasting time. Personally, I don’t see how doing something you enjoy is ever a waste of time, but hey… adults be like.

2. It opens you up to learning again

One thing we love to say is, “Oh, I already know.”

And the moment we say that, our ability to listen and learn shuts down. We close ourselves off to new knowledge simply because we think we have it all figured out.

But we all know that’s not true. None of us actually have everything figured out.

Yet many people refuse to learn from others because they assume there’s nothing new someone could teach them. Apparently we are all as wise as Merlin the wizard.

And once you open yourself up in that space, you often notice that you become more open to learning in other areas of life as well.

3. It teaches patience again

Many of us have become incredibly impatient. Everything has to be fast, quick, instant.

Learning a new hobby doesn’t work like that.

If you really want to learn the childhood hobby you’ve been dreaming about, you will have to give yourself time. It’s not going to be a one-two-three situation. If playing the piano is your dream, you’re not automatically going to become the next Stevie Wonder within two months.

Then again, apparently some people learn insanely fast through coaching videos, so who knows. It might happen.

But generally speaking, you have to be patient with yourself. You have to practice, repeat, mess up, try again, and slowly improve. Patience is something many of us have lost, but when you pick up a new hobby you naturally start practicing patience again.

And honestly, that might be one of the most beautiful things about it.

4. It brings real joy back into your life

This should actually be the number one reason.

Joy.

Goodness gracious, can we bring joy back for a moment? Life has become so serious that many of us forgot what it feels like to truly enjoy it.

We might say we’re happy, but do we really feel that deep internal joy?

When you pick up a hobby you’ve been wanting to do since childhood, something shifts. That childlike excitement comes back. The kind where kids giggle uncontrollably and glow with pure happiness.

That feeling can exist in adulthood too.

When you finally learn to whistle a tune, finish a crochet project, run a mile, or build that domino structure you always imagined, something inside you lights up again.

You remember what it feels like to play.

And honestly, we take life so seriously while forgetting that none of us are getting out of this alive anyway. So you might as well enjoy the ride.

Make time to enjoy.

Interesting fact: Neuroscience shows that novelty and play activate the brain’s dopamine system, which is the same system tied to motivation and creativity. In other words, when adults play again, the brain literally wakes up. The ancient philosophers already knew this in a poetic way: Aristotle wrote that leisure and play are not the opposite of productivity, they are what make meaningful work possible.

I am curious, though. What childhood hobby are you still dreaming of?