Whew. OK, got the important post out, now for a lighter subject. “What do YOU do in your down time?” Is something I get asked occasionally. After getting my laughter under control my first answer is half-jokingly “What free time?”
Seriously though when I’m not on stage, I do have a day job. I’m one of the sorry souls in the company I work for that keeps the back end servers that run everything that the rest of the employees use. So that’s a definite chunk of time. The dream is to get that chunk back and apply it toward music, but in the meantime, bills gotta be paid and all that jazz. When that’s not active (and often when it is) I’m a mom to three and a bonus ‘kid’ (he’s 24 so I can’t really call him a kid anymore) My eldest is doing collegy things, and the younger two are in high school, and ALL of them are amazing (you can hear the younger two in Wonder on the new album!! I still can’t listen to it without crying T^T).
“So that’s a lot!” Yeah, but in the nooks and crannies of the day I cram the FUN stuff: creating. I was originally going to say music, and that, that is my mana. I have to do something music daily or everything feels just off. But the fun stuff is more than that. I love to cook, and eat kind of like a hobbit, so that’s both fun and convenient. I garden: food and medicinals and pretty flowers. I crochet and knit and am learning to felt things.
I also have weaving and lacemaking on the list of things I want to learn ^^;. I’m learning Japanese, Gaelic, Scots, and Spanish (YAY Duolingo!) though I’m taking a bit of a break on that right now. I love to read, though for the longest time I forgot that, and am remembering. I also enjoy writing, and am slowly remembering that as well. I also love to play games. Tabletop, video, card games….they’re all fun!
“But reading and gaming…is that really creative?” Oh you doubting souls, it really is. Reading feeds your imagination, creating the world and characters in your mind. Sometimes I can hear the music running counterpoint in a market as a busker plays for the crowd, or get lost in the intricacies of a character’s outfit in a video game and how I would build a cosplay of it (Another hobby…^^; ). Seriously, I probably have about 15 other ‘hobbies’ that I’m forgetting…but they’ll crop up later I’m sure.
I think it boils down to what feeds your soul? What lets your inner child giggle and feel safe and happy? What feels like that first sip of a warm drink on a cold night when you pick it up? THAT is what you should do in your free time.
So, that being said, what do YOU do in your free time?
Like you, “What’s free/spare time?” If it’s what you do while not being a drone for corporate overlords… Read/research about cool things, garden *vegis, fruits, flowers, medicinals…) play flute, try to figure out how to tune this wonky-ass harp! (decade-long story), embroidery, house fixing, cooking/baking, pottery (gotta make new style lamp & other thing molds) & yes, so much stuff that I’ve forgotten most since I’m a magpie at collecting cool things to learn & do.
Hmmm…what do I do with my free time (when I’m not slinging pills at a local pharmacy). Well, that’s mostly easy.
Write.
I typically write fantasy, sci-fi, and dabble in romance (though usually only in conjunction with one of the other two genres mentioned as I’m terrible at just writing romance–write what you know they say, I can confidently say I know nothing of romance +laughs+) and I’ve been doing that since I was about 10-years-old (wanted to be a best-selling author since I was 12…I’m still working on that…)
Aside from writing? I attempt to read (I went through my book shelf the other day and realized I haven’t -read- about two-thirds of the books on my shelf, but they’re on my shelf because I -want- to read them). I love Dungeons & Dragons, I’m a player in a couple different campaigns and run a couple campaigns (though not as competently as I would like ^^; ). I watch anime, read manga, and sometimes listen to real play D & D shows (like Critical Role).
Of late, I’m looking to get into other things like drawing, learning Japanese (hopefully it sticks this time) and Spanish (because it’s sensible living here and with my current job), and I want to learn to do voice overs–not to get into VO as a career, but so that I can read my stories (and maybe other stories) on my YouTube channel I hope to launch this year. I’ve also been thinking about getting into guitar to help with characterization for one of my favorite muses and because I’ve always wanted to be able to play some kind of music (the 4 years in elementary and junior high school band playing the flute doesn’t really count) because my life has mostly been made up of music (listening), writing, and reading ^_^