Working on hobbies is not selfish activity, it's a blessing

Creative hobbies are good for your health and mental well being. Here is a list of hobbies that are wonderful for stress relief. It is important to take time out to do something just for the fun of it. We live in a society that worships accomplishment. It's okay to do something creative and enjoyable.

http://stress.about.com/od/funandgames/tp/hobby.htm

It is not selfish to engage in a hobby. It benefits the whole family when you are less stressed. I set my timer for one hour a day and work on my painting. Sometimes when my preschooler is at home from school I split it up into two thirty minute sessions. It takes me a long time to finish a large painting.....many months. But just leave the painting out on the easel, and leave your tools out in the open so you can grab a minute here and there.

Many times my three children and I paint together as a family. I sometimes pick up large pieces of plywood or doors that construction workers are discarding, and my children and I do a joint project together.

Don't feel guilty for bringing your talents to fruition. God gave them to us for a reason. My mother loved to sew. I remember how comforting it was to hear her sewing while I was working on my homework. One time she sewed outfits for an entire choir for one of my sisters performances. I was so impressed with her work. I was happy to see my mother working on her hobbies. It did not take away from the care she gave to us at all.

I was not interested in sewing at the time, but she taught my oldest sister Donna to sew, and my sister still sews today. My oldest sister made many of my clothes when I was growing up because we were a family of eight, and my father was a blue collar worker. But she was doing it for fun, and it ended up being utilitarian after all. But sewing just for the sake of sewing, painting just for the sake of painting, and gardening just for the sake of gardening is GOOD. Remember the scripture about Martha and Mary.

My mother stayed home with us even though it would be financially hard on us, and I'm happy she did. My mother also used to love to draw and we would all draw together on the dining room table. I have to hand it to my mom for all of the patting on the back she gave me when I worked on creative projects. She still tells me how proud she is of me. She is in her seventies now. She no longer sews because of her arthritis. I'm glad she did it while she could.

Appolinaire wrote the epitaph written on the painter Rousseau's tombstone.

"We salute you
Gentile Rousseau you can hear us
Delaunay his wife Monsieur Queval and myself
Let our luggage pass duty free through the gates
of heaven
We will bring you brushes paints and canvas
That you may spend your sacred leisure in the
light of truth
Painting as you once did my portrait
Facing the stars"