How Important Are Hobbies, Really?

One day, my wife came home from picking up our child at a small Islamic preschool, bringing with her a story that felt strangely weighty. She had met a middle-aged woman who was there to pick up her grandchild. In their short conversation, the woman mentioned that her daughter planned to hire a housemaid. Then she repeated her daughter’s words: “If we have a maid, then what am I supposed to do?”

The sentence sounded simple—maybe even caring. But the woman’s face told another story. She seemed restless. If she had nothing to do in her daughter’s home, she felt she would lose her reason to be there. No role, no contribution, no sense of belonging.

And that reveals something deep: humans can’t stand the feeling of having no role. Even when love is the intention, there is a part of us that still needs something to do—not mere busyness, but an activity that feels truly ours.

From that small story, I became even more convinced that hobbies aren’t just fillers for free time. They are a space where we keep ourselves intact.

A hobby is an area untouched by economic pressure, social expectations, or productivity standards. In that space, we are free to be whole human beings—not just workers or caretakers, but people who enjoy, create, and rediscover joy.

And the most important part: hobbies give us a reason to feel alive when life begins to shift.

There comes a time when work no longer demands our energy. A time when children no longer need us the way they used to. A time when life slows down—sometimes a little too much.

Without activities we truly love, those times can feel like a slow-moving emptiness.

But with a hobby—reading, gardening, writing, knitting, morning walks, or anything that lights a small spark—we have an anchor. We have something that still calls our name. Something that prevents our days from becoming mere waiting.

In the end, hobbies are not about “having free time.” They are one of the simplest ways to stay sane, to nurture the soul, and to protect our sense of self in a life that never stops changing.

Life will always bring new phases, often without warning. But as long as we have something we genuinely enjoy, we never completely lose our direction.