Hobbies
Hobbies add quality to everyone’s life. I have many of them: reading, knitting, crocheting, decorating, making and collecting fine miniatures, playing guitar, scrapbooking. playing scrabble and chess, and doing puzzles, just to name a few. Most of these require fine motor skills and are not at all compatible with Parkinson’ Disease. So what do you do when your neurologist suggests you find new hobbies?? Well, after feeling a stinging tinge of pain, I got what he was suggesting. My life, as I know it, is changing. Deep down, this is something I had been contemplating intensely. You see, I already found it tough to make certain chords on my guitar and even tougher to handle my dainty miniatures. But, I was definitely not ready to completely forgo the hobbies I enjoyed so much. So I learned to adapt. My knitting needles got bigger, the yarn bulkier and the patterns easier. The same for crocheting. I never even knew there was a crochet hook size P. I must admit it looks like a weapon although it works well with even shakey hands.
Next I tackled reading. I am an avid reader. I love being a member of a book club, but I found holding books while moving back and forth made me nauseous. Solution: my generous husband gifted a kindle to me. Now I set the ebook on the table, increase the font size and read without getting seasick. An added advantage to owning a kindle is not having to drive to and from the library for books. I either order them online or I can get them from the library’s ebook loan program.
I love to “puzzle”, mainly jigsaw puzzles. However, tremors and puzzle pieces present challenges. Good news. I find ones with larger pieces and usually keep the size of them to 300 or 500 pieces. In addition, Scrabble is a mainstay for an alternative to televsion boredom for my husband and me. The deluxe version has little groves to hold the letters so jiggling hands do not ruin the game. I suggest Amazon for both the large piece puzzles and the deluxe version of Scrabble.
An interesting thing occurred when the neurologist recommended I develop new hobbies. I did. I started thinking of long term hobbies that I would enjoy now, and will sustain me as life rolls on. I recently began growing bonsai, branched out my papercrafting from scrapbooking to cardmaking, and oh yes, I started blogging. I continue to be open to new and different arts and crafts adventures and other hobbies I have yet to identify. I am uncertain how serious I would be about play time if I did not have Parkinson’s . Knowing I have limitations on my life actually has encouraged me to be seek more to enrich it.
