When I was in grad school, we studied the history of the field of mental health. What nobody told me, however, is how often I would be sharing that history with clients as a clinical intervention. Historical context matters. I want to summarize that history, not as an academic exercise, but in a way that will shed light on so many of our journeys to healing and wholeness, and that will hopefully inspire compassion for ourselves, those we love, and even those we can’t stand.

In an increasingly lonely world, hobbies are one of our last remaining relational spaces. Hobbies are a vast playground of social opportunities, able to bring you into contact with both like-minded people with whom you have much in common and people with whom you would otherwise never interact.

Welcome back! This is Part II of my three-parter on hobbies. (In case you missed Part I . And, you can read Part III .) What follows are three ways that grownups benefit from hobbies. I’ve drawn on interviews with over a dozen friends and family members, so you can hear from a wider range of voices than just mine.   1.  Hobbies as self-care   Self-care is a broad category, encompassing fitness and physical health, social connection, and emotional wellbeing. Over half the people I interviewed...