Lately I have been reflecting on spare time. What we decide to do when we are not doomscrolling till our head hurts; maybe it’s crafts, maybe it’s being in nature, whatever it is I feel like I am relearning what a hobby is.

In Swedish it is called fritid, spare time. There is an after-school program for kids called fritidshem where children learn while playing, particularly for those kids whose parents are working. There is also Fritidsbanken, where you can loan equipment for your hobbies, daytrip backpacks, hiking stuff, even skis. There is even an app called Piffl! where you can find little boxes in the middle of the parks to loan a frisbee or volleyball to play with your friends.

The incredible part is most of these things are free, they encourage you to connect with others and nature without spending a dime. In a moment where it seems like third places are disappearing and life has become so unaffordable, it is refreshing to live in a society that has other hobbies and spare activities than spending money while walking around a mall.

However, this search for hobbies might also come from the availability of spare time. In the end, do hobbies even exist without spare time? When I arrived in Sweden, I had a sensation that everything was slower, people working until 5 pm (for real) and having more hours for themselves felt like a dream. But when I had all the spare time that being a student here grants, I felt like I was losing my mind. I enrolled in a gym, attended congresses, Nation activities, hiked, I was trying to do everything but resting. It is not only the environment; you also need to change internally, to allow yourself to slow down.

But sometimes hobbies don’t work that way, it is not about doing everything to not be there, it is more about doing what connects you to yourself, your friends and the space you are living in.

Hiking was not new to me, it is something I have always done and has become my weekend ritual, that granted me some sanity. However, I stopped water color painting when I was 13. After that I have done it sporadically but it has always been something I truly enjoyed. Now, I am painting again, not because I suddenly have the ambition of becoming a recognized artist, more because it is a space where I can connect with the things I like and be present without being anxious about jobs, visas and adulthood.

If Sweden is noble enough to allow you to pause, what else can I do but to honor the rhythm and to allow myself to find the little activities that bring me joy.