Looking for a "thing" at midlife

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking for exercise, mental stimulation, outdoor time? Tango, salsa, swing are big in the dmv area and have festivals all over. Pickle ball has certainly become a thing. Tennis still has this too. Golf - some groups are friendlier and less corporate. Skiing/hiking has some great women bonding groups.

OP here. Exercise and outdoor time could be good. I worry pickle ball might just be a fad and die out, and I want something I can do a long time. Not sure tennis/golf are for me (may just lack the hand/eye coordination to be any good at them).

Do you know of any women's hiking groups in the DMV? How do people find these?

Check out meetup.com for things like hiking groups. There could also be other activities that inspire you.

Good luck and hope you find your thing.

[Anonymous]

Here’s my midlife activity list. All of these are from within the past couple years.

-lifting weights and taking fun classes at the Y
-took up an instrument and do weekly lessons
-horticulture for pollinators. I ripped up a lot of lawn, put in some small pollinator meadows, work with a lot of native plants.
-designed and installed drip irrigation from rain barrels
-biking with a local bike club
-volunteering with my kid’s sports team
-volunteering in my field (legal)

Give yourself a couple years to experiment. You don’t have to find a forever hobby right away. Test out a lot of things, I bet you have a few things in the back of your head you’ve been interested in exploring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try to earn some small amount of money from a hobby. Even if it's a token amount, and costs more than it earns. Or how about local politics, like attending meetings and running for some council position. Or how about volunteering someplace?

I would love something I could earn a small amount of money from, even if it was still a net expense.

I think I'm looking for something that might provide me with some validation, like "ok I'm good at this." Even if it's not something I'll ever do for a living or that could ever sustain me.

Any ideas for things in this category?

Writing and online self-publishing novels? Some people do well with cheap sales on Amazon in certain genres (romance, fantasy, horror, etc).

For a while my mom got really into canning and tried to make a business out of it, but food businesses are tough.

It really depends on what you like!

Agree food businesses are tough - people are wary of home based businesses, especially after covid (plus pets, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Google hiking DC and you will get a bunch of results for the area, including REI.

You might want to consider something that would include hiking but not be limited as much by time and weather.

For example, birding. You can start with a $50 pair of binoculars from Amazon and your front yard or nearest park. You can look for birds while hiking and someday take trips to see them. But, if you only have 10 minutes, you can still squeeze it in on your own block.

If the weather is a disaster and you can't get outside, you can take some online classes (look at National Geographic's North American Guide to Birding on Wondrium) or through Cornell's bird lab. You can use the Merlin app and ebird to start learning the birds in your neighborhood. You can drive to Huntley Meadows one morning to see if you even find birds interesting. If you do, this might lead you to looking at your yard and putting in more native plants and so on.

Anyway, point is that if you are interested in finding something you are passionate about, you might want to think about something that branches out. (Cooking is another one. You can start reading, decide to make your own yogurt, hit the farmer's markets, grow your own herbs, as you get more interested.)

I also see a lot of people who return to things they used to do. For example, there are a lot of volunteers in Boy & Girl Scouts without kids who volunteer to teach merit badges or camping skills. Or people get involved with their alma mater or other alumni groups. Or they pick up an old instrument.

I agree with others it may take some time to find and will depend on how much free time you have. So, hope some of these ideas help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Do you know of any women's hiking groups in the DMV? How do people find these?

Yes! Are you on Facebook? Check out Girls Who Hike MD

https://www.facebook.com/groups/255122218298062

They are a nice group of supportive women, maybe skews a little younger that your age group but really all ages.

[Anonymous]

Try getting involved with a community theater group. You can do stage crew if you don’t want to act. You’ll meet lots of people who all develop a real sense of camaraderie as everyone works together to put on the show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking for exercise, mental stimulation, outdoor time? Tango, salsa, swing are big in the dmv area and have festivals all over. Pickle ball has certainly become a thing. Tennis still has this too. Golf - some groups are friendlier and less corporate. Skiing/hiking has some great women bonding groups.

OP here. Exercise and outdoor time could be good. I worry pickle ball might just be a fad and die out, and I want something I can do a long time. Not sure tennis/golf are for me (may just lack the hand/eye coordination to be any good at them).

Do you know of any women's hiking groups in the DMV? How do people find these?

There's a very active Maryland hikers Facebook group, you could ask there if there are any women's specific groups. I think there is at least one in the greater Baltimore area.

You could also join a chapter of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club and help with maintenance as part of a group as well as hiking. This is one of my daydreams for having free time when my kids are older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try to earn some small amount of money from a hobby. Even if it's a token amount, and costs more than it earns. Or how about local politics, like attending meetings and running for some council position. Or how about volunteering someplace?

I would love something I could earn a small amount of money from, even if it was still a net expense.

I think I'm looking for something that might provide me with some validation, like "ok I'm good at this." Even if it's not something I'll ever do for a living or that could ever sustain me.

Any ideas for things in this category?

Macrame is pretty easy to learn and cheap. You could sell plant hangars at craft fairs etc.

[Anonymous]

Throw parties for your friends and family!

[Anonymous]

Volunteer at school or helping with social services at a library (taxes, ESL, applying for benefits, etc)

Work in a community garden.

Sign up at a mentoring service.

See what local churches are doing for community service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try to earn some small amount of money from a hobby. Even if it's a token amount, and costs more than it earns. Or how about local politics, like attending meetings and running for some council position. Or how about volunteering someplace?

I would love something I could earn a small amount of money from, even if it was still a net expense.

I think I'm looking for something that might provide me with some validation, like "ok I'm good at this." Even if it's not something I'll ever do for a living or that could ever sustain me.

Any ideas for things in this category?

Not sure it’s a perfect fit, but about 6-7 years ago I started collecting a very niche kind of art. Just because I loved it. But I’d buy pieces, meet others who were into the same thing, track new releases in the genre… eventually started selling and trading, met more people, at this point I’ve made some money (somewhere in the 5 figures overall), have a collection I love and continue to curate, and to your point here I’ve become somewhat “known” as a dealer and authority in this tiny little community.

So again, not sure if you have that “collecting” impulse, but just another idea.

[Anonymous]

Make money doing something you’re good at— crochet! Sell on Etsy. Start small like beautiful dream catchers for baby gifts, baby/bridal shower favors. Actually a favor for any event. If they take off, offer custom orders, adding additional time for delivery.
I see a lot of teens girls wearing crochet halter tops, especially to outdoor summer concerts. I love tight knit crochet tank tops. I still wear one from a decade ago that’s racerback, multi colored similar to a Missoni pattern. I’d buy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make money doing something you’re good at— crochet! Sell on Etsy. Start small like beautiful dream catchers for baby gifts, baby/bridal shower favors. Actually a favor for any event. If they take off, offer custom orders, adding additional time for delivery.
I see a lot of teens girls wearing crochet halter tops, especially to outdoor summer concerts. I love tight knit crochet tank tops. I still wear one from a decade ago that’s racerback, multi colored similar to a Missoni pattern. I’d buy!

OP here. I wouldn't say I'm good -- I don't think good enough to sell anything. But thank you for the encouragement!

[Anonymous]

Both of my grandfathers were beekeepers in retirement, and I want to do that. I have no idea where to start.

[Anonymous]

I like the esl idea. I used to teach English to recent immigrants and it was very fulfilling. Refugees need a lot of support.