For one of my end-of-the-semester school projects, I had to make a poster, which led me to go digging through my long neglected scrapbooking supplies. Notice that I said neglected. As a leafed through the colorful patterned papers that I bought over two years ago, I was shocked to realize that I haven’t created a single scrapbook page since I started working at BeadStyle in June 2005.

Going through my supplies and my completed scrapbooks reminded me of why I enjoy that hobby so much, and it really made me step back and wonder why I haven’t done anything in so long. To a certain extent, beading has replaced scrapbooking for me, which was to be expected. And don’t get me wrong — I love making jewelry. But why don’t I just do both? Many people have more than one creative hobby.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized that when I make jewelry at home, I tend to make it as gifts for other people. That way it justifies the time and the expense to a certain extent. I’m not sure why I feel the need to justify my hobby time, but it’s something I’m going to work on in the future. Not that I plan on giving up beading. I simply plan to make time for scrapbooking, too.

When it comes right down to it, hobbies shouldn’t need to be justified. They help us relax, and they give us opportunities to be creative. If nothing us, they keep us out of trouble. What more justification could you need?