Two weeks into the new year and Jamaicans are making and breaking resolutions like nobody's business. While you resolve to get fit, buy a new home, change jobs, or whatever, we hope you are also planning new ways to have fun. Hobbies and other personal interests can be part of your growth in 2024? Jamaica’s vibrant creative culture offers many activities to indulge your artistic side. Let us explore some that might inspire you.
Dance is in the Jamaican DNA, no doubt about it. There are many local dance studios or classes that can help you indulge or spark your interest in dance. Explore Latin dance with Salsa Society Jamaica or feel the African rhythms with the JamAfrican Ensemble. Brave enough to take on multiple dance forms at once? Vybance Jamaica has you covered. These studios are welcoming spaces for those of any skill level to indulge in the joy of movement. Embracing a new style of dance as a hobby can be an invigorating and liberating experience.
Art and crafts in Jamaica offers beginners many options to begin exploring a passion. Paint and sips - no pressure art classes where participants enjoy a glass (or more) of something tasty – are now very popular here. Check out Paint & Sip with Abra or Island Strokes to unleash your inner Picasso. Or, explore Sanaa Studios where you can take classes in drawing and painting, ceramics, jewelry making and photography.
Writing Workshops
As a hobby, creative writing opens the door to your boundless imagination and self-expression. For some, it is the ideal means of creative expression. You can find a class at any of our tertiary institutions to refine your skills and cultivate your unique voice. Whether you want to pen short stories, become a novelist, or try poetry writing, you can nurture your creativity in a supportive community of like-minded individuals passionate about the written word.
Culinary Adventures
Our pride in Jamaican cuisine, one of the best in the world, cyaan dun. But we should still cultivate our palates with food from other cultures. Learn to cook something different this year. Organise at home cooking classes using YouTube, or find local classes hosted by trained chefs. The Culinary Institute of Jamaica offers courses that can help you create impressive spreads at those dinner parties you have in mind.
Whether it's learning to paint, dance or playing amateur chef, the possibilities are endless for new hobbies. By opening ourselves to novel experiences, we add vibrant colours to our lives and cultivate an appetite for learning, and building resilience and respect for ourselves and others. Here's to a year filled with curiosity, creativity, and the joy that comes from embracing new hobbies.