“How do you have time for all of these hobbies?”
Is probably the most common question I get from those who follow me on social media.
It must seem like I am constantly full of energy, bouncing from hobby to hobby without a care in the world.
That’s only half true.
Over the past year or so, I realized I had sold my soul to the devil,
The music business.
It was sucking the life out of my body and the heart out of my chest.
I used to enjoy playing gigs and writing songs with people I love and it came very easily to me for a long time.
But then it became a source of deep, existential pain.
I started wondering what I was doing on this planet.
Who do I think I am?
I’ll never make it in this industry.
I’m too old, not pretty enough, not talented enough and there’s an endless line of girls who will always be better than me.
I thought I was born to be a singer songwriter.
Everybody in my life told me that I was destined to succeed and I was a golden child.
Well gold faded blue.
I love music.
I love writing and singing and connecting with an audience with words that I wrote. It’s a high that I’ll never stop chasing,
But the crash out was becoming too much.
Not only that, but I was suppressing my other interests.
I thought that if I entertained other interests or hobbies that I was cheating on music or that people would think I “gave up.”
That is so far from the truth.
I wasn’t happy.
So I got out a paper and I wrote about things that have always made me happy.
For me, it’s currently six things.
- Music
I love everything about music.
To be honest, I was listening to it too much.
It was actively affecting my ability to regulate my emotions.
Music affects me so deeply that I have to treat it with intentional care.
I thank God everyday that I have the ability to sing and write.
It is the most precious gift I’ve ever been given and I couldn’t stop exercising my music muscle even if I tried.
And believe me, for my own mental health,
I have tried.
But music always calls me back, and I just love her so much that I will always answer.
She’s saved my life time and time again.
I hummed before I could speak.
Music is woven into the fabric of my being and always has been.
- Acting
Acting/theater has been a great love of mine since I was little.
I just wanted to be on Disney Channel to be honest. I
remember how excited I was on the way to summer theater camp, just bursting with energy.
Theater kid energy.
High school kind of showed me that I’m not a “natural” at acting but boy do I love it.
In college, a theater professor told me to switch my major to theater and I considered it,
but I still felt I wasn’t quite good enough to pull that off.
For the past ten years, I’ve been stalking community theater audition posts and telling myself that one day I’ll show up and audition.
Then I’d tell myself that I’ll never have time to be in a show or go to acting classes.
I should be focusing all of my energy on being a singer songwriter,
not auditioning for Mamma Mia.
Well, I finally gave in last year and began taking scene study classes and improv classes at The Studio for Acting in Nashville.
I showed up to some auditions and I did TERRIBLE.
Good lord it was so embarrassing but every time I auditioned,
I got a little bit better.
Now I’ve been in two shows over the past year and it’s become such an important passion in my life.
I’ve made new friends, used my voice in new ways and now I spend my evenings watching musicals instead of netflix dating shows.
Okay I watch those, too
but I am fully embracing my inner theater kid after believing I wasn’t good enough for so long.
And it feels really good.
- Writing
Okay I know we already talked about writing songs,
but this is different.
I want to write books !! and essays !! maybe a musical one day !!!
Writing is everything to me.
I’ve been writing wannabe books since middle school.
My middle school best friend, Brenna and I would write chapters and chapters of vampire/mermaid fanfics and our classmates would always ask “did you write more yet? Can I read it?”
I never thought that I would be able to write a book or even get anything published,
but my tune changed in college.
I started a blog.
I wrote words without music and people seemed to like what I had to say.
Well…. Not everybody.
But that’s a story for another time.
It was the first time that I was referred to as a “writer” without the word “singer” in front of it.
It felt amazing.
And also like a lie?
Who do I think I am?
Well a few years ago, I decided to put my poems together and create a poetry book.
It finally came out this year in February.
I self published a whole book!
I took some classes on self publishing and creative writing at The Porch in Nashville and finally gained the confidence to just do it.
Working with a formatting program almost killed me,
but now I have a physical book that people actually bought and read?
What the heck?
Now I’m working on a memoir about my late, great horse Jazzie and I’m working towards getting published in a major publication.
That would be something, wouldn’t it?
- Animals
One thing about me is I need to interact with at least 10 animals a day.
I love all animals.
When I was young, I’d bring home injured birds, bats, rodents, a bucket of newborn kittens and my mom would always say,
“you can have whatever pet you want once you’re out of this house”
and that felt like freedom.
Currently, I have three cats and a leopard gecko.
I also work with a horse at a rescue ranch, Freedom Reigns, and I kind of consider him to be mine.
His name is Toby.
My whole life has been a battle between music and animals.
Veterinarian or musician?
Marine biologist or cruise singer?
I always told myself that I’d open a wildlife rescue/horse rescue/aquatic rescue/whatever needs rescuing rescue when I was older and a billionaire (classic),
but I’m beginning to realize that I can do both right now.
I can help animals and also play songs.
Ground breaking, I know.
So now I spend two days a week at Freedom Reigns.
This ranch has changed my life.
I bounced around to different barns over my time in Tennessee, and nothing felt quite right or the people were not great.
I finally found my horse home at Freedom Reigns and it’s been the biggest blessing over the past year.
Hanging out with Toby and the rest of those beautiful animals and people has healed me in more ways than I’ll ever be able to explain.
Maybe one day I’ll be able to put it into words.
I also saved a kitten this year who was stranded on a highway and bottle fed him for months.
He is now my son.
Willie is my best bud who just wants to be around me all the time,
unless he’s being an orange menace.
I just want to save every animal on this planet, OKAY
- Swimming
There is quite literally nothing more magical than swimming around in a lake, pond, waterfall, pool or ocean.
I wish I could live in the sea.
It still causes me physical pain as I type this that I will never be a mermaid.
My parents put me in swim lessons when I was little and I soon joined the swim team.
I was quite fast, but I also had asthma, so.
C’est la vie.
Swimming has always melted my stress away and brought me back into my body.
I feel more comfortable in the water than on land.
So I joined an adult swim team.
Now I swim and compete in swim meets wherever I can.
I also try to hike to as many waterfalls as possible or camp next to rivers or visit the lake whenever I have free time.
Swimming frees me and one of my favorite views in the world is when I’m floating a few feet below the surface and the sun is shining through the ripples of water.
It is absolute magic. It’s glitter. It’s sparkling.
- Painting
My last passion is actually my newest one.
I have always loved music, animals, writing, swimming and acting.
However, painting was a surprise to even me.
When I lived on a cruise ship in 2019, I was going through one of the most difficult times of my life.
I was completely broken.
I was also stuck on a freaking ship with a lot of free time and no cell service.
My parents sent me some care packages and they included paint supplies.
I wondered “why on earth would they send me this? I can’t paint or draw at all.”
I always said I was terrible at visual art… guess things can change.
Emery (my bestie and roomie on the ship) and I would spend hours in our cabin just painting away.
I sucked at first.
Actually, I sucked the whole time I was on the ship,
but painting brought a stillness to my brain that I’d never experienced before.
I am constantly thinking, over-analyzing, replaying the past, obsessing over the future, wondering how I come across, and pondering how I can be a better friend to the people I love.
It never stops.
Yet, when I sat down to paint a sunset, I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular.
Just colors.
So I spent the past few years practicing and teaching myself how to get better at this new passion of mine.
I’ve never taken a class, but I’d like to.
The funny thing is, nothing in my life has come as easy to me as painting.
I’m almost mad at myself for spending so long without it.
Now that it’s here, I intend to pursue this passion to the fullest.
So there you have it.
A guide to my hobbies.
I also try other things for fun because being a beginner at something is truly humbling
and if you have an interest then you should pursue it!
Literally nothing matters.
We’re on a floating rock in outer space.
Go to that ballet class.
Speaking of, here’s a small list of things I’ve tried out in case you’re looking for ideas,
- Pottery (took a class at The Clay Lady)
- Sculpting (The Clay Lady, they also have a stained glass class that looks amazing)
- Ice Skating (lessons at Centennial Sportsplex)
- Ballet (Nashville Ballet adult classes)
- Chess (I just love chess.com honestly but I would totally join a chess club)
- French !!! (Also down to join a french club)
- Modern Dance (Millenium Dance Complex)
- Writing Classes (The Porch)
- Acting Classes/Improv Classes (The Studio for Acting)
- Caving (Nashville Grotto is a caving club)
- Swimming (Masters Swimming)
- Horse Rescues (Freedom Reigns)
- Riding Lessons (Crossroads Ranch ((I haven’t started these yet but I’ve heard great things)) )
To be honest there are probably more but that’s all I can remember for now.
I hope one day you can tell me about the hobby that you’re so passionate about.
It’s amazing how many things we can be interested in.
Maybe music doesn’t have to be my entire life and source of happiness,
maybe it’s just a part of who I am.
Maybe it’s okay to be a jack of all trades and a master of none.
Maybe mastery isn’t the goal.
Maybe it’s just self expression and healing through art and nature and processing the human experience.
Maybe it’s my ability to reflect the human experience back to other people with my art
and then maybe they can relate to it
… or hate it.
Maybe it’s all a part of what makes me me.
Glittery, vital pieces that fit into the mosaic that is me.
– Becca Tremmel