Feeding the Soul

FIND A PASSION THAT BRINGS YOU ENERGY AND REDUCES STRESS

Our hobbies and passions feed our soul. They’re proven to reduce stress, foster social connections, and boost life skills. Who knew that woodworking hobby you took up a few years ago would also improve your coordination and focus? (And you thought you just liked making footstools for friends.) Sometimes these hobbies come into our lives earlier and sometimes later, but the passions we find have a way of finding us.

GARDENING IS EVER-PRESENT HOPE

Debby Levine of Crescent Hill says her passion for gardening has always been part of her life. This love for all things green and growing was passed on to her by her mother, “I totally absorbed it and have developed it,” she says. Debby earned her masters degree in botany in the early 1980s, but didn’t have a chance to get her hands dirty using it until her move to Louisville 17 years ago. “The passion was there but the opportunity wasn’t,” she says. Since moving here, Debby has volunteered and taken classes at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens and also works to cultivate her own backyard garden.

A lover of “interesting plants,” Debby isn’t easily discouraged when her gardening ideas don’t first take root. “It’s kind of like the ever-present hope that keeps people gardening,” Debby says. Even in areas where nothing grows, she continues to try different flowers in the hopes something will thrive. “You have to keep trying and pay attention. The plants will tell you if they’re happy or not,” Debby says.

Debby Levine showcasing wreaths she made from invasive garden vines. Her lace art is on display at Yew Dell through July.

BUZZING WITH INSPIRATION

The great outdoors is buzzing with inspiration, and this is where Libby Rosenberger of Spencer County, Kentucky, discovered her passion for beekeeping. Libby, a retired math teacher, has always been afraid of insects, but when her neighbor mentioned they acquired some bees, she decided that was a project she’d like to try. A “laid-back beekeeper,” she enjoys caring for them and says, “It’s fascinating just to see the intricacies of their civilization.”

Not stopping with one hobby, Libby also enjoys needlework. She says joining an embroidery group was a wonderful way to expand her social circle and also learn about a world of sewing she never knew existed. Plus, the intricacy inherent in the craft teaches her patience and offered her another surprising benefit: “I think it makes your eyesight better. I had to use a magnifier and a light in the beginning, but I'm not as dependent on it as I was,” Libby says.

Libby Rosenberger is holding a needlepoint ornament she made which placed second in a local competition.

BREAD AND BEER

Finding a passion all his own, Libby’s husband, Greg Rosenberger is a bread baker and a beer brewer. Greg worked for AT&T for over 41 years before retiring but his love of brewing has been brewed into his DNA. During prohibition his grandmother made her own beer, and he’s taken this love and distilled it into a 25-year hobby. Today, Libby and Greg’s passions mix when Libby adds honey from her hive to Greg’s latest home brew, “This brews a type of mead beer called a braggot,” Greg says.

Greg’s bread baking is a newer addition, and he uses this in his fermentation. This is an activity Greg appreciates because, “This process is really slow. You’re taking the commercial process out of it and that’s what got me started on it,” Greg says.

Hobbies take the rush out of life. They help us focus on quality time with ourselves and our loved ones. “I want to do something where I can just relax and enjoy life, you know?” Greg says. So whether you find your passion in nature, closer to home, or with new friends, know there’s one out there for you waiting to “bee” discovered.

Fresh from Greg Rosenberger’s oven, a boule of sourdough bread that he baked.

Greg Rosenberger posing with his 15-gallon fermenter used to brew beer. It takes six hours to brew the sweet wort and then two weeks for that to ferment into beer.

WANT TO FIND A NEW PASSION?

Don’t know if you have a green thumb? The Yew Dell Botanical Gardens can help you grow one! With classes ranging from container gardening workshops, to working with ferns, to learning more about herbal plants, the classes at Yew Dell will broaden your horizons and connect you to the beauty of nature. yewdellgardens.org

Are computers your passion? If you want to stay up-to-date with the latest Mac products, the Apple Oxmoor store in Oxmoor Center is ready to help. Whether you’d like to take an in-person class, or work in the comfort of your home, go to apple.com to make an appointment and freshen up your skills.

The local YMCA is a wonderful place to meet new friends and stay in shape while doing it. The Forever Young group at the “Y” allows seniors to “improve your fitness, increase your mobility and flexibility, reduce stress, and make new friends.” ymcalouisville.org

Ever wanted to know the difference between a mockingbird and any other bird? Get out your binoculars and try your eyes at some birdwatching. The Beckham Bird Club in Crescent Hill welcomes the more avid of watchers and the more backyard of participants. beckhambirdclub.org

Feeling crafty? The Embroiderers’ Guild of America is located here in Louisville and was “formed for the express purpose of fostering the art of needlework and associated arts.” egausa.org

Missed out on those weekly music lessons as a kid? There’s always time to expand your musical horizons with lessons in piano, voice, guitar, or other stringed instruments. Check out the Highlands Music Academy if you’re ready to launch your grown-up music career. highlandsmusicacademy.com

By Tonilyn Hornung | Photos submitted