Women and their hobbies (or lack thereof) are part of a larger cultural conversation. Why don’t women have more hobbies? (Well, lack of leisure time, pressure to spend free time doing “productive” domestic tasks, the allure of low-effort scrolling, to name a few reasons.) If you have been following along with my 24 for 2024, one of my goals was to identify a hobby that is tactile and takes me out of my head. So far, that has been unsuccessful. I do not particularly enjoy crafts, and that has not changed, despite my efforts to incorporate more Mod Podge and yarn into my life. I almost abandoned this goal completely, but this summer, I stumbled across a coloring Bible that I had picked up years ago.
I love collecting different kinds of Bibles. I like comparing translations and the way they are constructed. I especially love children’s Bibles. I bought an illustrated coloring Bible for a graduating senior at a parish I previously served, and I enjoyed the concept so much that I purchased one for myself. I colored a few pages and then it sat dormant on a shelf.
While looking through my books as I was packing to go on vacation, I saw the bright teal book again and decided to throw it in my bag. If I ever would have time for a hobby, it would be on vacation, right? To my surprise, I picked up the Bible multiple times while we turned on movies at night, and I would color while watching and listening.
This made me wonder: Why was this hobby sticking when so many others did not? As it turns out, it checks a lot of boxes:
1. The Coloring Bible gives me an end goal. There is a completion aspect to the hobby.
It will take me years to finish coloring the book. But I like that it is something that can be completed. Hobbies that produce products too quickly (like knitting) or produce nothing at all (like gaming) do not mesh well with my Enneagram 3 personality. I want something to show for my work, but I do not want to create something that I only throw away or so much that I struggle to get rid of the stuff either.
2. The Coloring Bible is a long-term project.
This reduces decision fatigue drastically. I do not have to muster energy to start something new. It is ready and waiting.
3. The Coloring Bible is sentimental and could be passed on.
Given the amount of time and effort that goes into the project, I could see giving the Bibles to my children one day as a keepsake. The fact that it is a compilation of work and that it is tied to our faith makes it more special than a one-off coloring sheet.
4. The Coloring Bible is a compact project that is easy to squeeze into margins of the day.
It does not take up much space—just the book and a few markers. I often only take one or two colors with me at a time, and jump around to different pages with the same color. There is no setup involved. It does not matter if a I have five minutes or fifty minutes; I can start.
5. The Coloring Bible gives me different ways to approach exercise.
This helps with boredom. I can start with one color, skip around, do a picture from start to finish, go in order or not. Coloring if monotonous and brainless, which means that I can couple the hobby with watching TV or supervising the kids, but it still allows for some creativity.
6. The Coloring Bible is a hobby that I can share with the kids.
Over the summer, as my children saw me coloring the Bible, they expressed interest in wanting their own. I gave them each a Bible, and my seven-year-old especially took to it. He has now touched almost every page in the Bible (some pages of course are more fastidiously colored than others). There have been a few occasions where we have all colored together, and while I loathed drawing on sheets from their coloring books that would ultimately end up in the recycling bin, this feels different because it is a more permanent project.
Now, in all honesty, this fall has been one of our busiest falls yet, and I have not picked up the Bible for weeks. If I do turn on the TV, I am more inclined to paint my nails or do my stretches than I am to color. But this hobby is something that is easy to pick up and put down and start again. Maybe one item for my 25 for 2025 list will be to finish the Bible or at least a section of the Bible; who knows?
If you’re curious, here are some of the supplies we use:
Nicholas’s Coloring Bible (most coloring Bibles look very feminine, but this was the most gender neutral I could find)
Zig Dot Markers (use the fine tip for very detailed drawing)
Love this idea and especially that it will be a treasured keepsake one day.