How to Open Yourself Up to a New Passion
This article explores the personal fulfillment found in discovering new hobbies, using the example of a magazine editor who transitioned into a part-time stone wall builder. It encourages readers to remain open to unexpected passions that can enrich their lives beyond their professional careers.
Why it matters
It highlights the psychological benefits of lifelong learning and the importance of finding joy outside of traditional career paths.
Sometimes the things that bring us the most joy are the ones we stumble upon.
Paul Conrath / Getty July 25, 2026, 8 AM ET Share Save This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.
Over the past two decades, Matt Seaton discovered something about himself: He loves building walls. Seaton started by mending a stone wall at the Vermont home his wife inherited from her parents, and then, he writes, “bit by bit—which is the way with walls—my interest and knowledge deepened until what had begun as recreation morphed into a hobby job, mending other people’s walls.”
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