Hobbies that don't require much eyesight

[BlazingCobaltX]

Ever since suffering a concussion I've regularly dealt with eye strain. In my case, if I exert my eyes too much it can easily take me 2-3 days to come back to a state where looking at a screen doesn't nauseate me. Because my day job involves a lot of screens, I'm continuously managing myself. One of the things I can manage is, of course, hobbies.

What I've noticed is that many analog, offline hobbies still require a degree of focusing with your eyes, e.g. hand-eye coordination. When my symptoms are at their worst, however, I am even unable to do this. Aside from playing music, exercises, and listening to podcasts, there isn't much I can do at that moment. And at some point I'm done with all three of these things.

Maybe I'm missing something! Do y'all know any hobbies, preferably art-related, that rely less on eyesight to do? Maybe stuff that's more tactile than anything. Even when I'm not dealing with eye strain I'd like to try new stuff.

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

Making music - both singing and playing most instruments - works out well without seeing much, as long as you play without relying on notes (which is mainly a question of habit); I'm not sure if thats what you meant by playing music, though.

There is also a small community  for audio computer games - some of them are really elaborated :).

Learning blind script might be an idea, as it opens you a wider field of media than restricting yourself to podcasts and audio books.

[LucaDoodleDoo]

I assume by "playing music" you mean listening to it? If so, try picking up an instrument! guitar, bass guitar, and drums in particular can absolutely be learned without reading music, but you can also supplement by learning that when you are able, it's just not necessary.

Abstract painting, especially on larger canvas, should be good as well. There's even been some famous painters who did this after going totally blind.

In a similar vein, mixed media art that relies more on tactile sensations would work great. Found object sculpture, messing with thick paint layers for texture or sewing/gluing fabric and other stuff to a canvas.

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

@LucaDoodleDoo I checked out his profile, and the OP is a musician :).
I like the found object sculpture idea - you could even drive this up to a level where the whole sense of the artwork is to be felt, rather than to be seen. I think I encountered such things within museums from time to time, but usually as part of museal pedagogic, I can't remember seeing such a thing as an artwork of its own.

[BlazingCobaltX]

Ha yes, I meant playing an instrument. I can easily spend 2 hours on practice but at some point I'm simply out of stuff (don't tell my teacher I said that ).

The audio games stuff is a really good recommendation! Exactly the sort of engaging thing I was looking for, so I will definitely check that out. Learning blind script (I assume you mean braille?) is quite smart too, though maybe more of a long-term investment. The big canvas thing also sounds interesting; though I don't have that sort of room in my house, the idea of making 'abstract' art and letting go of what it's supposed to look like can be interesting. Will check these out, thanks!