Hobbies are under attack. On all fronts, we face pressure to monetize the things we love.
What if you made a video about that? Those clothes you mend would do so well on Depop. You should sell some of your photographs. People would love if you made knitting content.
This mentality has crept into every fold of our lives. It’s a lens that is hard to shed; our friends talk about how we could make a killing selling whatever knick knacks we make. The internet is full of people trying to wring every dollar out of their lives. And it obviously sounds appealing; you can make some cash doing something you like!
But that line of thinking is poison.
For me, thinking about monetizing things is paralyzing. I already struggle with perfectionism, and failing to start projects out of fear of how others will percieve what I do, or my ‘failures’. This is only compounded when thinking about money; will anyone buy this? What should I make that people will buy? How does the prospect of making or losing money influence my choice of materials? What are the margins?
The most recent iteration of this for me was a wood-turning class. The class was phenomenal, and I made a bowl that I’m really proud of; watching it take shape and shine as I polished it was a really rich and memorable experience. For the first time in recent memory, I had done something that met my own standards right away.
But I ran with this thought and started thinking about selling bowls, quitting my job to live a pastoral life turning wood all day, with people lined out the door as cedar shavings fly off the lathe into the sunlight.
It was a fun daydream, but the plain and obvious truth, which is that I created something and deeply enjoyed the process, got totally lost by the idea of selling the bowls.
And in losing that truth, I haven’t turned a bowl since! The thoughts around how others might percieve what I make immediately killed my desire to experiment.
I want to start a challenge for myself of doing something creative with the idea of explicitly NOT sharing it or selling it. I want to hold communion with myself and get lost in something that I know won’t see the light of day!
And one day, if I want to share it later, there’s nothing wrong with that. But I don’t want that thought to drive the process, or how I approach the project. People have to pay their bills, and I don’t judge the desire or need to do that by selling something you make and enjoy. But I think there’s much to get in touch with by holding things a little closer to your heart without the consideration for how something will be recieved.
This is a call to action for you and for me: We have the right to make mistakes; hell, actually, the IMPERITIVE to make mistakes. We have the right to tinker! We have the right to break things! We have the right to wipe the slate clean and start over; this is where the good stuff happens!
We have the right to pursue our hobbies purely because we love them! We don’t have to make content, or stream, or talk about what we do on a podcast, or sell ads on our blog! It’s not a missed opportunity; it’s a deep pool to dive into and explore our inner worlds! It’s not a waste of time just because it doesn’t produce money; it’s a RECLAIMATION of our time.
It’s an affirmation that we can and should get in touch with ourselves through the things we love to do.