Hobbies don’t need to be monetized to have value

It seems as though people can no longer take part in something simply because they enjoy doing it.

There’s this underlying pressure to either market whatever your hobby is or to be amazing at doing it.

Both of these can really take the joy out of whatever your hobby is.

Why is there this pressure to make your hobby into something valuable for other people? Your hobby should be about you, and solely you.

It should be about bringing you a moment of peace, or an escape from your daily life.

If you choose to make it into something marketable that’s fine, but it shouldn’t be deemed worthless if you don’t do that.

There is still value in doing something even if the only thing that comes out of it is that it makes you happy.

Because of this pressure, people will just give up on a hobby or they may never pursue it in the first place because they don’t think they’ll be good enough at it.

But you don’t need to be good at something to enjoy it.

You should go out and paint things, even if what you paint isn’t a masterpiece.

Art is subjective anyways. People will always disagree about whether a piece of art is good or bad.

You should go out and play soccer with friends or try out for a soccer team even if you can’t make a single goal.

Whatever it is you enjoy doing, just do it and don’t worry about how good or bad you are.

What you should worry about is whether that activity is something you enjoy.

I’ve overheard conversations where people talk about their hobbies and someone else discredits that activity because the person isn’t good at the hobby.

People will ask why do you do it then? Isn’t that a waste of time and money?

But it’s not, and we need to take the focus away from those things.

Instead, when people tell you about a new hobby they picked up, don’t immediately ask them if they’re any good.

Instead ask them questions about it, ask what it is they like to make or ask them about how they feel when they partake in that activity.

By doing this, you’re supporting the person and you’re getting to know them better.

By learning about why someone does something, especially something they enjoy, you get more insight into who they are as a person.

There also shouldn’t be the mindset that the end goal of taking part in an activity is to be good at it or to be the best.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t strive to improve or to work on refining their skills, but that shouldn’t be the focus.

Let getting better at something just be part of the process.

You’re not going to be perfect at every new hobby immediately, and the expectation that you should start out that way is unrealistic.

Thinking you’ll ever be perfect at it is unrealistic. Don’t let being bad at something when you start stop you from continuing with doing it.

Lifeisalot,andweallneedawayto escape from it.

Let your hobbies be that, and don’t make them into a chore.

Don’t let people tell you that doing it is a waste of time just because it’s not something you’re good at.

Don’t let people discourage you from trying something new because it’s not something you can market.

Let yourself take part in an activity that you’re bad at.

Be mediocre and let that be enough. Do it because it makes your life better. Encourage those around you to do the same.

Let yourself take the time to do something that you enjoy.

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