I think some people are misunderstanding what this is trying to say. It’s not saying that you should always take the easy route with your hobbies. It is not saying that you shouldn’t learn the “right” way to do your hobby.
It’s saying that it’s just a fucking hobby. It’s purpose is to be enjoyed not mastered. Do it the hard way when you’re feeling it. But don’t force yourself to struggle because someone on the Internet said that this way is how you learn the most efficiently or get the best results.
It’s saying that it’s just a fucking hobby. It’s purpose is to be enjoyed not mastered.
Yeah, too many people preemptively gatekeep themselves: you’re not a real (hobbyist) unless you master (narrow part of the hobby), so you’re not allowed to take up that hobby until you’re ready to commit to that boring/tedious/difficult part.
I play chess and I don’t know the names of openings (and still have a lot of trouble with following notation). Who gives a shit, I’m not going to win tournaments. But I still have fun with it, occasionally play strangers in the park, and have been having fun teaching my kids how to play.
I half-ass my fitness and workout routine. Sometimes I go months in between gym sessions, and sometimes I go 6x a week for months, break some PRs, and then go on living my life. Sometimes I run 500 miles in a year, sometimes I run 10. Whatever. Life gets busy, and my own preferences shift between whether I want to do cardio, weights, sports, yoga, metcon/CrossFit style classes, or just sit on my ass and get weak and fat for a year. I’m in my 40’s, so I’ve been all over the place on all of these things.
I can watch a TV show without needing to start from the pilot and watching every episode that came out. I can watch a movie without trying to understand every reference to everything else in the same cinematic universe. I enjoy watching basketball and football even when I can’t name all the players, much less their whole career histories.
And after all that, a funny thing starts to happen. You find that you actually are pretty good at certain things compared to the public, even though you didn’t wholeheartedly devote all your effort to that thing.
I like being a dilettante. It’s awesome and I’d recommend this lifestyle to anyone. The best way to enjoy a hobby is to be unburdened by expectations.
I feel this so much. I got into stamp collecting, and I totally enjoy stamps and mail and all, but (old) people are so pretentious about it. The worst are the total hypocrites about it, too.
"I got into stamps when I was young, but I stopped when I went to university/started working/had a family because I didn’t have time for it, and came back to it after I retired.
"Philately is supposed to be academic and scholarly. You’re not a real philatelist if you’re not doing original research.
"Young people just don’t have the patience for stamps!
“The hobby is dying, why don’t young people want to collect stamps anymore??”
Actually, a lot of people do and share lots of stuff online (where the old people are not seeing it and thus is not happening). We’re just not writing 16-page papers about them (which is the standard a expected thing to do in “philately”).
I think some people are misunderstanding what this is trying to say. It’s not saying that you should always take the easy route with your hobbies. It is not saying that you shouldn’t learn the “right” way to do your hobby.
It’s saying that it’s just a fucking hobby. It’s purpose is to be enjoyed not mastered. Do it the hard way when you’re feeling it. But don’t force yourself to struggle because someone on the Internet said that this way is how you learn the most efficiently or get the best results.
Yeah, too many people preemptively gatekeep themselves: you’re not a real (hobbyist) unless you master (narrow part of the hobby), so you’re not allowed to take up that hobby until you’re ready to commit to that boring/tedious/difficult part.
I play chess and I don’t know the names of openings (and still have a lot of trouble with following notation). Who gives a shit, I’m not going to win tournaments. But I still have fun with it, occasionally play strangers in the park, and have been having fun teaching my kids how to play.
I half-ass my fitness and workout routine. Sometimes I go months in between gym sessions, and sometimes I go 6x a week for months, break some PRs, and then go on living my life. Sometimes I run 500 miles in a year, sometimes I run 10. Whatever. Life gets busy, and my own preferences shift between whether I want to do cardio, weights, sports, yoga, metcon/CrossFit style classes, or just sit on my ass and get weak and fat for a year. I’m in my 40’s, so I’ve been all over the place on all of these things.
I can watch a TV show without needing to start from the pilot and watching every episode that came out. I can watch a movie without trying to understand every reference to everything else in the same cinematic universe. I enjoy watching basketball and football even when I can’t name all the players, much less their whole career histories.
And after all that, a funny thing starts to happen. You find that you actually are pretty good at certain things compared to the public, even though you didn’t wholeheartedly devote all your effort to that thing.
I like being a dilettante. It’s awesome and I’d recommend this lifestyle to anyone. The best way to enjoy a hobby is to be unburdened by expectations.
I feel this so much. I got into stamp collecting, and I totally enjoy stamps and mail and all, but (old) people are so pretentious about it. The worst are the total hypocrites about it, too.
"I got into stamps when I was young, but I stopped when I went to university/started working/had a family because I didn’t have time for it, and came back to it after I retired.
"Philately is supposed to be academic and scholarly. You’re not a real philatelist if you’re not doing original research.
"Young people just don’t have the patience for stamps!
“The hobby is dying, why don’t young people want to collect stamps anymore??”
Actually, a lot of people do and share lots of stuff online (where the old people are not seeing it and thus is not happening). We’re just not writing 16-page papers about them (which is the standard a expected thing to do in “philately”).