According to Oliver Burkeman (yes, I’m still in the middle of reading his book,
Four Thousand Weeks),
hobbies are rare.
A hobby is something you do in your spare time that has absolutely 👏 no 👏 goal tied to it.
I recently listened to Kelsey Baldwin talk about
her newfound ceramics hobby that she’s trying not to turn into a “jobby.” But since she’s selling her ceramic pieces and posting beautiful photos on Instagram…. (And let me be clear there’s no judgment here; I do the exact same thing 99% of the time.)
So here’s the thing: If you have a honest-to-god hobby—an activity in which there’s no secondary gain—you’re in the minority.
Thinking about this for myself: there is absolutely nothing I do just for the enjoyment of it. There are things that come close but miss the bill because of the secondary gain:
- I post embroidery online… in order to inspire others to explore slow creativity
- I take walks… to close my Apple Watch rings
- I garden and pull weeds… to avoid neighborly shame
It’s kind of like that episode of Friends where Phoebe realizes that there isn’t anything you can truly do for others, selfishly.
Hobbies, according to Burkeman, are almost embarrassing, and are usually completely misunderstood. “If you don’t have a goal attached to how you spend your limited time,” says most of toxic productivity society, “then you’re wasting time.”
But the enjoyment that comes from a true hobby could be the thing that defines you: moreso than your job, your familial relationships, or your side hustle. Hobbies encompass those things that are obituary-worthy.
