(Sunday, 1000) As I lay out by the beach today, crisping away in the sun. I have started to write again, a feeble attempt to catch up on the never ending backlog of ideas, thoughts and reflections.
While gorging myself on breakfast though - I read On the Tyranny of Having a Hobby by one Rosa Lyster. Well written, with a satirical tone of seriousness, about how something less serious should be indeed taken more seriously. Fantastically amusing.
And I had some (profoundly intellectual ohh so so deep) thoughts on this . Also, as I am on a break, this topic is a little lighthearted and whimsical, can’t catch up on my backlog with the deep stuff.
Defining a Hobby
I could ramble around this, but Rosa details and develops the definition rather well: Hobbies are " absorbing, enjoyable, non remunerative, can-be-mastered but resistant to professionalisation, involve practice and reward dilgence, and grant immediate passage into (a community)". Indeed it captured most of what I felt, though there will always be some exceptions. No need to dive into semantics, I’m on holiday. I’ve bolded the descriptors that resonated a bit more with me.
The Shadow of being Labelled
Do hobbies define a person? I feel they shouldn’t - for we might prefer to be remembered better as good sons, fathers, colleagues, lovers, achievers, etcetera. But to be practical in every day life - I believe that Hobbies play a real role in how we are thought of and remembered.
And there is no better manifestation of this than Gift-giving.
I rank gift giving amongst the lowest of my love languages - impossibly difficult to be satisfied with the decision for obsessive thinkers. What do they like? What do they find meaningful? Can they use (being the practical person I am) this tool?
Invariably, I think our hobbies matter more than we think they do - and the best answer, may are those who have essentially answered the most daunting question of them all: Who am I and Why am I unique?
Without which, I would begin to label people:
- A Friend (the pleasure of company)
- A maker (the relevant tool)
- An Inquiring Mind (a book from Kinokuniya)
- A material narcissist (Trashy Louis Vuitton IKYK)
Damnit, I wish for a day I could could give people an emotionally meaningful, yet materially-dead gift. It will make life far easier.
Hobby or Hustle?
“Stolen by Hustle Culture” - was another gem from the article. People talk about loving their jobs and not needing to work a day, but when does the enjoyability and mastery of a task conflate with a professional, remunerating one?
I see this when people talk to me about wine, and my wine side hustle. “You must loveeeee wines” some say, to which I say “I loveeee the theory, and the way it makes me feel after quaffing too many within the barf limit” . (I dont actually reply like that, but I should).
Is it a hobby tho….
Well, Side hustles are part hobby and part hustle I suppose - a sweet spot that removes the burden and does not necessitate remuneration, but nonetheless. I am slightly more comfortable talking about Wine as a hobby - because I was exposed to, and indeed there is, a huge amount of theory and expertise (and weather, terroir) that goes into wine instead of just chugging a drink. Whether its an overhyped marketing narrative, or a pseudo-scientific nerdism - I enjoy talking about it very much. As do others. The passage into a community took a little longer, but I think thats a reflection of my social skills rather than whether its a hobby.
Hobby For Whom? The Vanity of Hobbies
If I can take every opportunity I could to hate on social media influencers, I absolutely would, and here it is.
Hobbies around stuff like Brand obsession; celebrity idolatry, “exploring the best cafes”; “I like…travel lol”, just seem…terribly shallow, and I struggle to define it as a hobby. Taking, instead of creating is one criteria I would consider to validate whether something is a hobby or not.
The blatant act of consumption…commensurate with its disrespect (in some cases) to its creators irks me to no end.
Indeed the decline of professionalism (to link post to intangible econ) might have opened the door to a wider pool of hobbies entering the mainstream, but I digress…
Perhaps the notion of “expertise” here is about finding and judging, and getting others to agree with said judgement? But these are neither that personal (for it depends on the subjectivities of others) nor terribly valuable in terms of something that can be mastered.
Sure, one can be a hot sexy lady / guy (thank you god), be able to use app filters well (mastery?) and have the means to travel and eat the best places (….mastery??)…
Values over Vanity
Am I immune to this? absolutely not, and I would go further to contradict myself by saying that I deeply the respect the hobby of consumption for some other types of media:
For example, Consuming knowledge for people who define their hobbies as reading; or consuming movies, for individuals who pride themselves as a movie-buff.
I document my cooking on instagram - in part as a diary, in part for sharing a skill I want to share, and am proud of (amateur cook).
I am guilty and fallible too, of having let food cool while I take another poor attempt at a nicer picture. What chef wants to see their food cooling down instead of being eaten fresh? I disrespect myself sometimes.
So what is it about the insta-influenzas who have a hobby just consuming food/drink/travel that I dislike? and why do I admire some with a thirst for knowledge over a thirst for posting?
Perhaps I like simply value:
- A level of self discipline and respect for creation (mastery)
- Commitment to the honest pleasure for ourselves and not the pleasure of others (honesty)
- That a greater understanding of what you love should have appreciation how things got there in the first place. (mindful consumption)