the murky waters

does anyone else have a hard time sticking with one ‘hobby’ and are constantly losing interest a few weeks/months in to trying something new? I guess you can say i fit that category pretty easily. Maybe i should rephrase that first sentence. I mean more so, does anyone have a hard time remembering that they like to do a certain activity or hobby? There we go.

In a world where most of the people our age are consumed by social media, and subliminal pissing matches over who has the coolest life, who’s the most professional in their niche hobby, etc., it’s pretty hard to not feel like a (dammit, why did Katy Perry come into my head) ‘paper bag drifting through the wind.’ sorry for that. What i’m trying to say is its easy to feel overwhelmed with the stimuli that surround us constantly telling us we should be doing something different. Again, i say subliminal here because i don’t think most people consciously are admiring their friends post of the bowl they learned how to carve in some 50-year old hippie’s garage and thinking, ‘damn, i need to do something like that.’ maybe you are for all i know, but the vast majority of us seem to prefer giving off the image that we’re ‘solved’ and don’t care what wood bowl friend is doing. So then a lot of us end up like myself. In this subconscious tug of war between the ‘need’ to do one activity and the ‘need’ to do another, seemingly leaving me incapable of sticking with one thing for long enough to even pass a beginner level.

Now I don’t think there’s all shame to this game. Truthfully, at my core, I’d like to say I enjoy learning and touching on a variety of different areas. Sure, learning to be really good at one maybe two things would probably prove more advantageous in the sense that maybe you could turn your hobby into a money creating scheme. But, I think there’s merit to be had in wanting to collect every type of shell from the shore rather than just sand dollars (yes, I recognise this probably isn’t a very eco-friendly thing to do to our beaches, but just let the metaphor roll). Variety is good for some people, including myself. Yes, you might have a harder time putting out those awe-enticing photos on your social media to showcase your developed talent in one niche, but the best thing you can do is teach yourself that’s okay.

When it comes to finding that new activity, hobby, or whatever you wanna call it, remember that you don’t owe anything to anyone but yourself. What I mean here is, do what makes you happy, and learn to accept that you aren’t broken for losing interests. Not being able to hyper-fixate on one activity for years till you’ve mastered the craft is normal. If you get bored of something, don’t force yourself to keep doing it in hopes that you’ll find this groove and stick with it forever. If you forget that you were working on learning pottery at home, and let your block of clay dry out till you remember 2 months later, that’s also okay. You can buy more clay. What I want to say to end this thought is: you are more unique than you think you are. Don’t try to sculpt a persona with things you don’t enjoy just to stand out. Follow your gut and know you are going to change throughout your whole life. Molting is normal. Don’t freak out. Breathe.

Peace, D.