4 Reasons Why You Should Have a Hobby You Suck At
It's not about progress OR perfection.
I have a talented friend who crafts with clay, and a while back she brought out her materials and showed me how she made things.
Taking a few small pieces of clay, I spent several minutes crafting an animal that was supposed to be an owl. But, despite my sincerest efforts, it ended up resembling a dejected penguin that would have been cut from the cast of Pingu. (Don’t know who Pingu is? Get off my lawn!)
I knew my creation was terrible, but I didn’t care that his ear broke off, or that he looked more like a melting gummy bear than a bird.
I created him and had fun doing it.
It made me realize that I need to do this kind of thing more often. In fact, I think having a hobby you suck at is essential to one's mental health and happiness.
So if you have a hobby you enjoy but lack any skill in it, I've found 4 empowering reasons why you should keep on sucking at it!
1. You Enjoy Your Achievements More
After trying and failing so many times, when you finally get something right, the elation that follows is worth the struggle.
One hobby of mine is knitting, and let me tell you, I sucked at that for a long time. In fact, I still kind of suck at it.
I remember I wasted a whole skein of yarn trying to knit just one sock without a hole in it.
When I finally finished a sock that actually resembled a garment that could don a human foot, I felt like I had just conquered Mount Everest
I never did knit the matching sock, but that’s beside the point. It was the journey and overcoming of the challenge that mattered.
2. You Can Easily Ditch Perfectionism
Perfectionism is public enemy number one when it comes to productivity, especially for us writers!
Because the truth is, nothing is ever really perfect.
Having a hobby you suck at is the perfect way to embrace imperfection and still have fun at whatever it is you're doing. Since it's a hobby and not something you're planning to monetize, there's no pressure for your pursuits to end in a specific result.
You may also find that embracing imperfection routinely in this way will help you approach your work or writing with a gentler, less-critical eye. (I have found that embracing imperfection has made all the difference when it comes to banging out that first draft of a new piece!)
3. It's Good for a Few Laughs
When there’s no pressure to succeed, you can take a lighthearted approach to your hobby and give yourself permission to laugh at yourself when you fail.
For example, when I knit my first stuffed elephant, he ended up with a decidedly inappropriate bum-crack due to my shoddy seaming job.
In case you need help visualizing this, here is a picture of my creation in all its butt-bearing glory:
Maybe I'm just immature, but I bust a gut laughing at this. Similarly, a smile comes to my face anytime I look at my silly little clay owl-penguin thing.
Life is serious enough as it is, and giving yourself an opportunity to laugh is perhaps one of the most important reasons you could have for doing something you suck at.
4. You Can Fully Live in the Moment
For me, this is what hobbies are really all about. So many of us get caught up in the day-to-day hustle and end up totally preoccupied with our responsibilities and our worries about the future.
Days, weeks, even months can slip by without us ever slowing down to savor things.
But because your hobby's only purpose is to bring you joy, you can fully focus on the fun you're having without giving any thought to the outcome or consequences.
If that's not living in the moment, I don't know what is.
Conclusion
There's something magical about doing something just for the joy of it. Be enthusiastically bad at your hobby and you'll find it frees you from self-judgment, worry, and stress.
At the same time, it serves as a conduit for kind self-reflection and gratitude by being an activity that allows you to be fully present.
So the next time you frog your crafting project or homebrew a beer that tastes like feet, just laugh and take pride in the fact that you're practicing imperfection and living in the moment.
Because - as you will find with many things in life - hobbies are about the journey, not the destination.
Author's Note
Originally written in 2017.
If you enjoyed this article, please click the heart and consider sending a small tip! You may also enjoy some of my other relevant stories below.
About the Creator
Corrie Alexander
Corrie is an ISSA-certified PT, fitness blogger, fiction-lover, and cat-mom from Ontario, Canada. Visit her website, thefitcareerist.com or realmofreads.com for book reviews and bookish tips.
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