Get a hobby
Over the past year or so, I’ve gotten into cooking and baking. I’ve always enjoyed eating, so this seemed like the logical next step. On top of that, my partner decided that after spending years as the primary cook of the house, she’d like to not think about cooking for a little while. So I took over, going from backup cook with two or three staples I can throw together to primary cook and needing to learn some new recipes.
It’s been fun and relaxing. Cooking gives me something to do at least once or twice a day that doesn’t involve looking at a screen. I can spend a bunch of time researching recipes and ingredients and whatnot, but when I’m in the kitchen I have to pay attention to what I’m doing so I don’t cut or burn myself, which means I’m not on the computer. And that’s been great.
Recently I had some friends over and served some new dessert I made. I’ve always enjoyed cooking for people, though I used to stick mostly to barbecue. Now without an outdoor space and with some new recipes under my belt I’m branching out and making cakes and pastries. What a world.
Anyway, I served some food and everyone was into it and that was nice. One of my friends said something along the lines of, “This is so good. You should sell these!” And I know that it’s a compliment and kind of a throw-away remark, but it’s been rattling around in my head for a bit now. Because why should I sell these? Can’t I just enjoy making them and giving them to my friends? Isn’t it enough that I make some tasty food to eat and then eat it?
Like many people reading this (and I know that’s absurd because there aren’t “many people reading this” but you know what I mean), I’m on LinkedIn all the time. It’s how we all stay employed, isn’t it? We’re all there, and we’re all inundated with people talking about how to monetize this or that and how to turn everything you do into a side hustle. It drives me into a rage. I don’t want every moment of my life to be consumed with the drive to make more money! I want to just enjoy things for the sake of enjoyment once in a while.
Whenever I complain about this - and I do complain about this online and in real life pretty frequently - someone will inevitably tell me to shut up because “the system” turned us into this. And there’s truth to that. Modern capitalism (at least as practiced in the United States) squeezes people pretty hard. A lot of people are struggling to pay their bills, forget about spending any money on things to enjoy. It shouldn’t be surprising that everyone is looking for extra ways to make a little extra money. People are looking for a side hustle because people need a side hustle. I get that. I’m not suggesting that working more than one job is a moral failing or that it hurts me or even affects me in any way.
What I’m complaining about here is how so many people have absorbed that mindset so thoroughly that telling other people how to monetize their free time has become normal. Telling people that they could make money selling their hobbies has become so ingrained in how we think about our time and energy that it’s now an off-hand compliment. That’s shitty.
I’m not saying that you are shitty. I’m not saying that my friend is shitty for complimenting my sticky toffee pudding by saying I should sell them. I’m saying that it’s shitty that this mentality has become so pervasive, at least within the United States. (The big caveat here is that I only ever hear this from my American friends. I don’t often hear these kinds of hustle culture comments from non-Americans.)
Point is, you should be able to do things you enjoy without thinking about how to make money off of them. You should pick up new hobbies because they’re fun. Do things you’re bad at because they make you happy, even if you’ll never become a professional. Play music poorly. Sing off-key. Cook and bake and play soccer and make clothes. Do some things that fill you up even if you’ll never make any money doing them. Because you’re a full person and what the fuck are we doing here anyway?
I’m going to learn how to make falafel because I love falafel and I’m never going to make money off them.
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