Infinitely Excited

Sometimes I tell myself that I have bitten off more than I can chew RE: hobbies and crafts. I write books, I take pictures, I podcast, I do glass art, I make TikTok animations. Basically, I’m the type of person Linktree exists for. I tell myself I don’t have enough time in the day for all these things, that I’m stretching myself too thin, that I can’t expect to master any one thing if I can’t give it the time and focus it requires.

But then I tell myself… So what?

I’m having fun. I’m always excited for something new. If I get bored or, or too tired to do, one thing, I have a long list of other diversions to choose from. We creative types are often told by ourselves and/or others that we should um… not be creative types.

There’s no money in it. It’s a waste of time and energy. You’ll never get recognition.

Something like that.

For what it’s worth, I want you to just go for it. Get excited for stuff again and again and again. I kinda hate that the phrase YOLO got tarnished so quickly with strange and negative connotations because I do see the wisdom in it. Let’s put it another way: If not now, when?

Or as Shakira in the form of a cartoon Gazelle put it: Try everything.

Only don’t actually try everything. There are things out there that are unsafe to try and can have terrible consequences. Robbing banks. Doing certain hardcore drugs. Publicly supporting OR decrying Taylor Swift.

But if you’ve always had a yen to try whittling wood or playing chess or bungee jumping or composing music, what’s to stop you from looking into that? Time? It’s a hobby. You set your own hours. There’s no time clock here. Dedicate however much time you want. You’re in charge.

Money? YouTube has tutorials in everything.

Or you could be like me and just learn by haphazard and disorganized experimentation.

My point is, get excited. It’s fun and fulfilling in its own right to pursue a craft or hobby, and you don’t have to stop at one. The flip side of that is you don’t have to feel guilty for losing interest in a pursuit that doesn’t grab you like you thought it would. Pat yourself on the back for trying something new and move on. Don’t weigh yourself down with guilt or self-deprecation because you didn’t “see something through” (whatever that entails). If the spark isn’t there, it isn’t there. Sticking with a hobby, craft, or profession simply because you feel obligated to put a significant amount of time into it would be like continuing to date someone you don’t particularly like because you feel bad breaking up with them after only two dinners.

In fact, I like this analogy a lot. Let’s go with it. Finding new hobbies is like dating. Date new hobbies as often as you like. Some people are in monogamous relationships (i.e. they have one hobby that they commit to) and others have open relationships or engage in polyamory of some sort. Whatever works for you is what you should pursue.

So go get excited about something!