Hobbies aren't fun anymore, and it sucks-Yours Sincerely, a hypocrite.

The definition of the word hobby is “An activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure”. There are 10 words in that definition, but the most important are the last two: FOR PLEASURE. This is something we seem to have forgotten.

A couple of months ago, I saw a meme on which was about how hobbies have lost their fun aspect for our generation. By our generation, I assume the ‘Tweet author’ (if that’s what you call them) was referring to Millennials because as one, I could immediately relate to that sentiment. Hobbies are supposed to be things that give us relaxation, enjoyment and a break from our hectic work lives, which help us detox and for many of us, allow us an opportunity to do what we really want to. Instead in today’s social media-heavy world, they’ve become a burden, a competition like everything else in life; it’s all about getting more views, getting viral, social media validation, to ultimately earn more money.

It’s probably just the normal thing to do in the world we live in. At my previous workplace, everyone had a hobby, but it wasn’t just a hobby, it was also an Instagram account or a blog. The internet is great, we have the freedom of expression but now everyone’s become an expert and wants to outdo the other person. We’re the generation that wants it all, wants to travel, wants to enjoy the finest things in life, but we’ve also been raised being told that certain things are important, like buying a house, and saving for retirement, preferably an early one. And that’s just not possible if you work a regular job, which quite frankly, most of us don’t enjoy too much anyway. So why not earn some extra money while also doing something you like? That's fine, as long as the 'something you like' bit outweighs the 'earn some extra money' bit. When the opposite happens, it loses its appeal for me. I go to work to earn money, I go to work for people to notice what I’m doing, to get criticized for it and be told ways to improve, all to get more money. I want to write, or sing, or cook, or paint because I want to, not because I need the world to see it.

It’s got worse during this pandemic. Most of us are at home, bored out of our minds, and trying to stay sane. It’s understandable that we look for new things to learn, or to further our current interest. But that’s a competition too. Log on to any social media platform (even LinkedIn), and you’d be hard-pressed to find a post where someone is talking about the new skill they’ve learnt (and here’s my new channel!), or a post trying to shame those of us lazy enough to want to spend our time on our couches mindlessly browsing through Netflix. Just because I don’t post about it on social media, it doesn’t mean I’m doing nothing. And besides, has anyone noticed there’s a fucking pandemic going on, the kind we haven’t had in a 100 years, and a possible economic depression down the road to deal with? Forgive me if I don’t want to learn how to bake bread.

And yet, I’m of course guilty of the exact same thing. I write because I enjoy it, and for other reasons which you can read about here. It started off as a hobby, but the moment I discovered I was good at it, I was looking for ways to make it into something more than just a hobby. This was also during a time when I was still studying and wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do once I grew up, so I had seriously considered it as a career option at some stage. After that, I tried writing a food blog, a blog on national anthems, a few posts on Medium but ended up quitting all of them after a few months. In fact, a friend even said “You’re the Richard Branson of blogs!”. Ha, but with no money from them. This one was supposed to be different, but it's just like the ones before. I suffer from bouts of anxiety (not diagnosed) ever so often, and self-doubt is a constant companion when it comes to my writing. I guess I feel some sort of responsibility when I post online, if someone’s bothering to click on that link, it should be worth their time. I don’t react particularly well to either strong praise or criticism, which is unfortunately just part of the game if you have something out in a public domain. I really wish I could write just for myself sometimes, just as a means of expression, as something I enjoy.

So once I finish this post, I’m going to hit the ‘Publish’ button, and share it on social media. It’s not what I want to do, but it’s what’s expected. Now hopefully someone reads it, shares it, maybe someone with a lot of followers will read it and share it, maybe it’ll go viral and maybe I’ll get rich from something I can do lounging around in bed at home. And if it doesn't happen, I'll try again. It’s all part of the dream, isn’t it? Or is it?