Hobbies as an adult are a strange thing. They seem to be something that everyone needs, but never have the time for. They also seem to be a primary drain on the finances of people. However, if you don’t have one, what do you talk about at work, the bar, etc? It also seems like a challenge to find one that you want to do but also is something that is socially acceptable for whatever reason.
Firstly, in today’s economy, it feels like hobbies are supposed to be basically a side hustle of sorts… something that theoretically (but almost never in actuality) could grow into your real job, something that is definitely going to be bringing money in. However, as someone that had this happen to them (programming was a hobby that suddenly became my career one day), the thing that you found joy in as a hobby is rarely the thing that you find joy in once you do it every day.
Also, there are some things that you can’t talk about as a hobby as an adult, it feels like. Whilst in some circles it is acceptable, generally speaking talking about video games as your hobby is derisively received. You get a lot of “grow up” or “haven’t you stopped playing games at this point in your life?” from people if you bring up video games as hobby. Strangely, on the opposite side of the coin, if you say American football is your hobby… the conversation immediately dives into “which team do you think is going to the Super Bowl this year?” and “why is every quarterback constantly injured?”. A very strange dichotomy to say the least.
For many people who aren’t generally creative in their jobs, it’s often recommended to get a hobby that can be a creative outlet… photography, art, woodworking, welding etc. Another common suggestion category is something like collecting things: stamps, butterflies, coins, etc. The former can be quite expensive to get into (have you priced a good welder these days, not to mention the space required to do it?) while the latter often means that you have lots of ‘stuff’ everywhere. Pretty soon, you need a hobby that is just cleaning your house or getting a second job to afford all the things that you want to buy / collect.
How does one choose a hobby? As an adult sole provider, I have no desire to create a side hustle… but also really enjoy video games. If I was going to look for a “creative” or “productive” hobby, I imagine that I’d consider getting more into cooking or baking. Who is going to complain if I start baking amazing savory loaves of fresh bread or vegetable pies?
There are lots of places where you can talk about hobbies, including social media sites and communities such as r/hobbies on Reddit. But whatever you decide to look for and start doing, I would encourage you to do something that you truly enjoy, not something that people think you should be doing. For example, since I’m a developer in real life, people think that I should have a home lab where I’m building out a Kubernetes cluster and deploying ProxMox and Plex etc etc. I do have a PiHole running, but other than that, the last thing i want to do after developing a Kubernetes cluster all day at work is work on my own cluster at home. I’d rather lay in bed and play whatever game looks cool today, of which there is a never ending source of them.
Good luck choosing your hobby and don’t let the weird stigmas and expectations that other people have influence your choice of what to spend your free time doing.
Until next time, cheers!
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