“If you are losing your leisure, look out! —
It may be that you are losing your soul.”
-Virginia Woolf
It started with sports when I was a child. I tried just about every one imaginable: rec soccer, tee ball, gymnastics, ballet, tennis, volleyball — the list goes on. But my favorites were always the more unconventional, the ones I sought out on my own, like figure skating and competitive cheerleading. None of my friends did those, and I think I liked being part of something different — something that was my own. Eventually though, for one reason or another — the ice rink closed, apparently competitive cheerleading is quite expensive — I drifted away from most of those sports. Sometimes I simply just lost interest and wanted to try something else. I’m sure this caused some people to see me as a quitter. Such a fickle girl, can’t see anything through. If only she had stuck with insert-hobby-here she would be a world-renown insert-hobby-here-ist by now! But, dear reader, let me let you in on a little, life-changing secret … you don’t have to be good at things to enjoy them.
In fact, I don’t think the point of having hobbies is to be good at them at all. One of my favorite activities of all time is reading. How does one become a good reader? Do you have to read a certain number of books in a month, in a year? Do good readers only read the classics? There is no such thing as being a “good” or “bad” reader. I read because I love it, because I just simply can’t not read. I read because it enriches my mind, takes me to places that are only possible to visit through books, and makes me see people and the world differently. Simple enjoyment is still a worthy pursuit.
The creative, hands-on hobbies are some of my favorites. I taught myself to knit when I was twelve — learning from a book before YouTube tutorials were a thing — but also getting tips from my sixth grade English teacher and the sweet older women at my local yarn store. I think my first scarf is probably full of dropped stitches and may be slightly wider at one end than the other, but I made it myself and I loved it. The thing about learning creative skills like knitting is that once you learn the basics, even if you never knit again, you still own that knowledge. You can pick it up a decade later, and while you might be a little rusty, it will come back to you. How cool is it to see a sweater you like in a magazine and just say “Oh, I could knit the same thing at home.” I mean, I can’t — because I’ve yet to attempt a sweater — but you get the point. Other hands-on skills I’ve tried include embroidery, pottery, felting, and soap making. Each one came with it’s own level of success, but I found joy and fulfillment in all of them.
Last spring I signed up for an introductory bouldering lesson. If you’re not familiar with bouldering, it’s essentially rock climbing without harnesses and ropes because the walls are lower to the ground. I have been climbing for nine months now and am still climbing the same grades, or levels, as I was when I started. It is not uncommon for me to go to the climbing gym and see a child — who can’t be any older than ten — finish a climb in one try that took me three tries to complete. Does this mean I’m a bad climber? Why even do something if you’re not going to improve? But what I’ve learned from climbing over the last nine months go beyond just skill level. I’ve learned how to read a route before I get on the wall. I’ve learned what style of climbing I love (traverse, slab) and what I don’t (overhang, taller walls because I’m still scared of falling). My confidence and willingness to climb in front of other people – usually other people who are much more advanced than I am – has increased exponentially. In fact, having an audience often makes me climb with more power and assuredness, something I never would have believed if you told me when I first started climbing. One of my favorite things to do when I go to the climbing gym is to pick problems that just look fun. Sure, I could climb all the beginner ladder problems and send them with ease, but that gets boring after a while. Usually the problems I have the most fun on are a grade or two above what I’m capable of and I try them knowing I most likely won’t get to the top. But as sage songstress Hannah Montana said herself, “Ain’t about how fast I get there / Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side / It’s the climb.”
One of my favorite things about trying so many different hobbies is the way it allows me to connect to other people. While most of the activities I enjoy are solitary by nature, they do provide opportunities to connect with other hobbyists if you only seek them out. I can climb alone, read alone, knit alone. But I can also ask someone at the climbing gym for beta (tips) on how to complete a problem. I can join a book club. I can go into a yarn shop and get advice about a project I’m struggling with. And when I see someone in the airport reading a book I loved, or when a friend in another state picks up climbing, we have an automatic connection. So try that new hobby you’ve been putting off for years because you’re too scared you’ll be bad at it. Try it and fail, or try it and discover you’re a natural. Try it just to try it. From the gospel of Taylor Swift: “I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try.”