Hobbyists

I've always been bothered by people who talk about wanting to learn a new skill, or start a new hobby...and then quit after a short time when they lose interest. For a few days, maybe even a few weeks, people throw themselves into new and fresh activities, always talking to their friends and their families about how invigorating and important their new foci are. The problem with being the person who hears about all this is (and I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way), there's only so far I can go with the conversation before I start thinking "Okay man, let's change the subject here." I can respect the initial enthusiasm and making the attempt to practice new skills. That's what life's all about: opening new doors and cultivating knowledge (at least, that's how I see it). But it gets to a point where the zeal I respect changes into a cloying presence, like having an elephant in the room that won't shut the fuck up. First, I hear things like "You should join up," or "We could do  this together." And even that, I'm okay with. I understand that having similar interests is important in any social group-relationships, friends, etc. But the suggestion grows over time to a grating cacophony. I don't like people telling me how to spend my money or my time, and if I can respect your appreciation of learning, then I'd appreciate that courtesy being returned.

My real problem with hobbyists isn't so much the vacillating on activity planning--sampling, if you will-but just the incessant hype which people surround themselves with when they first begin learning something. Life places demands on our time, on our resources, and we do our best to fit our hobbies and interests in where we can. Odds are, most of the things we-and yes, I sample as well-pick up will be dropped in short order, since once the initial charm wears off and the real work of learning begins, life has a way of re-assigning it on our list of priorities.

Part of me despises hearing hobbyists talk because I recognize my own abortive attempts to become a modern Renaissance Man every single time I witness the early stages of the hobbyist-cycle, before one's mettle is tested.

There is a moment in every new life-altering choice where we must decide whether to continue in our studies or to let the first hurdles we encounter dismay us enough to let go of the passion we started with. We don't see growth in our own capabilities, giving time to the activity becomes draining rather than fulfilling, or life hits us in ways we don't expect, knocks the proverbial wind out of us and we have to reset to get our lives under any semblance of control again. There are a million reasons people find to quit, but  more often than not, it is a slow, creeping lethargy which unravels us. Practicing every day becomes practicing every other day, becomes practicing occasionally, becomes another memory collecting dust, one which you polish from time to time, only long enough to realize that you vaguely regret giving up in the first place, and tell yourself that you'll pick your old hobby back up again just as soon as you have enough free time...sound familiar?

In the past year, I have purchased an acoustic guitar, signed up for martial arts lessons, begun learning how to salsa dance and thrown myself into a self-planned exercise and nutritional program to get in some semblance of physical fitness. My guitar has gone unused for the last ten months, the martial arts classes turned out to be over-priced and uninformative (in this category, I have been studying off and on for years, when instruction was available to me), and because of dental surgery to remove my upper wisdom teeth, I failed to uphold the demands of my healthy lifestyle. All the gains I made over two months of regular and consistent dieting and exercise have been lost in the last month alone. So, of the four big activities that I "devoted" myself to in the last year alone, only one (and the most recently added, for the record) is still part of my weekly agenda.

I think we expect too much of ourselves in too short a time. Either we jump into a multitude of activities and hope to be masters in our fields within a few weeks, or we pick a small number of activities and expect to be able to plan out our own rate of progression in those activities. That's never how things are going to go and to demand anything beyond the natural rate of learning (different for every person) is to invite disappointment and bitterness. And I think part of that bitterness stems from the fact that we advertise our intentions to others before we're ready. We tell our friends "I'm going to learn to do this and by next year, I'll be this good at it." Never place that kind of stress on yourself. There's no reason to do that unless you're an emotional masochist.

Those who dedicate themselves to a particular craft, whether it's martial arts, music, or any of a myriad of other interests showcase their talents as a  means of perpetuating the skills they've cultivated, of spreading the value of what they've learned to others(or just plain showing off). And, of course, there is a great deal of pleasure taken in performing one's trade with some measure of finesse. I think there is a turning point reached, when the early hurdles are cleared and a novice at a skill becomes a regular practitioner honing their abilities. Then a simple hobby becomes a true art. That art is recognized when the practitioner forgets to worry about the obstacles he's overcome already, discards any lingering self-doubts and just gives into the passion they've nurtured to get as far as they have.

At the same time I decided to teach myself to play the guitar, a coworker and friend of mine was also becoming interested and purchased his own instrument. Earlier today, he spoke to me of the satisfaction he took in playing for his first audience. And you know what? The way he spoke, not trying to sway me on any argument, but of the sense of fulfillment he described, that made me want to take my guitar out of my closet and pluck a few notes, maybe pick up my old hobby again. Who knows if I'll stay with it this go around, but I'll take things one day at a time and make sure to just enjoy myself along the way.