I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the best singer, but I love creating music. And I do it mostly for myself: I enjoy the physical and mental release of singing, the artistry involved in conveying a wide range of moods and emotions, and the challenge of hitting tough notes and putting songs together.
The little social validation that I have received has been cool though. I’ve gotten some pretty flattering feedback online and in person. My cover of Sasha Sloan’s “Too Sad To Cry” has somehow been played over 30 thousand times.
Many people have also asked me what else I do with music, like if I have a successful YouTube channel or if I’m part of a band or something. When I tell them no, and that I don’t have plans to ever really do anything with it, the follow up question is always an incredulous “Why not? You should try ___!”.
I feel like we live in a time where people can’t just have hobbies anymore. There’s this weird societal pressure to turn everything you’re interested in into a venture or side hustle. Enjoy painting? Better open up an Etsy shop and start selling art. Into video games? Where’s your Twitch account? Love to write? You need to create a paid newsletter!
Growing up, I tried my hand at a bunch of sports: soccer, table tennis, baseball, basketball, football, tennis, badminton, fencing, and swimming. That almost seems like it’s a thing of the past; most kids nowadays are pushed towards the 1-2 sports they’re most talented in, and trained year-round in them so they can take them as far as they can. Because if you’re good enough at soccer when you’re 7, you should be able to play travel soccer, then move onto the AAU circuit, then make your high school varsity team and potentially more. If you’re not, you shouldn’t even be wasting time playing soccer; you should be focusing on what you’ll eventually have something to show for instead. There’s this mindset now where everything done has to be done for a specific purpose. Doing it “just for fun” is a dying concept.
Basketball is by far my favorite sport, and I’ve definitely spent over 10,000 hours of my life playing and watching it. I once strongly considered majoring in journalism and covering the NBA for a living. That desire is no longer there, but I recently started casually writing about basketball in a newsletter called medium lights, where I break down plays and strategies that I find interesting. My posts are essentially recollections of the mental notes I instinctively make while watching games. They’re intentionally informal: it takes me ~30 minutes to write a post, I never use capitalization, and my “logo” is literally Apple’s light bulb emoji.
Three weeks ago, I cross-posted some of my stuff to Reddit to see what would happen. It blew up, and I received over 25 thousand upvotes and several Reddit Gold and Platinum awards. medium lights hit 8,000 visitors in a single day, and 700 people subscribed to my newsletter. I even received several offers: a job offer to become a full-time sportswriter, a couple of affiliate and sponsorship deals, and readers offering to donate and/or opt into paid subscription plans.
I was super humbled, but graciously declined them all. Writing about a game I love, and having a few internet strangers appreciate it, is already rewarding enough. When you flip the switch from “hobbyist”—even if you’re an expert hobbyist—to “professional”, you open the floodgates. You can’t simply create for the sake of creating anymore—you have a responsibility to think about what your audience wants. You have to deal with capitalism and pageantry. You’re compensated for your work, but you also acquire something to lose. And that’s often enough to suck some of the joy out of it.
In “Lonely”, Justin Bieber reflects on the obstacles he faced and the feelings of loneliness he experienced as he was gaining fame in his teenage years:
Everybody knows my past now // Like my house was always made of glass
And maybe that’s the price you pay // For the money and fame at an early age
What if you had it all // But nobody to call? // Maybe then you’d know me
‘Cause I’ve had everything // But no one’s listening // And that’s just fuckin’ lonely
I’m not saying that your hobbies should never turn into something bigger. It can be awesome when your passions and occupations overlap, but it should be because you want them to. Not because you feel like you have to.
Just For Fun
It’s OK to have hobbies.
Crossposted from Curious Human.
Last Saturday night, I recorded this cover of Justin Bieber and benny blanco’s new song, “Lonely”, in the backseat of my car:
[SoundCloud link—click to listen]
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the best singer, but I love creating music. And I do it mostly for myself: I enjoy the physical and mental release of singing, the artistry involved in conveying a wide range of moods and emotions, and the challenge of hitting tough notes and putting songs together.
The little social validation that I have received has been cool though. I’ve gotten some pretty flattering feedback online and in person. My cover of Sasha Sloan’s “Too Sad To Cry” has somehow been played over 30 thousand times.
Many people have also asked me what else I do with music, like if I have a successful YouTube channel or if I’m part of a band or something. When I tell them no, and that I don’t have plans to ever really do anything with it, the follow up question is always an incredulous “Why not? You should try ___!”.
I feel like we live in a time where people can’t just have hobbies anymore. There’s this weird societal pressure to turn everything you’re interested in into a venture or side hustle. Enjoy painting? Better open up an Etsy shop and start selling art. Into video games? Where’s your Twitch account? Love to write? You need to create a paid newsletter!
Growing up, I tried my hand at a bunch of sports: soccer, table tennis, baseball, basketball, football, tennis, badminton, fencing, and swimming. That almost seems like it’s a thing of the past; most kids nowadays are pushed towards the 1-2 sports they’re most talented in, and trained year-round in them so they can take them as far as they can. Because if you’re good enough at soccer when you’re 7, you should be able to play travel soccer, then move onto the AAU circuit, then make your high school varsity team and potentially more. If you’re not, you shouldn’t even be wasting time playing soccer; you should be focusing on what you’ll eventually have something to show for instead. There’s this mindset now where everything done has to be done for a specific purpose. Doing it “just for fun” is a dying concept.
Basketball is by far my favorite sport, and I’ve definitely spent over 10,000 hours of my life playing and watching it. I once strongly considered majoring in journalism and covering the NBA for a living. That desire is no longer there, but I recently started casually writing about basketball in a newsletter called medium lights, where I break down plays and strategies that I find interesting. My posts are essentially recollections of the mental notes I instinctively make while watching games. They’re intentionally informal: it takes me ~30 minutes to write a post, I never use capitalization, and my “logo” is literally Apple’s light bulb emoji.
Three weeks ago, I cross-posted some of my stuff to Reddit to see what would happen. It blew up, and I received over 25 thousand upvotes and several Reddit Gold and Platinum awards. medium lights hit 8,000 visitors in a single day, and 700 people subscribed to my newsletter. I even received several offers: a job offer to become a full-time sportswriter, a couple of affiliate and sponsorship deals, and readers offering to donate and/or opt into paid subscription plans.
I was super humbled, but graciously declined them all. Writing about a game I love, and having a few internet strangers appreciate it, is already rewarding enough. When you flip the switch from “hobbyist”—even if you’re an expert hobbyist—to “professional”, you open the floodgates. You can’t simply create for the sake of creating anymore—you have a responsibility to think about what your audience wants. You have to deal with capitalism and pageantry. You’re compensated for your work, but you also acquire something to lose. And that’s often enough to suck some of the joy out of it.
In “Lonely”, Justin Bieber reflects on the obstacles he faced and the feelings of loneliness he experienced as he was gaining fame in his teenage years:
I’m not saying that your hobbies should never turn into something bigger. It can be awesome when your passions and occupations overlap, but it should be because you want them to. Not because you feel like you have to.