I’ve abandoned most of my hobbies because I haven’t found them to be terribly productive. But after reading your article I find that’s the point. It’s about enjoying them and having fun.
Oh thank you! Such a cliche but I needed to hear it. I worked as a carer all my life because I didn't feel good enough to be a creative. Being useful made me worthy of love. Diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer late '23 (and severe ADHD two weeks later!), and I thought okay, I won't be working. What will I do with my time that's left. Can I finally 'do' creativity? Not so easy, I still don't feel good enough.
In professional life, creative work is measured by its usefulness: innovation, ideation, and problem-solving. That is functional creativity. It’s powerful stuff, but when imagination is purely functional, our sketchbooks stay closed. Our ideas, our creative impulses, tiny signals, are dismissed - filtered out as noise - before they have a chance to become anything.
When life is purely functional, we hesitate to follow that odd thing we just noticed. To cultivate imagination for its own sake. When too many expectations are attached to the beginning of things, it’s hard to begin.
So true! I started painting again and then immediately thought about my new career. It took out all the fun and the pleasure of just creating. Have subscribed and look forward to reading more
Yes. Looking back, I can see the truth to this. But it wasn't usually myself asking the question, it was someone else in my life. Usually a husband. The cool thing is that now I have no one to justify myself to, I am having a great time getting 2 Substacks going. One is more about dealing with getting older for Baby Boomers, my community. The other is sharing my walk on the Camino de Santiago, as I turned 62. They are so fun, I even forget to get away from the computer and take a shower some days! I love being so engaged again.
Such a powerful and profound piece. My husband retired from being a doctor a few years ago and got interested in woodworking. He makes the most gorgeous furniture for the pure pleasure of it and doesn't think twice about "doing something with it." When people urge him to start selling, he just shrugs and says, that's not why I'm doing it. I love him for that
Thank you, Ellen. “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.”
This hits so deep. We’ve been conditioned to believe that if an interest doesn't produce 'content' or revenue, it’s a waste of time. But from a health perspective, protecting a corner of your identity that is purely yours is a necessity for your nervous system. Living entirely in 'performance mode' keeps us in chronic stress, cultivating unmonetized joy is the ultimate act of self-preservation. Thank you for writing this!!
So well said. I believe that creating something that someone wants to buy and you want to sell works. You are still creating because that’s your joy, no deadline, no spreadsheet, just you and your art. But if you put it out in the world to create space for something else, and someone wants it and the energy exchange is money…that’s good way to go.
This is profound and something I'm so guilty of. The reframe makes me appreciate my little raised garden beds even more. And I already had watercoloring on my plan for today (the results of which I am highly unlikely to post!).
I love this. I've had so many hobbies that I did just for the pleasure of learning something new and creating something I loved. I gifted most of them. I never once sold anything. You're right. If I had tried to monetize it, I think the fun would have disappeared. Blue💙
It is such a necessary wake-up call to realize that when we monetize our joy, we aren't gaining a career so much as we are colonizing the only part of our lives that was actually supposed to be for us. Great read ✨
I retired eight months ago and spent most of that time figuring out who I was without the job. I only started writing publicly about a month ago. I'm already asking whether it's "working." I started it because I needed to. I'm trying to remember that's still enough.
I’ve abandoned most of my hobbies because I haven’t found them to be terribly productive. But after reading your article I find that’s the point. It’s about enjoying them and having fun.
Oh thank you! Such a cliche but I needed to hear it. I worked as a carer all my life because I didn't feel good enough to be a creative. Being useful made me worthy of love. Diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer late '23 (and severe ADHD two weeks later!), and I thought okay, I won't be working. What will I do with my time that's left. Can I finally 'do' creativity? Not so easy, I still don't feel good enough.
In professional life, creative work is measured by its usefulness: innovation, ideation, and problem-solving. That is functional creativity. It’s powerful stuff, but when imagination is purely functional, our sketchbooks stay closed. Our ideas, our creative impulses, tiny signals, are dismissed - filtered out as noise - before they have a chance to become anything.
When life is purely functional, we hesitate to follow that odd thing we just noticed. To cultivate imagination for its own sake. When too many expectations are attached to the beginning of things, it’s hard to begin.
So true! I started painting again and then immediately thought about my new career. It took out all the fun and the pleasure of just creating. Have subscribed and look forward to reading more
Yes. Looking back, I can see the truth to this. But it wasn't usually myself asking the question, it was someone else in my life. Usually a husband. The cool thing is that now I have no one to justify myself to, I am having a great time getting 2 Substacks going. One is more about dealing with getting older for Baby Boomers, my community. The other is sharing my walk on the Camino de Santiago, as I turned 62. They are so fun, I even forget to get away from the computer and take a shower some days! I love being so engaged again.
Never let your passion become your prison. Not sure who said it....
Such a powerful and profound piece. My husband retired from being a doctor a few years ago and got interested in woodworking. He makes the most gorgeous furniture for the pure pleasure of it and doesn't think twice about "doing something with it." When people urge him to start selling, he just shrugs and says, that's not why I'm doing it. I love him for that
Thank you, Ellen. “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.”
— Albert Einstein, Life magazine, May 2, 1955
This hits so deep. We’ve been conditioned to believe that if an interest doesn't produce 'content' or revenue, it’s a waste of time. But from a health perspective, protecting a corner of your identity that is purely yours is a necessity for your nervous system. Living entirely in 'performance mode' keeps us in chronic stress, cultivating unmonetized joy is the ultimate act of self-preservation. Thank you for writing this!!
So well said. I believe that creating something that someone wants to buy and you want to sell works. You are still creating because that’s your joy, no deadline, no spreadsheet, just you and your art. But if you put it out in the world to create space for something else, and someone wants it and the energy exchange is money…that’s good way to go.
This is profound and something I'm so guilty of. The reframe makes me appreciate my little raised garden beds even more. And I already had watercoloring on my plan for today (the results of which I am highly unlikely to post!).
“The moment you add metrics, you kill the magic.” EXACTLY.
This is so true. I loved pottery, then monetised it, the pressure became intense and imposter syndrome rocketed. Now I just garden and I love it .
I love this. I've had so many hobbies that I did just for the pleasure of learning something new and creating something I loved. I gifted most of them. I never once sold anything. You're right. If I had tried to monetize it, I think the fun would have disappeared. Blue💙
It is such a necessary wake-up call to realize that when we monetize our joy, we aren't gaining a career so much as we are colonizing the only part of our lives that was actually supposed to be for us. Great read ✨
I retired eight months ago and spent most of that time figuring out who I was without the job. I only started writing publicly about a month ago. I'm already asking whether it's "working." I started it because I needed to. I'm trying to remember that's still enough.