You Should Have a Hobby That You’re Bad at
It’s been said that you should have four(ish) kinds of hobbies: One that makes $$, one that is good for your physical fitness, another for your mental health, another that serves as a creative outlet. While this is widespread advice for good reason, there is another category that I believe in purposely implementing in my practice: a hobby that I am bad at. This category is less fixed than the others. The first hobby I had here has since needed to be reclassified and replaced with a new endeavor because I’m no longer bad at it.
I think that intentionally working on skills and hobbies that you are bad at can address, both directly and indirectly, weak points across all media an artist works in. Leaning into the discomfort of doing things that you’re bad at can help develop confidence and enrich your creative practice in unexpected ways.
In my case, music (flute playing and singing) was a hobby I considered myself bad at. The more that I practiced, doing things like playing by ear, drilling scales and specific songs, ad-libing etc., it taught me to trust my artistry on a different level and commit to spur of the moment creative decisions, helping me to develop my confidence in my creative voice in a way that translated across all art forms in my practice.
To be bad at something can be very vulnerable and uncomfortable. But I think that, for some people, the experience of being great at something and exceeding expectations can also feel exposing or isolating in a way that mirrors the discomfort and vulnerability you’d feel if you were bad at it. In that sense, having a hobby that you are bad at, prepares you to be great at something else.
Another reason that I believe in keeping a hobby that you are bad at is because it keeps you humble. Humility shouldn’t be about continuously getting knocked down a peg, nor about letting praise or positive feedback get to your head. I believe it should manifest in not letting external input have any impact at all on how I feel about myself because I have a healthy sense of self before it even enters the equation. Honing skills that I am naturally inclined towards, as well as practicing things I am “bad” at, helps me internalize this for myself.
The hobby that currently occupies this category for me is learning a new language. It has been extremely humbling being literally unable to speak, read, or write again. An idea that I keep returning to lately is how some of the most enriching endeavors, like learning an instrument or new language, require you to endure being totally incompetent at them for months or years before reaching proficiency. And yet those pursuits are alive and well and filled with people who were willing to lean into discomfort.
The value of these endeavors cannot exist without the friction and difficulty. Having a hobby you’re bad at is one of the least instantly gratifying tasks, and that is what makes it empowering. To do something with skill or ease, that you once struggled through and didn’t ever think you could do feels like a personal miracle. There is no shortcut. But you have time.
