F*ck Hobbies.
Issue #47 - an unhinged mission to rebrand them + lots of illuminating links to explore
THE QUEST DIGEST by Creative Quests is a treasure chest of ideas & stories exploring what it means to live an illuminating, creative life. Written by Sam Furness and delivered when inspiration and creativity strike. Subscribe to receive each issue or send to a friend in need of a creative boost.
Dear Questers
Happy holidays to all our stateside Questers and happy (?) voting day to our UK Questers.
Before I tell you my beef with ‘hobbies’ and take you on a slightly unhinged, but playful, journey to rebrand them…
A quick reminder that next Tuesday we are hosting our first ever Quester Exchange session. A free monthly workshop series where different members of our community share their skills / knowledge / passions with the world.
❓ The Art of Asking Better Questions w/ Hannah Singleman
🗓️ Tue July 9th
⏰ 5-6pm UK / 12-1pm EST
Ok so… why F*ck Hobbies?
Keep reading and I have a feeling that many of you will agree with me.
At face value, it’s an odd take for a person who runs a community and platform all about spending more time being intentionally curious about different forms of creativity. You could say that Creative Quests is a sort of hobby-generator or communal hobby factory.
People join our experiences looking to reclaim their time and attention from overworking and endless scrolling. Joyfully replacing it with creative exploration, activity filled excursions, a renewed wonder for their surroundings. So much so that we almost never talk about work in our community. I think that is a rare and beautiful thing. Its true to say that Questing has become a hobby for many.
In reality - ‘F*ck Hobbies’ sounds more provocative than it is.
It’s not what hobbies represent that I have an issue with - quite the opposite in fact. I think everyone should have them; explore them, collect them, nurture them like precious living things. I think they make life more fun.
I have an issue with the word: Hobby…
… and for good reason. Later in this piece I will share what I think is a better alternative.
There is something about the word hobby that has always given me a sort of ick.
Maybe it’s reminiscent of the ‘jolly hockey sticks’ style quaintness of Enid Blyton books or the cliched notions of stamp collecting (no shade - I see the appeal!).
I have just never felt like the word ‘hobby’ itself truly encapsulates what these activities can mean to us and the essential role they play in our wellbeing, development and whole-life attitudes.
Hobby lacks depth! stature! presence!
There must be a better alternative…
For as long as I can remember I have had ‘hobbies’.
🎭 As a kid I was always drawn to the theatre - acting in stage shows and being in drama clubs outside of school. When not acting, you could usually find me rummaging through a dressing up box at home and playing my own make believe games in harmonious solitude. I always felt a special kind of aliveness when on stage (I still do).
🛹 As a teenager I started skateboarding. Immersing myself in this culture quickly burst the bubble wrapped suburban existence of my life so far. It’s hard to think of a lesson that skateboarding didn’t teach me. I got braver. I learnt to see the world as a playground. I travelled all round in search of skate spots. I practiced. I got hurt. I practiced more. I have the utmost respect for skate culture and I’m really glad to see that it has become a more mainstream and inclusive sport.
🎸 In my later teens I started playing in bands and quickly became obsessed with songwriting. Like most, firstly emulating the sound of my heroes (Nirvana, Nine Black Alps, Elliott Smith), but then developing my own voice and style. Gigging in dive bars in south London and then clubs at university were some of the most formative experiences of my life. I grew in confidence and learnt how being in band of creative collaborators actually works.
👁️🗨️ I started Questing in 2016 and creatively exploring new themes each month (as a way to stay creative outside of my work as a music artist manager) - once again finding myself with a new accompaniment in life. Questing became an undeniable atmosphere surrounding everything I did. I protected it, I prioritised it in my spare time. It was just for me.
During that inaugural Quest year I would often get asked ‘how’s your monthly hobby project going?’ or ‘Sam - tell them about the hobby you have at the moment!’
Now, call me dramatic, but every time someone described Questing (or any of my spare time delights) as a Hobby - I felt a small shimmer of rage flutter inside me. ‘How dare you?!’ I would quietly say in my head, while regaling whatever I had been up to that month.
One day I decided to put this unreasonable intolerance to a seemingly harmless word to bed.
I decided to find out what ‘Hobby’ actually means and where it comes from.
Like all good explorers, I turned to Google. I searched ‘Etymology of the word hobby’. The results… a shocking vindication.
My first thought was that the hobby-horse* connection was interesting. I had never considered that. “Favourite pastime or avocation” - so good so far.
Where this whole irrational hobby-hatred puzzle started to fit together is this line:
‘the connecting notion being “activity that doesn’t go anywhere”’.
In a world obsessed with productivity, growth hacks and winning - hobbies don’t fit the narrative of what progress looks like. They are passing the time (literally ‘pastime’) till we get back to the real work. Hobbies are a treadmill, our professions are running a race.
The truth couldn’t be further from this.
Because the thing is: our hobbies do take us places.
They take us places that other activities rarely can. They may not increase our bank balance (in fact they usually deplete them). They very likely don’t make you an influential person with lots of power.
But they take you to endless new places inside yourself.
Hobbies help us become more of the person we want to be. They make us more interesting. They make us more confident. We become more skilled through our hobbies.
Hobbies can take us to literal places too. Seeking out experiences and communities where we can indulge our interest even further - alongside others who share our passion. Hobbies help us find our people. Something we can find ourselves lacking in a professional environment.
To say that hobbies are ‘activities that don’t go anywhere’ is plainly an insult to all those who have them.
Try Telling:
📚 an avid fiction reader that reading books takes them nowhere.
🧗 somebody that goes outdoor rock climbing every weekend around the country that it takes them nowhere.
🎨 a life-long painter of abstract artworks with a makeshift studio-come-spare bedroom that painting takes them nowhere.
See how that goes :)
Apply this thought experiment to your own hobby by filling in this sentence.
🗣️ ’In my spare time I find delight in _____ and it takes me absolutely nowhere’.
How does that feel?
Ok so we can agree that hobbies are cancelled.
Then what is our hobby-less alternative?
Pastime? Too meh.
Passion project? Too squeaky.
Side hustle? Too worky.
Recreation? Too formal.
I call them: Channels 🌀
‘Channel’ is a wonderfully malleable word which can mean many things - all of it’s meanings representative of what so-called-hobbies (boooo hisss etc) can play in our lives.
Channels for feelings.
You can Channel yourself into your creative practice or whatever it is you do with purpose, delight and regularity. Physical acts that help you express whatever it is you are feeling. A way to share your highs & expel the lows.Channels take us places.
A Channel is a gap between two points.
Point 1: where you are now.
Point 2: where you desire to go next.Channels are frequencies
A Channel is space for disconnection and reconnection. A frequency which we can tune into away from our work. A place where you are programmer and viewer. Where the outside world can’t interfere. Where the stories you tell, only need to make sense to one person - yourself.
* Fun fact: It’s why my company is called Channel Twelve. The Twelve representing the first year of Quests I did in 2016.
** Yes, I know there is a glaring irony in the fact my channel became a business (but it was solely a channel for a long time before that). The minefield of a channel becoming a business is another conversation for another day.
So there you go! A little peak into my erratic mind and the various rabbit holes I often find myself down. I hope it’s been somewhat insightful and prompts you to reconsider labelling your precious thing (whatever your ‘thing’ is) a mere hobby 😉
Now I’m curious… and would love to know what you think about this!
💬 Let me know in the comments…
🌀 What is your Channel?
🏞️ Where does your Channel take you?
A round up of curious finds from our Quester world.
🛜 I am absolutely loving Sublime - a new way to become a digital inspiration collector on the internet. They have a great newsletter too, written by the fantastic
and🌱A report on ‘the nature of creativity’ by Unyoked
🔖 It’s International Zine Month! I liked this read from
about the difference between zines and artist books. Please also see ‘how to keep your hobby from becoming a job’ 👀💛 This epic resource from People and Co on ‘how to build community with your people’ is packed with ideas and frameworks*
👩💻 The death of the follower and the future of creativity on the web - an incredible keynote from Patreon founder Jack Conte
🚗 Wildsam celebrates the great American road trip through vivid photography, writing from noted authors and expert insight on vehicles and gear.
📍 Five way to gather without breaking the bank via Priya Parker
* thanks to Arvind for this recommendation
Finally…
I love hearing from readers in the comments, and always value feedback. What do you like most in The Quest Digest? What would you like to see more or less of?
If you enjoy I’d love it if you shared it with a friend or two; you can send them here to sign up.
Big love,
Sam
Quest Guide / Founder
@saaamfurness
THE QUEST DIGEST by Creative Quests is a treasure chest of ideas & stories exploring what it means to live an illuminating, creative life. Delivered when inspiration and creativity strike. Subscribe to receive each issue or send to a friend in need of a creative boost.
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Sam this post is one I gladly read twice! The first, I was on a train and had lost connection, therefore couldn’t comment. I Love this! And the fact that you decided on the word ‘channel,’ makes complete sense. I often can be found channeling my Arts practice by way of Visual Arts and the written word. You may see that I’m sketching out drafts in almost any medium ~ to later make the piece more like the vision I’d had. Then- you may not find me until the next day! ;) I’m immersed when making visual artworks, “channeling” what I envision in an otherworldly bliss. That zone is the high that I prefer to chase because it is fulfilling, entertaining and healing. In fact, I’ve always gotten a kick out of saying that it’s also free therapy. No doubt it has spurred a fantastic following in therapeutic arts. But there’s more…you know the rest, I am quite certain. In closing, that so-called ‘hobby’ is the passion I turned into my own life’s QUEST as a Multi-Disciplinary Visual Artist and Copywriter. In my honest opinion, it’s a lifestyle akin to paradise for all the places and people it has brought me to. Thank you so much for your excellent work and for sharing this… and allowing us the spaces to continue channeling. :) ~Adriana
This is so thoughtful and thought provoking - as someone whose primary channel is tuned to thinking, making, and doing in the realm of Language and Literacy, I realize 'hobby' can be another example of words that seem to minimize - like calling someone a jogger instead of a runner - surely some people are self-identified joggers (and, certainly, self-identification is key and to be honored), but to call someone a jogger who identifies, trains, and sees themselves as a runner can be a form of diminishment, if that's a word?!? What things are named (jogger v runner) and how things are modified (I'm just a ___) can impact self-perceptions, confidence, etc.
Also, I really appreciate Alison's take on hobby and hob/job and jobby! 👏🏼
I just love words/word play - ooops, there I go with the minimizing modifier! I almost edited it out, but I am leaving it as an acknowledgement for how hard can be to make some of our words and language framing patterns go away.