“A jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than master of one”, is something I highly resonate with. Ever since I was a kid, my mother made sure I was enrolled in all kinds of classes. You name it, and I have probably taken a class on that at least once in my life, even if it was for a duration of 1 week. From skating, to tennis, calligraphy, drawing, Kathak, western music, eastern music, basketball, I have dabbled in quite a few hobbies. Things that did not have any professional training, I tried pursuing it on my own. The only issue with that is, I got bored easily. Every month I would have a new obsession and a drive to pursue it ‘seriously’, convincing myself that this was the one and I was going to stick with it. That would be until I found the new exciting thing and I dropped that hobby halfway through.
Thanks to my commitment issues, I now have a short film that is half edited, 2 songs I can play extremely well on the guitar and a basic understanding of DJing, thanks to YouTube and Instagram reels. In my case I think I am more attracted to having that hobby than actually maintaining it. The beginning of any new thing is exciting, until the idea of ‘practice makes perfect’ comes in. The thought of maintaining it and becoming an expert at it, seems daunting.
I remember, after learning how to play the harmonium for 4 years, I wanted to quit and learn how to play the guitar. Something that would allow me to play the pop-songs I was listening to at that time. After days of convincing my parents, they finally agreed. I remember the excitement of picking out my first ever guitar. More than the technicalities of it, I was interested in the colour and shape. I watched guitar covers of my favourite songs on YouTube all day. It hadn’t even been a week, and I started telling every single person that I knew how to play the guitar. I would make this a conversation starter or sneak the information into any conversation I was having. Soon after, my mother enrolled me in a class. In the beginning it was fun and exciting. Soon after it started to feel like a chore. After 2 years, that hobby also died down. Now the guitar is collecting dust in the corner of my room, the strings have rust on them and I don’t even remember the last time I tuned it.
I don’t quit the hobby I am pursuing, out of laziness but rather a sheer lack of excitement that was once there. It starts to get repetitive. The progress feels slow and it does not seem as aesthetic or satisfying as time goes by. It remains exciting when there are new things to learn. After a point of time, when you have covered all the basics, it becomes routine and hence loses the appeal it once had.
One more issue with pursuing a new hobby is social media. Nowadays everyone seems to be into pottery. It has become the ‘new hot thing’ for the year. Seeing others do it well, makes it seem effortless and naturally you tend to compare your beginner stage with someone else’s advanced stage. Therefore the process of starting something new can feel frustrating, if the result is not what you expected in the first go.
Thanks to a lifetime of trial and error, I have changed my outlook on this entire thing, I have stopped chasing after mastering any one skill. Instead I have come to peace with the fact that sometimes it is okay to just try something out and move on. As soon as there is a pressure to pursue it fully, that’s when I crumble and leave things halfway through. If there are no expectations to begin with, any outcome is bound to bring joy. Hobbies are anyways pursued to take a break from an otherwise monotonous life. If these side quests also start to feel demanding, then what is the point of having them in the first place.