How do you actually STICK with a hobby?

I want you to think about a time you considered trying a new hobby. Maybe a friend showed you a hobby of theirs, and you thought about trying it, but just… didn’t. Or maybe it’s reversed: there’s something you really like to do and you want to convince a friend to just give it a shot! Yet we always pause. What stops us? This comes up a lot in art, especially. Prospective artists may feel stressed about approaching art when they didn’t grow up with it. Is it a viable hobby? Career? “Can I commit to this?”

Society pushes an expectation onto us to have ourselves figured out. It seems like everyone else has plans and they’re gonna be all successful and for you, gosh, you’re not even sure what you want to do this week let alone next year! It feels like every choice we make defines us, locks us in, makes us commit. And yet, some things in life don’t need a commitment. I think one of the coolest things about living is just not knowing what’s next. Not trying to plan everything out. Enjoying the moment, and when something happens, trying out the change. You don’t have to know what’s going on! You can bounce around between hobbies! If you’re bold, you can bounce around between jobs! Your fate isn’t sealed into what you’re choosing to do right now.

Hi there! My name’s Kanjon and today we’re talking about commitment. Or even… anti-commitment. When it comes to the optional choices in life, the fun hobbies, the creative pursuits, choosing a path with conviction feels like the right thing to do, since that’s how you’ve likely approached things like school and work. And yet, sometimes, that can work against you when it’s about something you’re interested in. That hobby you didn’t take up: what made you want to avoid it? It’s OK if you don’t know. But I have a suspicion for most folks that it’s about commitment. The thought that once you start something, let’s use learning to draw for example, that you’re going to be stuck doing that. And you’re anxious, maybe a little afraid that you won’t like it? That it’d be embarrassing if you change your mind later?

This thought of commitment, before and during any hobby, leads to guilt if you need to take a break, or mess up a habit, or skip a practice session. There’s that balance of wanting to push yourself, to encourage yourself to TRY, but that doesn’t mean that you’re now going to DO this forever. Heck, with art, I think the itch of drawing, of wanting to create, doesn’t really go away. If you tried it, feel like it’s not “you”, take a break! Don’t make specific plans for trying again. If the itch returns, you can try it again then. We’re people, we change our minds, that’s what we do.

And something I do is make videos about art and learning to draw! If you’ve ever been curious about the topic, maybe want to make a leap yourself — no commitment! I encourage you to subscribe, take a look at my channel homepage, and some resources on my website for getting started. I’ve got a bunch of stuff on this channel to help you figure out both the technical aspects and the motivations. Anyway!

If you decide to learn to draw, you’re not changing your identity into “an artist”. You are you, and being an artist is a hobby you’re trying, and it might be something you like, it might be something you don’t, it might be something you take a long break from and then later come back to. This invisible wall that sits between you and starting a new creative adventure — it’s made of nothing but feelings of doubt and anxiety, fueled by that false idea of commitment. You’re not choosing a path you have to follow, you’re peeking behind the door, taking a step into the room of a new hobby and making it yours. You can stay in the room as long as you like, step back out when you want, but it doesn’t change who you are. You can go look at the other doors and try music, writing, programming; come and go as you please.

You don’t owe who you are to anyone. Social media makes this such a pain in the butt because it poisons your mind with expectations. Like, if you start posting art, people will expect that of you, right? Your audience! What will they think if you slow down, stop for a month, decide you’re done? Won’t you be a disappointment to everyone? NO! People will find and follow you for you. Not for your chosen hobby alone. Yes. Let’s acknowledge that people like to see things like art on social media. But it’s you choosing to share it there, your gift of self-expression for others to see. If someone was to demand that you continue that hobby when you didn’t feel like it, that’s not someone you’d want to care about anyway because it only leads to guilt and toxicity. Therefore, don’t go into a hobby thinking that you must commit and share and owe the world your creations. At the end of the day, if you like doing it, you’ll keep doing it regardless. If you decide you don’t like doing it, and want to stop, who cares? At that point, if others care, it’s not your problem. If you take a break and come back later, you’ll still find those people that value you for you and what you want to do and create and share.

Hell I’m acknowledging this with my own practice, in that I thrive best with art when I just draw for myself. I have so many sketch pages and newsprint sheets that I just don’t share because it’s for me, and yet that thought lingers that maybe I should post more. I kind of use my video thumbnails as a little outlet for that, but I’m also recognizing that I really like making videos and teaching and helping other people reach creative goals. I still consider myself an artist because I still draw regularly, but it’s a hobby I have. I’m not Kanjon the Artist. I’m Kanjon, I do art, I make videos, I hang out with friends, I shitpost. The video thing I went into not really planning on actually taking it that far, but I ended up liking it a lot and here we are on video hundred-something still going strong.

Let this video sit in your mind a while. If this sparks an idea, set yourself a reminder, like, now, go ahead, to watch again in a few days. Are your thoughts different? Have you been hesitating on trying something new? Hey, if it’s learning to draw, I’ve got plenty of stuff on that here. Either way, chase that passion and I hope you’ll stick around.