On the Importance of Hobbies

I taught grade 10 Careers for a bit. I changed it completely from how it was typically taught, though, which was largely one Myers-Briggs-type test after another. Kids in other classes came out knowing what colour they are and what kind of job that might relate to. The biggest take-away that I heard from kids in other classes is that they can do absolutely anything they set their mind to do. My class went down a different path.

How does this help me find a job??

I did have them think a bit about who they are, their personality, goals, skills, passions, values, and lifestyle to start, but only for a couple days. Then we created the standard résumé and cover letter, but now there are templates that do the formatting, and I have no idea how teachers stretch that into more than a day or two (checklist here). Then we looked at the many, many types of jobs out there and requirements to get them with tons of guest speakers to help. But then we moved on. 

I had entire units on reading a paycheque, understanding deductions, and budgeting, looking at real rent ads and grocery prices. I had another unit on how to work with difficult bosses and coworkers including conflict resolution, making sexual harassment claims, raising discrimination issues in the workplace, and exploring relevant case studies. We talked about good work habits and time management to help avoid burnout and mental health issues in the workplace including positive and negative stress. We looked at the Employment Standards Act, so they don't get ripped off by a boss who lets you eat while you work to take away breaks or calls you in for a 2-hour shift, and the Ontario Human Rights Code and trade unions. We looked at exceptions to the rules, like jobs in landscaping. We looked at the rate of accidents in young workers, and discussed reasons why people don't speak up when rules aren't followed, especially Covid guidelines. It was a lot of psychology. We looked at labour laws that might affect them now or in the future or might affect others.  

Most importantly, I called bullshit on the false hope. Most kids will never be a rocket scientist, just like they'll never be in the NHL no matter how much it's their passion or even how much they practice. I tell them straight up that they might not find the job of their dreams. Currently, about 13% of people find their job engaging, 24% despise their job, and most people, 63%, just tolerate the work in order to pay the bills. Most people don't love their jobs, but most high school kids expect to have a career that's singularly fulfilling. That's not making them work harder; it's just setting them up for disappointment and for a life that's entirely wrapped around their job. Maybe that's the idea! They can be aware that they will likely - hopefully - have a good enough job, and still be motivated to learn in school. 

People need things outside of work to bring some type of creative fulfillment, even if it's not something they can do well. I bike almost daily, but others zip by me so much faster. What does that matter? I paint and never sell my work. I play music and sing and dance when nobody's around to ask me to stop. And I write almost obsessively. An old boyfriend once insisted that I shouldn't write until I can get paid for it. I pointed out the hours that he plays video games without remuneration. He saw it differently because writing is work. 

Something happens in school or in life that tells us, even though gym is a class where we have to learn the rules of sports, that we can do sports for fun, generally accepting that most of us will never make a penny for honing our skills. Music tends to be similar. I think it's because sports and music are often collective endeavours, with the rewards of impressing others standing in for money. But writing, painting, math, and science are different. Holing away for an afternoon to try to get that exact right word down or make that perfect shade of green or experiment with ways to keep ants off the deck apparently seems like something we should only do for free if we can't play a game or a tune. Once again, the extraverted majority determines the norms that the rest of us then get to rail against! 

My time spent creating is time for myself to enjoy. 

I think some people struggle to imagine what enjoying yourself alone actually feels like. But if they can believe it's real, it can open up vast new horizons.  

This need to explore a host of potential hobbies was addressed by inkolore recently, 

"It's pretty crazy the extent to which people's lives is literally bottleneck by their imagination of what their life can be. Like there was tweet floating around about "what hobbies are there past 25 besides cooking and exercising" and someone quote-posting, saying how they started oil painting at 35. Like a lot of people genuinely don't internalize the fact that they could literally start making art at any point in their life, especially right now. 

Art has taken up the status of the thing that only "talented" people do, and it's something you passively consume, or at best analyze, but never make yourself. Even within exercising itself for instance, it's crazy how many people just go to the gym because they've never considered looking for other alternatives, which would be way more fun and social. Like team sports, a hiking group, running partners, etc. And of course this limitation in imagination trickles down into something way bigger than the individual life; it coalesces into the limited collective life we imagine, but even on the micro life it's incredibly noticeable. People just scroll social media because they don't put the time to think of better ways to spend their time (and then they complain about how much social media sucks and drains their time). 

If you can't make good art, the practice of art still makes you much better at observing things. I've found a newfound appreciation for "mundane" things because I'm much better at looking at fine details and getting a big picture of what I'm seeing. Care is very important, and in many ways it's in short supplies these days. People just gloss over the work of designers, musicians (music is just put as a background thing very often), engineers for instance, when people meet up they're just on their phone etc. Art teaches you to care."

Back in the day, the focus was on security. Everyone want to get on the ground floor in plastics. Then at some point that shifted to following our passion, which is a decidedly privileged position. Following our passion often does not lead to paying the bills. We need a wise middle ground on this, and that includes a life that includes richly fulfilling evenings and weekends.