Developing your own hobbies and interests may be the easiest way to bring joy into your life. When you do what you love, you become someone who is full of fun and light. Once you dive into a certain topic, it opens doors for you to meet likeminded people and build lasting relationships. Discovering something challenging that interests you keeps your mind active and heart vibrant.
However, the only benefit from developing hobbies and interests that’s talked about are the financial benefits. Similarly, when you dive into something new, you may find that there’s pressure (internal or external) to monetize this new venture. I want to encourage you to question this paradigm and think about it differently.
Let’s talk about energy for a moment.
This is not saying “money isn’t important” or “money can’t buy happiness.” That is an approach I choose not to take because of the energy circulating around it. Money is energy. The energy that you have around money is what will come back to you. If you’re constantly anxious, that energy will attract more situations to make you anxious. If you’re excited, that energy will attract more exciting times.
Think of money as current- that’s why I love the word “currency.” It’s something you can choose to step in and out of. It’s intentional.
With that in mind… if you set out to do a hobby for the money, you are RRRRRRRR white knuckling it. There is anxious energy around “I have to make money from this.” You are trying to clamp down on the outcome of this hobby, and we all know that the outcome doesn’t always match our plan. In other words: if you feel a need to monetize your hobby, you may end up squashing all the joy you get from it.
Sense energy attracts what comes to us, that means joy attracts more joy. Therefore, if you do your hobby or craft just for the pure joy of it, you never know what’s going to happen. If you let go of the outcome, you may be surprised.
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I have a degree in fine arts which is atypical for my background. When I first graduated my brain went to work, trying to figure out ways I can make a living off my passions.
I had been making jewelry from time to time. One day, my brain jumped to, “make an Etsy page and start selling your jewelry.” After that, it went to “find every arts festival and open a stand to sell your jewelry.” Soon after that it told me, “Make business cards and a Facebook page and a bumper sticker andandandand—-”
I went into overdrive for a few weeks making jewelry in order to sell it and sure enough, the joy I received from this passion of mine diminished. It even started to become a drudgery because of the anxiety I felt.
Needless to say, I stopped making jewelry and no, I never actually sold anything. But I learned such a great lesson from this experience: the value you get from doing what you love just for the pure joy of it transcends the value you get from trying to monetize doing what you love.
On the flip side, when I dance for fun and put myself out there just to meet people in the dance world, I attract opportunities such as teaching or performance gigs. All I have to do is bring value.
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This does not mean that you need to give away your creations or services for free. For example, if you are into crocheting blankets and someone asks you for one, this might be the time to either exercise your no or put a price on it. Your time and efforts are valuable and it’s important to charge people, (yes even friends and family) if your hobby gets to the point where other people are interested in services from you.
If you’re a singer and someone asks for a voice lesson, giving it away for free will undermine your value and abilities. The energy behind giving it away for free is “I’m not worthy of the money.” If someone asks for your creations or services, it’s up to YOU to discern whether or not you want to go that route. Your intuition will be right every time, so listen to it and either learn to say no or put a price on it and don’t sell yourself short.
It’s so important to discover things you love to do just for happiness, and really explore and hone in on your skills. Having hobbies and interests is the easiest way to enrich your life and improve it in every area. Realizing these hidden benefits from your hobbies is priceless, because your interests will nurture your character.
Notice what happens when you are filled to the brim with joy: you become a magnet. Opportunities that you never planned for in the first place just seem to come your way. You don’t feel the need to seek external validation or numb yourself with mindless consumption. Just because you can’t see the gifts your hobbies bring you right away, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. The gift your hobbies give you is magnetism.