A hobby, just for fun. How to nót downgrade your hobby into yet another path to career development

Everything that used to be a hobby for Dutch writer Tatjana Almuli has either become work, or she dropped it because it didn’t yield enough. How can we detach hobbies from productivity?

As a child, I had several hobbies: every week I would pick up a fresh stack of books from the library and devour them cover to cover. From the moment I could write,  I filled countless notebooks with diaries, short stories, poems, song lyrics.

And I sang. Always, everywhere. It went so far that, in my teenage years, I took biweekly singing lessons and skipped school to rehearse with a band. The highlights of my youth were performances in the Westerkerk and the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ concert hall in Amsterdam. Singing made me happy, gave me energy and moved me. As a teen, I bottled up emotions instead of facing or processing them—except when I sang.

After high school, I attended a preparatory theater program. I wanted to sing but had never studied music theory and didn’t play an instrument. That made the conservatory out of reach. At drama school, I made it to  the final audition round, but I wasn’t accepted. My world collapsed. The rejection felt deeply personal: I lacked talent and wasn’t good enough. I abruptly quit singing lessons and, really, singing altogether. What had brought me joy and fulfillment for years, I had tied to skill and a standard I felt I had to meet.

The things we (used to) do for fun

For years, I couldn’t quite put it into words—until I stumbled upon an article in The New York Times that advocated for the value of hobbies. For many, life revolves around being as productive as possible. Hobbies feel like a waste of time. Or worse: hobbies have been downgraded into yet another path to career development, turning the things we supposedly do for fun into more work. (Love embroidery? You should sell your creations on Etsy.)

The message of the piece: It’s time to detach hobbies from productivity. They can remind you that work isn’t everything and that you’re allowed to simply be.

A hobby for relaxation and joy

I saw myself in the article. Everything that used to be  a hobby for me has either become work (I now read and write for a living), or I dropped it because it didn’t yield enough. After reading  that piece, I realized how much I missed singing. So, I bought a ukulele, because since childhood it’s been my dream to accompany myself while singing. I learned five basic chords with the help of YouTube and suddenly had access to a whole arsenal of songs to sing and play.

To be honest, it took some getting used to—just casually singing on a weekday evening as an adult. But now it feels like second nature again, and I’ve even resumed singing lessons, just for fun. And fun it is. Singing doesn’t need to earn me anything; it’s not tied to my work in any way. It simply serves as relaxation and joy.

And what a relief that is—I can recommend it to everyone.

Text Tatjana Almuli Photography Danique van Kesteren