Being An Expert Is Overrated
In bad times I like to reflect on what is fun for me. And often times it’s stuff I’m not great at. I love trivia but am bad at it. I love escape rooms but am bad at them (see: every episode of Gamechanger on Dropout).
I love drawing and am ok at it. I mostly do drawings of other people’s drawings.
And sometimes I’m like, “ugh, drawing is my only other real hobby. Why aren’t I better at it?” And I have always loved being in Student Mode and taking classes. So when Covid vaccines ~*debuted*~ I found a nearby art studio and signed up for an all-ages class. Finally! I could get better at a “non-career” thing and meet new, non-Industry friends.
But then I showed up on the first day, and the class was all children. The youngest was 4. They were painting Naruto. They thought their parents didn’t have first names. Some of these kids were so little they couldn’t be vaccinated yet so were in a separate room. My room was me and two emo 13 year-olds who didn’t talk to me or each other. I got what I wanted: they weren’t in The Industry. But they also still had baby teeth.
And honestly? This class ROCKED. Because the children were so SO much better than me at art (picture the type of kid that learns chess at age 4, and now imagine that chess is oil painting) that there was no point in comparing myself. This had to be PURELY a hobby, not something I could lament about my skill in. Your brain can’t reasonably be like “Sara is so much better than me” when Sara is 6 and doesn’t know Santa isn’t white. So I sat in my vaccinated corner in a total flow state. Although one mean 12 year-old got smart with me a few times:
He negged me for using chalk pastels which are easier to use so that makes me a loser
He said we’d do “beret week” one time and that we’d divide who wore what color by grade. He asked what grade everyone was in and nobody replied (loser?), and I felt bad for him and said “I’m past grades,” and he spat back, “I know.”
You may think if he’s 12 he was with me in the vaccinated room, but actually he requested to be moved to the toddler room (that didn’t have me and 2 emo teens) because it was “more social.”
I loved this class. I made zero friends (because they were children) and created art that was not as good as Sara’s but was better than I would have done before and regardless it’s okay because hobbies should just be fun and not to “be the best.”
Do you let yourself have any “kinda bad at this” hobbies?
More soon!
Rekha