When a few friends and I gathered for dinner, our conversation touched on a number of important moments for which we were grateful. One of his friends said he was now enjoying exploring his creative side through the ceramic craft class he was currently taking. Responding to that story, another friend of mine lightly joked, “Wow, your ceramic work can be turned into money! You can open a shop and…”
Before he even finished his sentence, I said, “No! Don’t make your hobby a way to make money.”
My suggestion, for some people, will sound strange. In the midst of an economic situation that makes prices expensive, of course there is no harm in looking for additional income, especially from an enjoyable hobby.
However, according to the definition, a hobby is an activity that we do outside of work with the aim of relaxing. Of course, we can choose a hobby that is mentally challenging, such as chess, or physically, such as mountain climbing.
However, a hobby will no longer be a hobby when we treat it like a side business: putting a price tag on our work and selling it to consumers. Our hobby turns into a job.
In recent years, the culture of hard work, or what is usually called grind culture or side-hustle culture, is indeed starting to become popular. Some people call such a culture toxic, because it encourages us to constantly calculate the material benefits of the things we do.
I also became a “victim” by being in the community, which, you could say, was always busy. As someone who no longer wants to practice that culture, I can confidently argue that one or two hobbies we do should not make money. This will be better for our mental health.
