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Unless it’s programming or sysadmin, I’m mediocre at all my hobbies, but I enjoy them a lot. It’s great not feeling pressured to do them professionally like a paid job.
I think it is a trap to think about it this way. My hobbies are meant to bring me joy and challenge, no matter what level i am on
I feel bullied by this question
One of my hobbies turned professional :)
You ended up actually selling your soul to a devil IRL in exchange for dark warlock powers?
That d10 cantrip doesn’t come without cost
Best part of having hobbies is that you don’t need to be good!
This!!
I suck at most of my hobbies, but half the fun is learning and improving
I’ve recently started to blindly learn instruments without any tutorials just basic overview and it’s so much more fun! It’s like playing video games without wikis and guides - great if youre not in a rush anywhere
Depends on the hobby. I tend to collect hobbies and then grow bored of them, then return to them a while later.
I’ll become absolutely obsessed with learning about “hobby x”, and spend two months basically getting as close to an expert on it as I can with self-teaching. (Video Editing, filmmaking, screenwriting, 3D modelling for flight simulators, Graphic Design, etc…)
Then I’ll grow bored and move onto a new obsession from the above list, focus on that long enough that at least 25% of my knowledge of the previous obsession vanishes and I have to relearn a bunch the next time that obsession rolls around.
I’ve been told that’s possibly ADHD, but since I suffer from depression I’ll take my bursts of obsessiveness over lack of any motivation any day.
This is me!!! Especially the relearning part 😆 Side bonus is I’m really good at reading docs(programming) now!
Reading (good) programming documentation is half the battle, or maybe 3/4ths, hahaha! I also remember when someone took the time to go in depth with the debugger and increased my programming efficiency by about 75%, good times, wow! Now I can only write code at 225% efficiency 🤣.
Why do you have to bring up my shortcomings like that?
I used to be really good at video games, but now I just don’t have the time. I remember being able to jump in any CS lobby and jump to the top of the server. I got kicked for supposedly cheating all the time. That was always a good feeling. Knowing that I’m kicking so much ass that people assume I must be cheating.
My crowning achievement is beating Super Ghouls and Ghosts - both times through (second time with the farie bracelet). This was using an original SNES, no save states or anything. Dedicated an entire summer of my teenage life to it. Game is hard, man.
Computers used to be a hobby but I turned that into a career. I’m a principal systems engineer and I like to think I’m good at what I do.
I got really into cooking, and it was maybe a hobby at some point, but now with a family it’s more of a necessity. A lot of the things I learned while cooking as a hobby turned into skills though. I’m not sure how to explain it, but like having cooking intuition. Knowing when to add more or less of something just by knowing. Also just being able to freestyle meals out of what is laying around or knowing what can be substituted with what or how to make ingredients out of other ingredients.
I played Clash Royale and was top 5 in Chile for some seasons, I play Risk Global Domination and ranked Grandmaster, I play chess in Lichess with ratings just under 2000(I once luckily defeated a National Master at a simul), I do Windsurf and I’m terrible at it, I have played Football all my life and I’m average, I like painting and I’m worst than terrible at it. That’s about it.
A hobby becomes a job when you worry if you are good at it.
I don’t think that’s universally true, I agree with some other posters here that a big part of enjoying a hobby is the learning process and getting better at it.
Yes, excessive comparison to others and worries about performance and the like are killers for enjoyment, but the pursuit of skill is a major part of a fulfilling hobby for me.
Mediocre at best, and I lack the mental fortitude to work at much of anything these days, so wherever I’m at, I’m not going to improve much.
Some people relish the feeling of swimming through molasses* for the next hit of progress dopamine, or they don’t get that feeling at all, but that’s what happens to me and it basically short-circuits something in my brain. It’s bad enough that I struggled to write the last part of that sentence, and it’s happening while I’m proofreading this as well.
* or treacle if the unintended concept of small mammal anatomy bothers you.
Hey mate, are things a bit tricky for you right now?
Thanks for your concern. I’m getting by.
Big hug
As good as I care to be. Hobbies are supposed to be fun.
Decent at some and a beginner at others. Tbh, I have more hobbies than time to practice and really get good at all of them. So progress is slow, but I enjoy each one of them and don’t want to give up any just yet. Guess I’m taking the scenic route to mastery, maybe by the time I retire I’ll be really cooking. And if not, I still would consider it time well spent.
I’m terrible at them. Baked a flat pancake that was supposed to be bread. Fumbling on the guitar. Haven’t drawn anything in the past 3 years. Electrical projects on hold.
I think I have to focus a little bit more 😅
I found a long term goal and give myself 30min a week with drawing. I find this keeps the drawing supplies more ready and apparent. So i end up spending a few hours a week because it’s right there on my desk. Knowing I’ve made even a little recent progress is more motivating than none.
Long term goal is getting through Riven Pheonix’ structure of man.
I’m a good enough cook that several friends have seriously suggested I apply for Masterchef, but I have no interest in the restaurant side of the competition.
Holy shit!! How did you get to that level?
I’m not entirely sure, a lot of it is instinctive. My weakness is baking because I’m mostly a ‘measure by eye’ kind of cook and baking requires more precision than that. I guess I also have quite a good ability to imagine flavor; if I can imagine how a combination of ingredients will taste then it’ll usually be a pretty good meal even if I’ve never tried it before.
Also, I enjoy cooking which helps a lot. I like playing with good ingredients, learning how they react to different cooking techniques and so on. And I love to entertain and watch people eat food I’ve prepared. Food is love!
[Come on over to !recipes@feddit.uk and !cooking_with_fire@feddit.uk - both could do with more regulars!]
Ahhh that’s a big issue for me. Even when I’m tasting a spice I can’t figure out how it’ll make the dish taste (unless it’s obvious like chilli). Good links thanks!
But I bet your cheese toastie game is on point!
Well I don’t want to boast… but yes, yes it is.
I love a cheese toastie. I do mine in a cast iron skillet these days because one less specialist gadget in my cluttered kitchen is a good thing and because the clean up is easier.
But seriously, post your cheese toastie recipe to !recipes@feddit.uk! It’s not for gourmet meals, it’s for recipes that people actually use and love. For e.g., here’s mine for a Sausage, fried egg, and Reggae Reggae Sauce sarnie.
Oh wow that looks amazing
Wait so you are telling me that people don’t instinctively have this skill? Maybe I should take a stab at cooking sometime too lol
I’m in a similar boat where generally everything I make comes out tasting pretty good even when I haven’t tried it before, I wouldn’t say anything has been like worldclass or anything but I also haven’t looked up much to level up my cooking.
