drawing board

There’s a woman on Instagram who stages all her favorite scenes from the Hallmark Original Series When Calls the Heart using American Girl dolls. She dresses them in period-appropriate costumes. She photographs them lovingly. And she posts pictures for the world (and the actors from the show, whom she faithfully tags in each and every installment) to enjoy.

Is this kind of strange? Yes.

Is it a little creepy? All combinations of adult women and dolls is creepy, so: also yes.

Am I here to make a mockery of her? I AM NOT.

Because I’m actually super jealous.

I don’t know when I stopped making weird stuff for the fun of it. I used to have a million hobbies. I drew. I knit. I made giant, complicated collages.

(And, like. I wrote stories.)

The problem with your hobby turning into your job is that it immediately ceases to be something you do to relax and blow off steam. It’s still a joy. You still feel super lucky to be doing it. But hobbies are, by definition, low stakes, and while I’m fully aware that nobody necessarily lives or dies by my messy, complicated, feminist love stories, I’d be lying if I said the whole endeavor doesn’t involve a little more pressure than, say, making friendship bracelets out of embroidery floss.

(Which I also used to do! You know, back when I had hobbies.)

All of this is to say that lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the value of creativity for creativity’s sake–about doing something because it’s fun and satisfying and not because it’s a smart marketing opportunity or making me a better person or a way of showing off how productive I can be. I want to remember what it feels like to make useless stuff and not worry about it. I want there to be more room for play.

Which brings me to my question for you guys! Tell me all about your creative hobbies, please and thank you. Do you paint with watercolors? Drop in on a ceramics class? Curate a literary magazine devoted to dirty limericks? Tell me all about it in the comments, or drop me a line right this way.