Go Be Bad at It for a While

You don't have to be good at your hobbies for your hobbies to be good for you.

I saw this reminder somewhere and I just had to pass it along.

That feeling of perfectionism.
The idea you carry around in your head about how something is supposed to go,
before you've even started.
Letting go of all of that,
and just being in the moment instead.

What I Hear All the Time

When people find out I'm creative, or see me actually making something,
I hear some version of the same thing.

Oh, I can't do that.
I'm really not good at drawing.
I'm not good at whatever it is.
I wish I could.

All that talk. That's the blocker.

We Are Limited by What We Believe

These are the beliefs that stop people before they even begin.
The fear that it's out of their control, that they'll be bad at it in the beginning.
These fears just make sure the thing never gets the chance to begin.

We make the thing so big in our heads and convince ourselves we need a big chunk of time set aside before we're even allowed to start.

That's another blocker.
If you don't have a fixed idea of what it's supposed to become,
then whatever time you actually have is enough.
Five minutes. Ten minutes. Enough to keep going on a sewing project, knitting a few rows, or adding another doodle.

Letting It Be Enough

The making doesn't need an audience, or a finished product, or a reason.

What I actually get from these things has nothing to do with how good I am at them.

It's the ten minutes my hands are busy and my head goes quiet.
It's the version of me that's still curious, still willing to be a beginner at something, even now.
It's remembering that trying is allowed to be the whole point.

If there's something you've been putting off because you're scared you won't be good at it,
that's not a good enough reason to keep it in the drawer.

Go be bad at it for a while.
See what it gives you anyway.