I’m lazy. Like most people (I guess), I don’t like to _practice_. I like to just _do_. I know how to play a guitar, but I barely know music theory. There are only a handful of songs I can play from top to bottom, because there are only certain parts of songs that catch my attention. I’ll learn how to play a particularly cool riff or lick and once I have that down, I’ll move on to the next thing. I can’t sing very well. I do like to sing, but I want to sing my own songs and I’m too self-conscious to just go around, practicing my own songs. Together with my mediocre guitar playing, that means I can’t just sit down next to a bonfire and whip out the guitar to regale everybody with songs, even if a songbook is available. A few weeks ago, I picked up pencil drawing as a new hobby. I’ve drawn and sketched every day for the last week, read up on body and facial proportions and I’m pretty satisfied with how much I’ve improved. But I’m a bit afraid that I’ll hit that inevitable hump in the road where you really need to put in the elbow grease to push past the plateau to improve further. But you know what? I don’t have to! This shouldn’t have to be said, but quite a few people reached out when I shared my drawings on Mastodon and said that they’re so glad that somebody is sharing their progress and especially things that are **not perfect**. So, I’ll just say it: you don’t have to be good at your hobbies. I’m saying it as much for you as I do it for myself. Again, I’m pretty self-conscious of my guitar playing and singing, but I built up enough courage to grab a guitar and sing two of my songs yesterday in a big group of mostly strangers. I’ll throw in that the two guys that played together for an hour were an insanely tough act to follow. One of them had a great rock ’n’ roll voice, the other could have replaced any of the more emotional pop singers. But people still enjoyed my two songs. And what’s even more important: _I_ really enjoyed playing them. With the constant barrage of “perfect” things on the internet, I tend to forget that it’s okay to just do and make mediocre things. I tend to forget that the main part of a hobby is to **have fun**. So fuck perfection! Show me all your mediocre stuff! Show me all the “bad” stuff! Show me your progess! Tell me about your hobbies — or not. Let’s have some fun! Edit: I forgot to mention goals, but that thought was important to me. It’s okay not to have goals either. Goals can be a good way to push through that plateau, but as mentioned above, you don’t have to. As long as you end up in a place you’re satisfied with and have fun, what you do is _good enough_.