Minimalist Hobbies - Can that be a thing?

Recently a Gen Z-er told me she was not loving her post-college job and had no hobbies.  She had tried reading, dabbled at cooking, and was considering firing up the old Singer and attempting sewing.  

This lack of meaningful personal activity gave me pause - and I was reminded of a statement my younger son admonishes whoever’ll listen: consuming media is NOT a hobby.  I’ll modify that by adding “consuming media and shopping are not hobbies”.  

Yet our young adults seem to do a lot of both of those things.  After my conversation with the young zoomer, I realized it is us, the parents, the latch key Gen Xers, who are to blame for their notable lack of hobbies.   We planned their playdates, signed them up for every season of everything, and bought all the accountrements to accompany every new activity/hobby/class they took.

And now? They are adults, and no one is signing them up for anything.  They come home from work, perhaps get UberEats or Hello Fresh for dinner, and Netflix their way through another evening.  Maybe they have jumped on a fantasy football league, but that probably took place while sitting on the couch with their just cat and their significant other. 

They don’t have anything to putter at, to practice, or to build.  They don’t know what to do after work or if their parents changed the password to their streaming service.   Sorry, Zoomers, we’ll take that L.   We didn’t teach you well. 

As kids, the Gen X crew had to come home after school, fix a snack with whatever was in the pantry, maybe kick back with some ABC Afterschool Specials about teen angst or divorce, and get out homework done before the parents came home from work.  Maybe we played a sport, but that was probably one day a week and on Saturdays for a few months.   We made potholders out of looms,  built forts out of sheets and the box fan, and played Monopoly until the inevitable board flip happened after we decided the banker was embezzling funds.   

I’m not saying we walked to school uphill both ways; I just realized that we have scheduled the spirit out of all our children and now they can’t amuse themselves other than shopping or media consumption.  

One of the reasons our houses are brimming with stuff is that so many people see shopping as a hobby.  Acquiring more crap for your abode should not be how you spend your leisure time for entertainment.  

I asked a friend once about her latest love interest and what his hobbies were.  Her answer? “He likes spending time with his family!”  I would HOPE that is something he enjoys, lest he appear a sociopath.  But what does HE do in his leisure time for fun, as enrichment?  Nothing?  Sounds like a dull guy.  

You don’t have to order an Amazon truck full of knitting needles or gardening tools to have a hobby.  But look inward and let yourself have some leisure time activity that enriches your life.  Take two-step lessons, learn to paint, rebuild that carburetor.   Don’t wait for someone to tell you it’s time for soccer practice.  Leave the shopping as a hobby in your rear view.