Having a passion outside of our creative ventures helps us focus our passion and obsession for creativity. It gifts us a moment of separation and solace from the panic that can set in during the creative process.

Creatives have long relied on hobbies outside their chosen field to inform and reflect on their work.

Sylvia Plath was a beekeeper. Keanu Reeves owns a motorcycle company. Rod Stewart is a model train enthusiast. Steven Spielberg is an avid skeet shooter.

Having a passion, an obsession, outside of our creative ventures helps us focus our passion and obsession for creativity. It gifts us a moment of separation and solace from the panic that can set in during the creative process.

A hobby can inspire us when the creative juices have stopped flowing. Stepping away from a project and allowing ourselves to become engrossed in something external is a great way to find a new path, a new angle.

“What if no one likes my work? What if my work is derivative?”

All creatives have suffered these thoughts. The moment they strike is the moment that stepping back from the project, stepping into a hobby, a distraction, can be most valuable.

Having a hobby to throw yourself into will help to relieve stress. Focussing energy and attention on something you love means blocking out panic and stress.

Similarly, being able to take a break also helps to avoid burnout. We’ve all been so caught up in a project that we just can’t seem to let go of it. When that happens we risk running out of steam too early, we risk becoming too close to the project to recognise our mistakes or missteps.

The more personal freedom and personal expression you allow yourself, the more your work will become uniquely ‘you’.

Clients, your boss, the world, will tell you to focus. But letting your mind wander is liberating, and your hobbies can lend a different perspective to your creative problems. Hobbies cultivate our capacity for unique thought, for the meaningful expression of what matters to us most.

The creative process is a structure of kinds. It’s different for every person, no formula for creativity exists. Finding your own unique process takes time, you can’t cheat it or speed it up. Taking up a hobby, learning a new skill, helps us to trust this process.

Every great creative, every admired artist, captivating author, was at one point a hobbyist, an amateur. They developed their personal creativity into public, professional creativity. Take heed of their journeys, throw a touch of fun into your career; find an outlet and discover how to make and create in your own way.