#107: Keep Going by Austin Kleon
and my hobby graveyard
Hello readers,
My good friend Michael Perkins sent me Austin Kleon’s 2019 book Keep Going, and I read it in one sitting. It gave me the same energy as Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic, but in a smaller package with more pictures.
The title alone is encouraging, and I think Michael was trying to tell me something. I’ve been writing this Substack since June 2019 and, like any creative pursuit, it can get discouraging. The words don’t flow out of me the way they seem to do for others. I don’t always like the final product. I’ve been asking myself the same question that Kleon opens his book with: “Isn’t [creative work] supposed to get easier?” Or my variation: Aren’t I supposed to get faster?1
Kleon goes on to say:
Everything got better for me when I made peace with the fact that it might not ever get easier…Creative work is hard.
Kleon then goes through 10 ways to stay creative even though it is hard.
The chapters are short and filled with quotes from creative people. The format of the book makes it easy to open to a random page and find a dose of inspiration.
A part that jumped out at me was in #4, Make Gifts. Kleon says:
The minute anybody shows any talent for anything, we suggest they turn it into a profession. This is our best compliment: telling somebody they’re so good at what they love to do they could make money at it. We used to have hobbies; now we have “side hustles.”
It felt like a mini-indictment. At Friendsgiving last year, we did the same thing with a friend of ours who makes Spotify playlists for books she reads. For 10-15 minutes, we tried to figure out how to monetize it. I do this all the time and wish my knee jerk reaction to discovering someone’s hobby wasn’t “You’re good at origami? YOU SHOULD SELL IT ON ETSY!”
Kleon is not saying monetizing hobbies is a bad thing. Artists have to monetize their art to have a living. But what helped me in my situation was the suggestion to occasionally step outside the marketplace and use art to make gifts.
Monetizing Hobbies vs. Making Gifts
I thought it would be fun(ny) to look back at my other creative pursuits. Some I’ve done for pure enjoyment, others I’ve thought about monetizing or made a sustained effort to monetize. In every case, I’m glad I made the effort and had lots of fun. Developing skills facilitates the giving of gifts.
Leather
With my friends Gary Lind and Will Gonzalez, we started the Dapperly Clad Leather Company in Houston, TX. It began as a weekly gathering of friends who wanted to learn how to make cool stuff and ended up as an Instagram account taking orders over email.
The account is no longer maintained but I occasionally use the skills I learned from Gary on Halloween when my son and I make a part of his costume. It has become a gift each year.
Exercise
I love exercising and it is definitely a hobby. A friend recently asked me how I motivate myself and I had to confess that it doesn’t take much motivation. I enjoy it and rarely have to pump myself up for it.
Every so often I’ll catch a bug to try and monetize. During my Ironman triathlon phase, I considered starting a blog called Saturday Warriors.2 The idea was to provide tips for other athletes who used Sunday as their rest day.
These days I participate in fitness challenges with friends at work, the most recent being 50 straight push-ups. We meet weekly to test ourselves and we have fun getting out from behind the desk and participating in the shared gift of suffering.
Books, Movies, TV
The reigning heavyweight champion hobby. I’ve always been in book clubs, but my pitch to Henry Cavill to start a Celebrity Fantasy Book Club is one of my better ideas! Reese and Oprah have their clubs, but I’m not aware of a male celebrity led book club. Henry has all the resources he needs, but I still hope he calls me if he ever decides to do it :). I mean, the guy follows Brandon Sanderson! He may have been Superman, but he’s also a nerd.
I wish I hadn’t pitched it as “more geared toward men.” That was a gross oversight and probably the reason he hasn’t responded.
Jeff Rosenbaugh, Michael Perkins, and I had a podcast for about 2 years called Literate Cinephiles where we discussed book to movie adaptations and even interviewed a couple authors. The episodes were taken down after we retired it, but Michael recently re-uploaded them. You can check it out wherever you get your podcasts.
I’ll never stop talking about great books, movies, and television. Artists are going to keep creating which means there will always be great stuff to talk about. I have no plans to monetize this Substack, but I do hope to keep building a community and having great discussions. It’s certainly a gift to me and hopefully can be to others. Thank you for being part of it.
One final quote found in Keep Going:
What I’m really concerned about is reaching one person.
-Jorge Luis Borges.
Here’s to keeping going!
Kyle
Cyclist Greg LeMond said: “It never gets easier; you just go faster.” While true in athletics, I’m finding it doesn’t apply to writing.
This is tongue-in-cheek play on “weekend warriors” and a reference to the 1989 Mormon musical Saturday’s Warrior.
Love this so much. Though my primary hobby is also indeed a side hustle, I started learning piano just for me and for our household. Great write up, my brother-friend!