This week, I thought I’d talk about something a little different.
Let’s talk podcasts!
While nothing makes me feel good like curling up with a book, sometimes you just don’t have the mental space to read. Sometimes the written word is too hard to focus on and you find your mind constantly wandering. These past few weeks have been that way for me so I have decided to mix things up a little bit. Let’s get into it!
In this series I will discuss some of the podcasts I’ve heard recently and the things that have stuck with me.
Whitney Cumming’s podcast- Good For You, the episode with Taylor Tomlinson.
Background
I found Taylor while scrolling on Instagram one day. After listening to some of her stand-ups on the app, I decided to watch her Netflix special- Quarter Life Crisis. I’d be lying if I said this is not my favourite comedy special on Netflix. Whitney, however, I’ve known for a little longer. I used to love watching her show ‘Whitney’ and I’ve seen her in a few different things over the years. So tuning into this podcast during one of my walks was a no-brainer.
Crux of the matter
Towards the end of the podcast, Whitney brings up the topic of hobbies. She comments that Taylor has no hobby that she does not monetize on. She states that for her, helping horses is a way to step away from constantly creating content and helps her re-centre her creative energy. This idea of having a hobby just for enjoyment is one that I found myself especially intrigued about. For a generation that has grown up on Instagram, we are all almost waiting to go viral. If we create any art, we post about it. If we have any thoughts, we immediately share them. A part of us is always creating content for others to see, hoping we would be accepted or attain some level of fame. The two also mention doing things that one is bad at. How often do we continue with things that we are not good at? Taking my own example, when I started posting pictures of my artwork, I slowly realised I was competing with artists. I had turned my hobby into a weird competition and then I found myself questioning if I should continue it, if I was even good enough.
I’ve spoken to so many artists through my ‘Meeting the artists of tomorrow’ series and they all have commented on how competitive and creatively draining a space platforms like Instagram can be. While there is so much good in them, they have also made us lose the idea of hobbies, doing something just because it brings you joy. If you do something, you have to excel at it, it can no longer be just a hobby because you are showing it to the world and opening yourself up to a million critics.
In fact, not only Instagram but I feel like universities and the drastically increasing population are all factors that contribute to this. As everything gets more and more competitive with the growing population of the Earth, we all struggle to stand out. When we apply to universities at a young age, we are taught to excel in our hobbies so they can look good on our CVs. An example of this is seen in so many American High-school movies where Asian students are told that excellent grades, playing the cello (a major stereotype) and volunteer work is not enough to get admission into an Ivy League University. You have to do more… you have to be different. This absolute necessity to excel at 20 things in your CV, be a part of the top 1% of everything is extremely draining. At the end of the day, we are unable to find who we really are. Do you really enjoy playing the cello or does it just look good on your CV? Are you allowed to be bad at anything anymore…?
Do I recommend it?
If you’re considering listening to this podcast on a long walk outside. I’d recommend it! It is informative and a good break from thinking about yourself while contemplating social issues. There may be moments when you relate to their experiences which I hope is more of a learning experience than a trigger. They discuss insecurities at length, in a manner that was more honest than I’ve heard before and I’m honestly all for it. This podcast made me feel less alone. It reminded me of the number of people and the kind of trauma people suffer. It also helped me understand that we all deal with things differently and understanding each other makes people feel less alienated and brings us together.
