People keep very kindly suggesting that I:
- Start an Etsy shop to sell my rocks
- Reach out to local craft/boutique stores to sell my rocks
- Reach out to car groups to advertise my painted car rocks
It’s so nice that people think I could sell my creations. I appreciate that!!! But here’s the thing – I’m not looking for a side hustle right now. I might in the future, but not right now.
I stated painting and hiding rocks in December. I had a decent month+ of good hiding weather but I want to hide rocks and experience it when the weather is decent – aka June (sometimes). If I focus on making things to sell, I won’t get to do that. I’ll also have less time to make rock gifts, which I really enjoy.
I’ve done 1.5 car commissions and guess what? I put too much pressure on myself and it stressed me the eff out. Not so much about getting it perfect, but getting it done. Making a hobby my “job” takes away some (a lot) of the joy.
I love painting cars but my latest commission is of the one color I have the most trouble with (the pen), sigh
I could just paint what I want and see what sells and hide the rest, but meh. Again, for now, I don’t feel like setting up a shop, doing transactions, shipping, etc. I don’t want to add stress and timelines to my hobby. And I don’t want to start a new job when I’ve just started a new job at my “real” job.
I’m totally cool if someone reaches out for a commission, I’m just not interested in advertising or pushing it. It’s just a hobby right now.
But I do appreciate people thinking I could sell them, and think it’s cool I’ve had three (one for words, two for cars) commissions!
(And to be clear, I thank everyone here who comments on my rock posts and shows interest and support and has suggested I sell them – it’s not you all that prompted me to write this! And it’s not someone who reads this blog.)
I understand that you want to keep your hobby a hobby… it can add stress to set up shop, even if you promise yourself to just do it “casually”.
Your rocks are cool though and I am sure people would buy them 🙂
Thanks for understanding! And exactly – even if I try to make it casual, I will be extra about it. Maybe someday though!
Thank you! <3
I totally get this – one of my sisters kept telling me I needed to sell my crossstitch pieces I was making at the beginning of the pandemic. But then it wouldn’t be fun and relaxing anymore!!! And you know yourself well enough to know that making a business out of it would be something you would take very seriously, and therefore it would add stress to your life. So very wise decision just to keep it a hobby and a way to make very exclusive gifts! 🙂
Oh yes you get it! Like, I do this thing to wind down… and it already has a tendency to make me stressed if it’s not going well, so why add that extra layer, now?! Did you finally get her to stop suggesting that? That is the part I am struggling with.
I think that makes a ton of sense! If I could go back and do the end of my teens/beginning of my 20s all over again, I never would’ve majored in English and gone into journalism. Being required to write to get paid took nearly all of the joy out of it. The “follow your passion!” stuff is well-intentioned, but I think it’s really, really hard to do something you enjoy when you know you have a payday riding on it, even if it is just a side hustle sort of situation.
Oh gosh yes to that too. I would definitely go back in time and get a different major!
I wonder if the generation after us has figured out how to do their passion for work and not have it suck the life out of it.
I think it’s sooo smart to just let your hobby be a hobby. It could be really easy to get sucked into trying to earn money from your creations, starting an Etsy shop, etc., which would totally take the joy out of the simple act of creating to leave a little bit of joy on a trail. I do wonder about this incessant need we have to make everything a side hustle – and I’m guilty of wondering if you would want to sell your rocks! But whyyyyy. Can’t you just enjoy something creative without needing it to make money?! It’s so weird that we think this way, honestly. Hashtag capitalism?
I wonder why we do that too! And you don’t have to be guilty, it’s really a compliment to me! It’s just that many say that (again, a compliment), but some will not stop saying it to me, when I just want it to be a hobby right now. It makes me think of how everyone thought they should get paid to blog, lol. I must be a bit old school in my thinking of what hobbies we should get paid to do.
I wonder if this is an US thing, or if people in other countries have this push to make money from their hobbies as well.
What Stephany said… why DO we feel the need to have “side hustles”? I wish there were a “You don’t need to make your hobby a hustle!” article for every “Want to start a side hustle?” article out there. 😛
I love your rocks, but you do what makes you happy.
Also, I want to know where Amy is getting their cross-stitch kits! (Old hobby, would love to bring it back…)
There needs to be! I wonder if this is a trend that will fade away.
Aww thanks!
I will ask her! Although she is in Belgium so it might not be super helpful 😉