Chapter 5 of Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist, appropriately named "Side project and hobbies are important." is about just that: explaining that people, creative people especially, need time to do other things besides work. They need time to do nothing. Kleon mentions that he never goes to the dry cleaners for this reason, he finds the boring and repetitive action of ironing great for stimulating ideas. I can't help but agree with this practice.
Boring work can be incredibly helpful because more than likely people are going to be thinking about what they'd rather be doing.
The things I do when doing nothing usually consist of cleaning my room, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning the cat box, and other various house chores. Lucky for me, I have a lot of free time at my place of work, inspiration doesn't come easier when avoiding actual work. (I promise I'm a great employee.)
Another key point in this chapter, mentioned in the chapter title, is having a hobby. "Don't throw any of yourself away." Hobbies are a part of your identity. What else could be said about the things you actually want to pour your time into? It's the part of your day just for you. Where you don't have to worry about a deadline or the happiness of a client. You do it for you and everyone needs that. Not only does it regenerate your creativity, but it shines through in your work.
My hobbies are vast and I do it on purpose. I try to introduce myself to as much as I can. Some things stick and others don't but at least I can say I've tried it. Right now I love to paint abstract, cook, I do photography, I keep a minimum of six plants alive at a time, read and write, of course I play video games, I run (yeah, like the exercise), I like to fix things, and I love, love, love collecting. There's three major collections I've had for years now. Coffee Mugs. Sweaters. And notebooks/sketchbooks.
That's all for this week.
— B
The things I do when doing nothing usually consist of cleaning my room, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning the cat box, and other various house chores. Lucky for me, I have a lot of free time at my place of work, inspiration doesn't come easier when avoiding actual work. (I promise I'm a great employee.)
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| My many plants alive at the moment. |
My hobbies are vast and I do it on purpose. I try to introduce myself to as much as I can. Some things stick and others don't but at least I can say I've tried it. Right now I love to paint abstract, cook, I do photography, I keep a minimum of six plants alive at a time, read and write, of course I play video games, I run (yeah, like the exercise), I like to fix things, and I love, love, love collecting. There's three major collections I've had for years now. Coffee Mugs. Sweaters. And notebooks/sketchbooks.
That's all for this week.
— B
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