The downside of turning your hobby into a business

Losing my Crojo

As the old adage goes, turning your hobby into your business will make you hate your hobby. I feel like I lost my crojo recently. I've been focusing on growing my YouTube channel and making my own designs that I haven't had time to truly sit down and immerse myself in crochet.

Even when I'm crocheting nowadays, I think about stuff like "Ooh, this would be a cool video to film," and then I think about the shot and whatnot. I think I need to just allow myself a project where I just create. No filming, no thinking about the shot, the angle, or lighting. Just sit and crochet.

I'm FOMOing hard

I feel like a common reason for loss of crojo is because people might just get bored or depressed. In my case, I lost my crojo because of my own doing. I feel like I'm in this vicious cycle where I have FOMO about good opportunities to film a project. So whenever I crochet, I'm not fully present with the art but instead focusing on how I can make this project "filmable". Plus, I also feel overwhelmed with having a full-time job as well.

I wonder what it would be like to fully be a crocheter or have a business dealing with crochet. I know the grass isn't always greener on the other side. BUT, what if the grass is thicker and/or softer—just not necessarily greener on the other side?

My regrets

I've always wanted to be a YouTuber ever since YouTube came out. No joke, my first ever YouTube account was created in 2006. School and life got in the way, as who would have thought you could make money off of YouTube? I know if I had started YouTube way back then, I wouldn't have the life skills I have now. But still... I want to give this a shot. I don't want to feel like I just gave up before I even started.

I traded schooling for my passion and hobby back then. If only I'd just stuck with doing what I liked, then maybe the money would have followed. That's why I'm building Loopy Crochet now. I truly love crochet—it saved my life when I was at my lowest point. Making content is fun, designing is fun, but testing is not fun though. I need to learn how to use that program that creates 3D mockups of crochet patterns to streamline my workflow.

What about you? If you have a business that stems from your hobby, do you still enjoy your hobby now? Let me know in the comments—I'd love to hear your experience.

Love you, stay safe, and crochet on.

Love,

Your Fellow Loopies

I'm so proud of this ice cream top, it look so much like ice cream!

My first ever written and published pattern. I'm so proud, I hope others enjoy it as well