I want to play piano because my grandma loves when I play, even though I can only play third grade songs. It’s too late anyway, but I feel bad because I’d like to play a full piece for her.
That was something one of my friends said, almost as an offhand comment. I tend to hear snippets of something similar when my friends say they want to start doing something.
“Too late.”
But we aren’t seventy year old people, and even then, it’s not too late. There is still so much time. So how come everyone is saying that it’s too late to start?
The term most likely comes from comparison. Of course you would feel discouraged if a five-year-old played a ten minute long piece on the piano, without flinching, and you were ten years older, unable to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Who wouldn’t?
But you probably haven’t put in as many hours of practice and effort. How is it fair to yourself to hold yourself to a similar standard when everyone’s lives are completely different?
Another part of growing up that I’ve noticed is how a hobby, preferably several hobbies, seems like a requirement. Ever since we were younger, we have always been asked “What do you do as a hobby?” as an icebreaker question at school, in clubs, etc. It makes it sound as if we should have a hobby that we developed when we were younger that we stuck with for five, six, seven years.
What if we don’t have a hobby? What if we’re still working out what exactly we are passionate about?
Also, “watching TV,” “watching Netflix,” “playing video games,” etc. isn’t seen by most people as a “productive hobby.” Students that enjoy these kinds of activities scramble to find a “real” hobby when the icebreaker question is thrown at them.
And as we grow older, we physically have less time to spare because we have more responsibilities. But the lack of time isn’t the main problem.
Even my sister was reluctant to start something new. “It won’t matter, I didn’t start it early enough anyway.” And she was only in fifth grade.
Eventually, she gave in and started knitting and crocheting, and now, it hasn’t even been a year but she’s already made several stuffed animals and a blanket for our cat.
The mentality that a hobby has to be started when we are young is harming out perception of what we are capable of. It doesn’t matter when we start. It matters how much we care about it and how much work we put in.
