The Hobbies I Never Talk About

“Some of my proudest accomplishments are the ones I never told anyone about.”

Photo by Sarah Brown on Unsplash

Do you have hobbies you enjoy? Things you do simply because they make you happy?

I have many.

Ever since my teenage years, I’ve enjoyed learning different things. Most of my hobbies never involved other people. Partly because I’m introverted, but mostly because I never found anyone who shared those interests with me.

Over time, I stopped talking about them.

Every hobby was followed by the same question:

“What’s the benefit of it?”

“How will it help you?”

“Isn’t it just a waste of time?”

And eventually, I did what I always did with my feelings.

I hid them.

You can see it even today.

I’ve been writing for more than six months now. Not for very long, but long enough for complete strangers to read my work, relate to it, and leave kind words behind. Some people know me only through my stories. They’ll never recognize my face, but they recognize my thoughts.

Yet not a single person in my personal life has read my writing.

Not because they wouldn’t.

Because I never told them.

I didn’t want something that brought me comfort to become a dinner-table joke.

I didn’t want to hear that I was wasting my time when I should be studying.

I’m twenty-eight years old now. Three years ago, I left my job to prepare for government exams. What I wanted was financial freedom. Ironically, after becoming free, I found myself feeling stuck.

Sometimes I look at my life and wonder how I ended up here.

I was always the kind of person who believed everything happens for a reason. Yet here I am, still questioning some of my decisions.

But that’s a story for another day.

This story is about hobbies.

Or perhaps, it’s about all the versions of myself I quietly left behind.

I’ve never been a one-thing person.

I wanted to learn everything.

At different points in my life, I learned to draw. I learned foreign languages. I explored perfume making. I spent hours reading novels. I learned to dance. I taught biology on YouTube. I reviewed books and earned a little money from it. I created an Instagram page to guide students. I started writing stories online.

And almost every time, I stopped just before becoming really good at it.

Not because I didn’t enjoy it.

Not because I wasn’t capable.

But because I kept asking myself a question:

“Is it worth the battle?”

And every time, the answer was no.

Not because happiness wasn’t important.

But because peace felt easier.

Sometimes life presents a choice between protecting your joy and avoiding conflict.

And more often than I’d like to admit, I chose peace.

How could I explain that novels gave color to parts of life that felt grey?

How could I explain that the quiet girl who barely spoke enjoyed learning French and Korean, practicing conversations with herself, and discovering new cultures?

How could I explain that I loved drawing even though it would never pay my bills?

How could I explain that learning itself made me happy?

I couldn’t.

And so I never tried.

I couldn’t tell people that these were accomplishments too.

That even if I wasn’t the brightest student in the room, there were still things I did well.

I couldn’t tell them that the girl who struggled to express herself could somehow write words that resonated with strangers.

That the person unemployed for three years still found ways to create, teach, learn, and keep going.

That success isn’t always measured by a salary, an exam result, or a job title.

Sometimes success is simply refusing to let a difficult season turn you into someone who stops trying.

And maybe that’s why I’m writing this today.

Not to talk about my hobbies.

But to acknowledge them.

Because they mattered.

And they still do.

Author’s Note

Sometimes we dismiss our hobbies because they don’t make money, earn recognition, or fit neatly into a career path. But many of those hobbies quietly shape who we become. They teach us confidence, curiosity, discipline, and resilience.

I’d love to know: What is a hobby you enjoy but rarely talk about?

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