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what I'm about to say will likely bother some folks and I apologize in advance, but it's my hope that if you feel seen you consider the impact it's having
turning your hobby into a side hustle, and especially your full on career, can and will change how you approach it.
turning your hobby into a side hustle, and especially your full on career, can and will change how you approach it.
I've seen this in video games, artist-land, and various other hobbies, but never as strongly as I have in board games.
I suspect this is partially due to the initial approachability of making stuff in the tabletop space, and this is in and of itself a good thing!
I suspect this is partially due to the initial approachability of making stuff in the tabletop space, and this is in and of itself a good thing!
but - and this is basically my thesis - the pressure (and in some folks' cases the NEED) to turn a hobby into an income stream permanently recontextualizes the way in which it's seen by them both consciously and subconsciously
I know people in all kinds of industries who had their love for something destroyed by their attempts at monetization, and that's regardless of how successful they were.
one was a lover of art who had a knack for finding fantastic pieces. He opened a gallery.
one was a lover of art who had a knack for finding fantastic pieces. He opened a gallery.
the time in which he owned and operated the gallery was misery. He came to hate what he had surrounded himself with because it represented more than just beauty, craft, and what he originally loved. They now all represented work. Opportunity. Costs.
when he sold it he felt freer than he had leaving any other awful job he'd held, despite those being much more demanding in many ways.
The same is true of many folks I know who went into the restaurant business. There is inherent destruction in monetization.
The same is true of many folks I know who went into the restaurant business. There is inherent destruction in monetization.
Suddenly people you admired are your competition. What you used to love doing is drudgery because it's no longer a release. Your output is judged - often harshly and sometimes unfairly! - by those who you previously considered hobby-mates.
and you feel awful, often increasingly so. You lose touch with the attraction to the thing that got you there and struggle to remember what it even was to begin with. And eventually, over some indeterminate amount of time, you trail off. Do something else. Let it go.
Some folks find their spark again. Some don't. I know video game industry people on both sides of that fence and lemme tell you, I feel bad for both.
I have experience with loss of passion at the hands of capital. I won't delve hard bc I like some privacy but it's truly painful.
I have experience with loss of passion at the hands of capital. I won't delve hard bc I like some privacy but it's truly painful.
My goal with saying all this isn't to scare you. I would never tell anyone not to make things. DIY punk shit is my favorite and if you make a cool thing it's obviously fine to sell it.
I'm asking you to please be careful.
I'm asking you to please be careful.
Center yourself. Please don't allow yourself to get hollowed out by turning what gives you solace into more stress.
I don't want to see any more people I care about turn bitter and cynical when they talk about something that used to make their eyes light up.
I don't want to see any more people I care about turn bitter and cynical when they talk about something that used to make their eyes light up.
(that's it I'm done, sorry for sadding up your timelines)
