The Radiant Counterattack of Useless Things: How Hobbies Lead Our Lives into the Deep Sea

The Radiant Counterattack of Useless Things

We live in an era dominated by ‘utility.’ From the moment we wake up until we go to sleep, our actions are mostly aligned toward some purpose. Study is for grades, work is for rewards, and even rest often degenerates into a functional means called ‘recharging’ for the next day’s labor. A life that chases only efficiency in this way is smooth and fast, but paradoxically, very shallow. Like a motorboat gliding quickly over the surface of the water, we only skim the surface of life and have no time to feel what lives beneath or what the temperature of the water is. Today, I would like to talk with you in a slightly different direction. It is about ‘Hobby.’ A hobby is essentially a ‘useless’ act. It does not bring immediate profit, nor does it raise social status. But that very ‘uselessness’ is the most powerful driving force that leads our lives from a flat plane to a three-dimensional space, from a shallow stream to the deep sea. Let us gently examine the psychological and philosophical sides of why hobbies go beyond simple killing time to deepen the layers of our existence.

1. Homo Ludens: The Archetype of Existence Recovered by the Playing Human Dutch historian Johan Huizinga defined humans as ‘Homo Ludens,’ meaning ‘playing humans.’ According to him, human culture and civilization began to sprout not from the struggle for survival but from play and pleasure. In modern society, hobbies are almost the only channel through which we can recover this ‘instinct to play.’ When we immerse ourselves purely in something—that is, when we feel joy in the act itself without being conscious of rewards or others’ gazes—amazing changes occur in our brains. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called this ‘Flow.’ Upon entering a state of flow, the passage of time is forgotten, excessive consciousness of the self disappears, and one experiences a sense of unity where only the object and oneself exist. Having a hobby is like holding the key to enter this ‘sacred realm of flow’ even for a few hours a week. In this process, we temporarily put down the role defined by society (someone’s parent, employee, student, etc.) and face the purest form of ourselves. When these repeated encounters accumulate, a solid ‘core of existence’ that is not easily shaken by external storms forms within us. Depth of life begins from this solid center.

2. Expansion of Senses: How to Read the World More Closely Hobbies present us with a ‘new lens’ to see the world. To a person without hobbies, a forest is just ‘a place with many trees,’ but to a person whose hobby is drawing botanical details, a forest becomes an exhibition hall where fine curves of leaf veins and tens of thousands of variations of green flow. A person who takes up woodworking reads the flow of time in the grain of the wood, and a person who listens deeply to classical music captures the secret conversations exchanged between individual instruments amidst the huge noise of the orchestra. Thus, senses refined through hobbies dramatically increase the resolution of our lives. We see as much as we know, and deepen as much as we feel. The tentacles of those fine senses, gained by digging deep into one field, transfer to other areas of daily life. The delicacy of feeling the diversity of life in the acidity of a cup of coffee and gaining comfort from the subtle color changes of the sunset on the way home from work is a richness that only those who have undergone the discipline of ‘hobby’ can enjoy. Ultimately, deepening life means acquiring the ability to discover fine textures that others do not see in the same time and space and to draw up rich meanings from them. Hobbies transform us from insensitive observers into sensitive enjoyers.

3. Safe Zone for Failure: How to Grow Without Being Hurt In modern life, failure is seemingly fatal. Mistakes at work lead to performance reviews, and failure in studies adds to future uncertainty. So we are always tense and suppress ourselves not to make mistakes. But the world of hobbies is different. Hobbies are the ‘only area where failure is okay.’ Even if you burn the bread while baking, give up in the middle of marathon practice, or play the wrong note during an instrument performance, there is no major blow to your life. Rather, that clumsy process itself is the essence of hobbies. According to the concept of ‘Serious Leisure’ proposed by sociologist Robert Stebbins, hobbies go beyond temporary pleasure to accompany patience, effort, and the acquisition of skills. The important thing is that we learn ‘resilience’ in this process. In the world of hobbies, we willingly become beginners, make mistakes to our heart’s content, and taste the joy of improving little by little through those mistakes. This experience of restoring the value of the process in a result-oriented world puts a powerful protective shield over our souls. When a great trial strikes in real life, those with hobbies retreat temporarily to that ‘small world’ they have cultivated to gain energy and the strength to stand up again. Hobbies become a buffer zone that disperses the load of life and a bastion of self-esteem that does not collapse, increasing the density of life.

4. Multi-layered Relationships: Solidarity Beyond Social Personas Life also deepens through relationships with others. However, most social relationships we form are often based on interests or roles. Relationships formed through hobbies have a completely different layer. This loose yet solid solidarity, connected only by ‘liking,’ gives our lives a healthy sense of liberation. Regardless of age, occupation, or social status, the experience of discussing a specific topic all night and sweating together expands the breadth of understanding of humans. Looking into the life of a person with a completely different background from mine through the common denominator of ‘hobby’ becomes an opportunity to break down prejudices within us and grow the ability to empathize. Also, within the hobby community, we are respected as ‘subjects of taste’ rather than ‘functional humans.’ Someone who is just ‘Assistant Manager Park’ to others is called a ‘craftsman with excellent aesthetic sense’ in the leather workshop after work. When roles in life become diverse in this way, we have a multi-layered structure where the whole life does not shake even if one role collapses. The psychological richness gained by mixing with various people broadens the horizon of our lives and makes our gaze toward the world more generous and deep.

5. Conclusion: Cultivating Your Own ‘Secret Garden’ Dear friends, now ask yourself once. “Do I have something useless that excites me?” If so, you have already entered the orbit of a sufficiently deep life. If you haven’t found such an object yet, it’s not because you are lazy, but simply because you haven’t allowed yourself ‘time to explore.’ Hobbies don’t have to be grand. A 10-minute ritual of drinking tea sitting by the window every morning, taking pictures of nameless wildflowers every weekend, or the devotion of filling an old fountain pen with ink and transcribing a poem. Whatever it is, if you do it without a purpose, only for joy, it becomes the root that deepens your life. Just as the ground gets deeply wet when it rains, hobbies sprinkle the rain of ‘meaning’ on the dry land of repeated daily life. A life that has absorbed that rain does not dry out easily and emits a deeper scent as time goes by. I recommend you plant a seed in your own secret garden, temporarily escaping from the compulsion of efficiency and speed. When that seed grows into a lush forest, you will finally realize. The fact that life is not simply about enduring, but a work of art that becomes endlessly deep and rich through hobbies. I bless with all my heart every time of your hobbies that will deepen, and your soul that will shine even more at the end of it.