So I like plants and gardening. My appartment is full of plants and I have a small herb nursery in my window sill. I’m currently growing three basil plants and a pepper plant.
I go to social media for tips and tricks and as usual it’s full of people with grade A set ups producing lots of herbs and veggies and stuff. I started growing my pepper plant and after weeks I managed to produce a whopping number of 1 pepper. The weird thought that occurred to me was: I failed. I failed because my pepper plant isn’t as productive as the plants I see online.
Meanwhile: did I have fun doing this? Yes, I loved watching the progress of this plant. I did feel cool when I added my home grown pepper to my dinner. Isn’t that what hobbies are about?
How many people are out there quitting things because they aren’t immediately good at it because social media primed us to crave instant satisfaction through constant dopamine hits? Pick up hobbies, be bad at them, learn, have fun.
I definitely think you are right. I consider myself a reasonably good cook for a home chef/hobbyist (I am maybe excessively beholden to traditional recipes, but it is what I like making), but I think if I hadn’t started when I was younger before social media blew up, I prboably wouldn’t be.
My first dishes were borderline inedible. My parent’s aren’t great at cooking so I was mostly self-taught, there was a LOT of trial and error involved. I would have probably thrown my pan out the window if I didn’t turn out a perfect omelette the first time I ever cracked an egg. On the other hand, some of the cooking shows that highlight bad chefs were kind of inspiring to me, because many times they showed those chefs turning their kitchens/recipes around and doing something great.