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Throughout quarantine, I’ve been cycling through projects: cartoon cupcakes, nature walks, knitting, jump-rope intervals, journaling, Pound workouts, testing TikTok hacks, aromatherapy. I dabble for a few weeks, then shift abruptly to something new, well before I develop any real expertise on the topic. Turns out, I’m not the only one—it’s a thing, which sociologist Dr. Robert Stebbins calls “hobby swapping.” It’s a way to stave off boredom, but that frantic jumping from project to project doesn’t tend to last. Eventually, if you enjoy the topic and allow yourself to dive deeply into it, you’ll find your thing—and it will be fulfilling.
“And in fulfillment, we realize who we really are. We have found something that we can do, that we like to do, and that we do particularly well. It becomes an identity,” Stebbins told Vice.
One of the things that can make it hard for a project to “stick” in quarantine is that we’re teaching ourselves new tricks. Maybe we read a tutorial online or watch a YouTube video, but that’s it. Maybe that’s why quarantweening has been so big—not just for that dose of nostalgia and simpler times, but because tackling things like tie dye and friendship bracelets are tried and true projects we know how to master. Either way, the new things have a bit more of a learning curve, making them harder to truly commit to beyond the basics.
That’s where Amazon’s Camp Handmade has intrigued me. Available through August 15th, the series pairs virtual workshops with crafting kits, so you can learn from a maker directly (while supporting their small business, as they make and ship the crafts to you through the juggernaut ecommerce site). The workshops let you dabble in floral painting, bath salt soaks, needle felt stuffed creatures and candle making. Given my morning diffuser routine—apparently that aromatherapy phase is sticking around for a while—I went with candle making.
Led by the founder of Banter & Bliss Candle Co., the workshop makes melting and pouring your own candles all too easy. At first, I was a little intimidated by the use of a candy thermometer to keep the melted wax from surpassing 200 degrees F—would it seize up, like chocolate? How quickly would the temperature rise, anyway?—but the instructions are so straightforward (and conversational) that those concerns soon disappeared, and I could just enjoy the process. Which I did.
And soon, after a friend suggested I start a side hustle featuring quirky candles that paid homage to some of my favorite things (namely, my very Floridian love of all things Pitbull and Flo Rida), I began thinking that hey, maybe I could be a candle person. Maybe this could be my thing: mixing scents, learning all about different waxes, learning the best combinations for a hot throw that’s as powerful as a cold throw (which is the fragrance you smell when the candle is lit vs. when you sniff it unlit, as I learned during the workshop).
Admittedly, there’s a part of me that’s like, “yeaaah, you’re a candle person…until next week.” I’m not sure whether I’ll stop hobby swapping during quarantine—to be honest, right now I’m really enjoying dabbling in a bunch of different things as the world gradually reopens. Whether it sticks or not, I’m learning: about myself, about a new skill, about a new way of living and thinking. Right now, that’s enough for me.
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