What is the Hobbyist Challenge Series
The Hobbyist Challenge Series (HCS) is many things at its heart but for the most part it’s a passion project made to embrace everything I love about hobbies, while also implementing the discussions we have so that it’s proof those concepts can be applied to any Hobby but also to have fun. Don’t get me wrong I have fun with every piece of content I make no matter the format that it is in, but this is something special above all others for me as it’s a chance for me to put myself out there while also enjoying new Hobbies I may not have even tried before.
The HCS (I don’t want to type this every time forgive me) isn’t something I’ve ever done before, it’s a massive undertaking, its demanding of me and I have to use underdeveloped skillsets so while the finish project is a labour of love, fun and something I can embrace with the community the journey to get to that finish line is one of hardest tasks I’ve had to undertake but I hope others will enjoy it as much as I have; maybe there will be behind the scenes content in the future for people to see my hardships.
You can watch the first episode in the series on our YouTube channel but for now let’s delve deeper into this labour of love.
The History of its Conception
The idea of this series had been in my head for decades, it started more as a means of picking up and trying new Hobbies then as I always do I like to evolve my Hobbies and see what I can do to enjoy them more; lets just say I’ve been setting myself challenges all my life. When I became aware of content creation it sparked my intrigue because although Hobbies are my obsession it wasn’t always something I had shared with anybody, you could say I’m a bit of a loner at least I thought I was.
Early days this wasn’t the case, I was too scared to put myself out there and share my thoughts be it in the written format or visual; as such it remained a concept in my mind and the Hobby collecting continued. Until one day I discovered my Autism then all the weight and confusion surrounding so many parts of my life suddenly became clear and organised, I found new communities that spoke my language and over time I gained confidence.
This Blog and Channel etc isn’t my first adventure as prior to the aforementioned I took up video and Photo editing as a Hobby (Hobby #412) and I posted my creations online for feedback on how I could improve; this was the plan but nobody watched them as such nobody commented so it didn’t all go to plan. Although I was learning a new skillset my expectations where non-existent but after learning of my Autism I realised the content wasn’t focused on what I enjoyed and wanted; as such I developed the Hobbyist Community to build something I wanted to be a part of, the talent and skill can be developed in the future? Right?
What I hope to achieve
This was such an interesting header to place into this blog post, for the most part people have clear objectives and goals within their life I don’t or depending on how you look at it everything in my life has the same goal “I hope to enjoy it and learn something from it”, no matter positive or negative I always reach my goals.
For the Hobbyist Community I have hopes that the content will be received for what it is, ramblings of a mad man… or somebody who has a passion they want to share and if the after effect it helps people then we are off to a good start but I’m no longer afraid of being myself, putting myself out there and going with the flow.
I don’t follow trends, I produce content what I and my community would like to see or need help with and I hope one day the production quality will be acceptable but there’s always the written word, nope because I type as if I’m having a conversation in my head.
A Break from my ramblings?
There’s no breaking from my ramblings, if you didn’t notice by now all I do is ramble, get lost in my thoughts and lose track of the point I was trying to make but at the heart of it there’s purpose, intent and passion hopefully a few will come to see this.
I guess I should approach this heading slightly different “Ramblings in a different light”, we have ramblings of subject matter, we have ramblings in written blog format and we have the challenge series were I still manage to ramble when trying out new Hobbies.
You will always get an authentic self when it comes to my content in every shape or form because I don’t know nor want to be anybody else but myself I hope you can appreciate that.
The first challenge wasn’t Jigsaws but myself
Ok maybe I’m having some kind of emotional crisis while writing these headings but it doesn’t make it any less true, as of writing of this blog I have noted down ~85 Hobbies I want to try out for this series; that’s about 7 years’ worth of content at my slow release schedule but before all of that I have to deal with creating content that is completely out of my comfort zone but like Jigsaws this challenge has been accepted.
The challenge series isn’t like anything I’ve produced before, while learning to edit and use software I took video and photos of my dog on our hikes I used these to learn and develop new skills. Then with the Hobbyist Series I had the confidence to sit in front of the camera and discuss a topic, I developed small scripts to make sure I covered key topics and didn’t go off on tangents ‘too much’.
With the challenge series it almost feels like I need to plan out an entire production and story, the beginning of the journey how I take up and research the Hobby, the middle where I show my path of discovery, learning from my failures and heading towards the challenges. Ending on a discussion with myself and the community seeing what I had learned, applying our knowledge and feeding back on the whole experience. The beginning, middle and end is a story telling journey of which I don’t have the skillset at all but I’m slowly learning and like most things it feels like I’m picking up Hobbies… I mean skills a long the way and I hope it gets easier in the future.
Challenges within myself to overcome
It’s good to know what you struggle with, planning out a script of actions and shots so that I can remember I have the desired footage of content I need to cover isn’t my skillset at all. Yet long after I shot and edited the first episode in the series it was more about reflecting on the experience than starting the second episode (I should get on with that…soon) this was because there was so much to learn from the plethora of mistakes made along the way.
Yet this gives me the realisation no matter the outcomes of this content I’m exactly where I need to be and this is what I need to be doing because the amount of curiosity and excitement within myself producing this content and trying to get better is a feeling that is so hard to replicate. I will overcome the challenges along the way, with your help and likely other blogs / books / videos and community members providing me much needed knowledge and guidance.
So much to learn
For the series going forward I wanted to structure it better to ensure the beginning, middle and end flow a little better so that although you seamlessly feed into each other I want it to also be obvious in the direction it’s going not to mention structure is great for my brain.
I watched a lot ‘Hayden Hiller-Smith’ early on when I was learning to edit, not to learn the secrets of YouTube content creation but his style of creating content always appealed to me, I felt there should be a story within the content but also entangled with the purpose and concept so that what the audience is taken in but can be relatable and purposeful. Early on I had no idea what he was talking about, but I took the advice that made sense to me but over time it clicked for me, maybe not in the way everybody else thinks but how my brain could understand the concept of story telling that worked for me. Once my brain latches on to something and understands it the pursing of nurturing it and seeing where it goes is all consuming I hope over time that’s developed into the HCS but I must say the journey is steep, tiring and I think I got maybe three or four splinters from the first episode so I’m curious how many times I hit myself in the face for Episode Two.
Why Jigsaws?
For the first episode in the series I wanted to do something bold, out there and prove to myself this concept could work by choosing something very few would of and if it works we’re off to a good start proving the work I’m doing here makes sense; it still does in my head but if I find a few others who get it too, that will be a bonus.
I used to do Jigsaws as a child with my mum on rainy days so it wasn’t a new concept to me I had done them before but never pursued it as a Hobby or interest simply a fun way to pass the time. Yet when trying to figure out what Hobbies to take up in the series this one kept going to the top because even I thought how am I going to apply my knowledge and experience to such a Hobby.
Soon as I got stuck in with the Jigsaws it was like something took over, I became curious, excited and really eager. I was practicing with the puzzles getting accustomed to the concept all the while thinking how I would shoot footage, what angles I would use but instead of practicing few times and then taking some footage I spent hours and days just thinking about the Hobby, the concepts and the challenges. It’s likely why this first episode took longer than expected but it proved to me in that moment this series could work it would just be my lack of skill, talent and personality that would be the road blocks not to mention the script… Ok I’m getting off subject again but from here everything I thought this could be was confirmed in my mind so all I had to deal with then was the ‘How’ do I create and produce this content?
Hopeful and Excited for the Future
There’s a lot on my mind as I’m writing on this blog (Ramblings?) but it’s all so positive as such I’m hopeful that I will be able to keep up with the story, the passion and the concept with each produced episode I make and with every Hobby I pick up.
Lessons Learned
I’m my own worst enemy, I get in my way, and I overthink things; yes, I’m describing my neurodivergent brain and my personality, but they are all me. The biggest lesson I’ve learned along this journey so far is that it’s not about getting it perfect or going viral it’s about knowing how my brain works, adapting to its needs and ensuring the content I make stays true to what I’m trying to produce for this community.
I will continue to ramble and discuss in the Hobbyist Series, I will pick up new Hobbies and apply our discussions to new Hobbies and I will share this and more in as many ways as possible because the end of the day I’m excited to share and find people who might be on the same page / planet as me who want to share their Hobbies and pass on their information. You only get to do this by staying true to yourself, ensuring the core values of the concept are upheld and don’t take yourself too seriously. My writing / grammar skills are awful I’m likely going to give somebody a headache from reading this but doesn’t make the words and the feeling behind them any less true.
My Hopes, Wants and Needs
I hope that this community will grow, have open discussions about their Hobbies and help each other enjoy them even more.
I want to be able to produce content in many forms that hopefully with time will grow into something that others can be proud to watch not just myself, but stay true to the concept and be seen for somebody who does so.
I need, to pace myself, thank my community and keep moving forward there’s lots to be done, a lot more grammatical errors to make, a lot more amateur content to produce and a lot more fond Hobby memories to make.
Your thoughts and hope for the challenge series?
I’ve rambled on now for what feels like a lifetime and I hope you feel the passion I have for everything that I produce no matter the production quality. As always I want to know what you think of the work being done here, is there more you would like to see or something I need to improve upon (besides the obvious) as always I’m lead by my community and with your help I will continue on this journey bringing people together to discuss, enjoy and embrace their Hobbies.
The Dreaded Signing Off…
The early days of our content and blog will be focused on around general subject matters, something we can all relate to, such as time, money and organising / routines then branching out to more diverse and sometimes wacky subject matters all to get you thinking about your Hobby in different ways but also for you to pay it forward and teach us about your Hobbies.
I thank you for making it to the end, there are and should be other blogs for you to read; if you like diversity in your content you can watch our video-based content on YouTube, our reels and photos on Instagram or you can swing by our live streaming on Twitch to engage with us in real time, no matter your content of choice I can’t wait to hear from you.
*Please note any funding or donations towards the Hobbyist Community goes into helping fund the creation of the content here and I thank everyone for their time in visiting our website and other media.
Have a lovely day and happy Hobbying.
