Rediscovering the joy of hobbies
Iwas out for a walk on a beautiful spring day in April, clearing my head from the litany of phone calls and Zoom meetings. It took me a few minutes to even notice. But when I did, and looked around, it was everywhere. All up and down my quiet street there were gardens. Some of them were blooming and luxurious, some were obviously more amateur efforts. But I’ve never seen so many. Canadians, clearly, have caught the gardening bug.
Or more specifically, as we’ve ridden out this pandemic and repeated waves of lockdowns and public-health restrictions, Canadians have turned to hobbies to keep sane. And you know what? I hope this is something we can keep moving forward. Hobbies are good and healthy. We could all use more of them.
Gardening isn’t for everyone. It’s certainly not for me! But it’s been incredible to talk with friends and family to compare notes on how we’ve spent our respective lockdowns. Walking trails and provincial parks have been packed. It’s almost impossible to find sports equipment or a bicycle in Toronto.
And there’s more than just anecdotal evidence of this. Surveys across Canada and the United States have both tracked an increase in respondents saying they’re taking time out for hobbies. Exercising at home and watching TV and movies were obvious choices. More hands-on hobbies, including arts, crafts, sewing and woodworking, also saw big jumps according to an early 2021 survey of Canadians, with roughly a fifth of the country passing the time by keeping creatively engaged.
I’ve spent years working in the sports and video game industries, and have long understood gaming’s ability to bring people together, but was still pleasantly surprised when gaming activity and revenues skyrocketed in early 2020 as the world hunkered down to quarantine. As the gaming industry experienced a significant leap in its growth and maturity, the entertainment industry and broader business community has now come to agree with me: the BBC reported late last year that the video gaming industry was expected to grow by 20 per cent in 2020 alone, largely driven by people finding ways to stay entertained and connected while riding out this global pandemic.
I grew up an avid gamer, but when it comes to hobbies, I’ve always been a collector. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved collecting sports cards, autographs and memorabilia. I’d frequent flea markets on weekends and as early as the late 1990s, I had created my own ebay account to buy and sell sports cards. Early in the pandemic, I dug out some of those old boxes and began looking back at cards I’d collected over the years. There are whole online communities that focus on this, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out how much some of these cards would be worth if I chose to sell them. For example, a Tom Brady rookie card I purchased at a flea market for $20 in high school was professionally graded and is selling for as much as $25,000.
I haven’t sold any of my cards. At least not yet. The joy is more in owning them than profiting. But it was eye-opening. It had been years since I had spent much time looking at the collectibles and memorabilia market, and it has matured considerably. There are entire asset classes being actively traded, by either lucky hobbyists or investors, that few people know anything about.
We will see more of that. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTS, are a new spin on collectibles. Using blockchain technology, unique captures of moments and digital history can be created, owned and traded. The concept seems strange to many, but as I looked at my old sports cards, it occurred to me that despite the dense terminology, NFTS really are just another domain of memorabilia and collectibles. One of the most appealing aspects of NFTS is the ability to verify ownership and supply. The Tom Brady rookie card sitting in my living room may be one of 1,000 or one of 100,000. It’s impossible to know for sure. But when I purchase an NFT of Lebron James dunking a basketball, I know with absolute certainty how many digital versions are in the market.
Future generations of collectors may take a pass on keeping their precious prized collectibles in folders on the shelf and instead own (and trade) them digitally. Ask any teenagers whether they would prefer to show off physical products or if they prefer to create consumer envy by showing off their products in their digital world. The vast majority prefer the latter. This is especially true since NFTS can come bundled with the kind of experience you can’t find in a cellophane-wrapped pack of physical cards — one Mexican soccer team, for instance, is offering a special NFT that will also include a one per cent ownership stake in the team. The reserve price, be warned, is a cool US$1.3 million ($1.6 million).
One thing is for sure — while life should soon get back to something that’s a lot like normal, some things are going to stay changed forever. We should all hope that a renewed focus on hobbies remains one of them. I know I’ll be watching closely.