Ch.1 - A Hobby

A place to escape, a place to hide out. At your very own pace, you find peace, you find silence. A breather from the responsibilities you wish you had never taken, a sneak peek of a different reality.

I picked up pottery at the beginning of the year, mostly because of all the potter reels I’ve been watching on Instagram. From the asmr sounds to visually soothing clay shaping, I was hooked, I imagined all the possible homeware I could shape with my hands, even dreamed of retiring in the Japanese countryside while owning my very own pottery studio. That was how excited I was about trying pottery. With the thought of brightening up my mundane everyday life, I began my first lesson.

Well, you see, I might be exaggerating here. But as the pottery wheel was spinning, my mind was in absolute peace. As if time around me had stopped and the only thing moving was the pottery wheel. If you’ve seen enough sci-fi movies, it’s when you freeze time and you become the only thing on earth moving. I think I’ve found my pace, my comfort zone, my hobby and I don’t think I’ll ever want to step out of it.

I can’t help but wonder: if you live in a city like I do, surrounded by busy vehicles, grumpy passers-by, trains that come by every 2 minutes, and streetlights that are never off, do you crave a moment of calmness like I do?

Interesting how we’re all born with preferences, yet stuck in a box of capitalism and social norms. Very unfortunate to see our options are often never ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, but ‘Most Likely’ and ‘Least Likely’. Is it the unknown that we fear or ‘Yes’ ‘No’ was just never an option from the beginning?

But anyway! To end my first weekly blog, I would like to share two of my favourite potters from Instagram and a light-hearted song to end our very first chapter :)