Anne Helen Peterson Needs to Get Out of My Head
I'm an elder millennial, super-hobbyist, and I feel... attacked? Seen?
For the last two weeks, I’ve been relatively laid up in bed, at least for my standards, due to an elective surgery (read: don’t feel sorry for me). Working in a job that requires frequent travel and long days, I couldn’t work. I could barely read words because a medication blurred my vision, so I could only move about my home - putter if you will - while everyone else in my household was at work or school. That’s a dangerous place for my mind to be.
At one point in time, I owned about a dozen domain names. Anytime I would think of a clever name for anything - literally anything - I would buy the domain. I would fever panic, as in, “What if someone else is thinking this same idea right now?” I must stop what I’m doing and Go Daddy.
My thought process behind this was that one day I would start that blog, organization, or business. I was never the person who wanted to own domains as an investment hoping someone would have to buy it from me one day - as a creatively minded domain hoarder, I truly hated that business model. For example, my original idea for my Politics on Purpose newsletter was the Middle.com (some half-thought-out combination about mid-life and being middle-minded politically). It ended up not being right, and thank goodness for that, because the domain agency wanted 170,0000 American dollars for themiddle.com. I asked.
And gentle reader, you must know that these ideas swimming in my head and in my Bluehost account were all over the map. Restaurant concepts, hotel names, blogs, political coalitions, non-profits, design shops, and art galleries. You name it, and I’ve probably considered a name for it.
All the while, my professional life has remained relatively steady. I’ve worked in one general industry my entire career and have stayed focused and done well for myself. I don’t job hop and am a loyal, reliable employee. I went back to school a couple of years ago for my MBA - a field related to my day job but something that also completely expanded my horizons and qualifications for even more hobbies gone wild. Maybe I was meant to be a marketer. Maybe a brand consultant (this one might have legs, folks!)? My favorite course was entrepreneurship, and my best marks came in marketing. What’s a girl to do?
This is where Anne Helen Peterson’s article comes in.
I always thought that I was unique in all of this and had some hard-wired trait for my mind to constantly move and innovate. If I didn’t work in corporate America, I had a long list of other jobs I would love and daydream of having. Novelist, pizzeria owner, hotelier, bookshop, design shop, interior designer, artist, gallery owner… the list never ends.
But now, Anne Helen Peterson, in her eternal wisdom, has me asking, “Does this just make me a Millennial?” Born in 1982, I am an elder of my generation, but every point in Anne Helen Peterson’s latest Substack on Millenial Hobby Energy slapped me in the face. I am just like everyone else - and am strangely comforted by this idea. We can take a minute for you to go read it…
Now, back to my puttering.
Because I could not read words well during my recovery, I clocked a lot of hours on Pinterest and art gallery websites, just looking at pretty things. I’ve long loved art, my sister is an artist, and my husband and I actively collect works we love. By the end of the first day home, I had ordered no less than $200 worth of art supplies (both acrylic and oil paints) and decided I was going to ditch my day job and become a painter one day. Y’all. This woman had lost her damn mind - except I hadn't, the idea still sounds pretty doable in my head.
And I even thought - well, what if I’m no good? I already had a flippin’ answer. Well, if I’m not good at art, then I will become a collection consultant. My neighbors are always saying I have a good eye and that I could spend all day browsing galleries. Hmmm… yes, maybe I’ll do that instead even. I started looking at the Instagram accounts of incredible women like Illa Gaunt, thinking, “Yep, I could do this next.” Why not? Y’all. I am a smart and capable woman who would have done well in an art history program back in 2002 - but in 2025, year of our lord? I am no Illa Gaunt. Where do I get the nerve?
Once my eyesight became more reliable, I did more reading and less looking, stumbled on AHP’s Substack, and was rocked. All this time, I didn’t necessarily have talent - I just had Millenial Hobby Energy like everyone else (including AHP herself!).
Peterson had my number with this piece. If you, too, are a Millennial with Big Hobby Energy, I hope you’ll go check it out. She’s always been so good at reading the room - and by the room, I mean the culture - especially where now middle-aged women are concerned.
This quote in particular hit home:
It makes sense that whatever hobby we find we like doing…..we struggle not to turn it into work. I don’t even mean getting paid for doing it, although we’ll get to that later. We make it hard because when something’s hard, and complete it anyway, it feels like we’re “being productive.” And the more productive we are, the better we feel.
I am not sure there is anyone (well, I know there are, but you get what I’m saying here) who is more addicted to the dopamine hit of productivity. I write things on a to-do list just so I can mark them off. I also make to-DONE lists. When I run errands, I track how many stops I’m planning and jot down the time it takes to complete each one, so I know that next time I need to run into the grocery store, I can grab the basics for dinner and be out in 13 minutes.
Despite Peterson’s precise description of my entire adulthood energy, I’m not giving up on any of my dreams. I had already culled my list of domain names (I don’t own any that I don’t use anymore!) Instead, I try to remember that many of my interests can be captured in my daily life without fanfare, obsession, or monetization. Not everything needs a domain name, a logo, or a Netflix series.
So to show Peterson and her article a thing or two - I haven’t cracked open one tube of paint, and I haven’t given one thought to the name of my future gallery yet.
I just started this newsletter instead because, you know what? I’ve also always wanted to be a writer.