On “becoming an adult and moving on”

General Yo-Yo
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I didn’t want to pollute WickerWraith’s BST thread and also thought after my specific questions for them that this could be a broader topic for discussion. @WickerWraith don’t hesitate to let me know if you’d like me to remove the first part of this post and keep it general.

If you don’t mind me asking, what do you mean by becoming a “full adult”? Graduated university? Got a job? Got married? Have a child now? Turned 25 and can now rent a car? I’m just curious what it could mean that you would be limited to a single hobby for the rest of your life.

Regardless, I wish you luck with your sale. I would suggest keeping or using your BST proceeds to keep a single plastic yo-yo (the Plastic 000 would be my recommendation b/c you have a 000 in your BST post) for if/when you get the itch later on down the line. I say plastic so you can treat it like the toy it is and not worry about keeping it pristine or worrying about chucking it in a drawer or bag or box in the closet.

With the specifics out of the way what does everyone think about the concept of “moving on” from the hobby in general? Logically I understand it, heck for a period of like 9 years between graduating high school and college I yoyo’d minimally (though I did go to a couple Boston Throwers meet ups after running into Michael Ferdico wearing a yoyoexpert shirt on the street as well as take the opportunity to go to nats in 2015 when it was in LA and I was interning in the Bay Area), but for some reason I just can’t fathom giving it up and never throwing again.

Maybe it’s because it’s been a part of basically my entire life so I just can’t imagine life without it? There were SuperYo performers that came to our elementary school a couple times and I ended up with an Infinite Illusions catalog after ordering a diabolo from them in 6th grade (after seeing circus performers use them) and then in 7th grade I found the community online which really started the deep interest/obsession with the hobby.

There are a lots of people I know from that period who still yo-yo (heck I roomed with one for Nats ‘15, they really came in clutch for me) or are still involved in some way, some I know who moved on, and one I know who replaced the hobby with another. So I guess it’s not really a foreign concept to me, but one that just always seems a bit “alien” when it comes up.

Anyways, I’ve rambled on long enough, what does everyone else think?

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I stopped playing right around 22 years old. But it was mostly because it was so difficult to learn new tricks. I felt like I was played out.

Didn’t play for around 20 years. Maybe did the odd loop or brain twister but that was it.

Picked it up again at 42 years old…wish I’d never stopped. With the resources and worldwide community we have through the internet I don’t know why anyone ever would.

I mean if you don’t have fun anymore…THAT is a reason to not play.

But if you enjoy playing…why stop? Fun has no age limit.

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Thanks @Isaac for posting. I too felt a desire to respond to @WickerWraith’s BST post.

@WickerWraith, it’s clear that you are going through some changes in your life that you consider a major inflection point. I would assume this comes from areas outside of your hobbies primarily. In this time of transition for you, I would offer the unsolicited advice of a stranger and say lots of things are changing for you, and I would recommend that you make fewer proactive changes like “let me consolidate my hobbies” and give yourself time and space to adjust to your new circumstances. I know it may feel like you have no time for it now, but that circumstance may not always be true, and you may regret the time you decided to make extra changes in your life. Adulthood is long, and there will be time to sell your throws later once you’ve learned who this new you is.

Best of luck with everything, including the BST post!

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Very nice topic, always wanted to open something like that and this seems a good excuse.

In the case of the OP in the BST, he wants to concentrate on music and prefer to spend his free time in this way, fair enough as a musician myself I can understand how much time it requires music if you want to play it properly and as he said lessons, equipment and stuff are incredibly expensive.

As adult I think people refer the most as someone that has a full time job, family, maybe kids, and other adult stuff and have basically little to no time for itself (such a sad view in my opinion but fairly realistic).

if I can bring my experience at 33 y/o I am considered fully adult but I tried to shape my life around what I like to do and my hobbies and never really cared about work career or similar which are time consuming most of the time.

I work in a school so I have school hours and saturday/sunday always free, I finish at 3:30pm and then I have all the day free for my hobbies, I live with my girlfriend and I have no kids (and no intention to have them for now), I have to say that I live exactly as when I was 16 but now I pay bills and I can afford a bit more things that I like compared than before.
My girlfriend respect my space and she knows I need my hours a day for my hobbies and she has hobbies herself so we have a sort of “agreement” where we do together our hobbies until dinner time and also after dinner, she like to crochet on the couch while I yoyo.

Saturday we usually date outside and sunday we clean the whole house and then hobbies again.

Adult stuff as bills and similar take around 5 minutes at the end of the month where I pay my part of rent and bills, I sit down literally 5 minutes with my partner and we sort it out quickly.

I know many people doesn’t have this luck but this doesn’t mean that there is “no time”, a friend of mine skateboard with his son, another one play yoyo and have long walk with his kids and wife, I see another playing music with his daughter and other many examples.
My mom paint, go to the gym and started to take a second University degree and she works full time.

I think if a person want will make time for what love to do, being adult is not only take care of the house and kids and other possibly boring stuff.

I would like to add that in this forum and in general in the yoyo world I can see so many people having great fun and being fully adult and involving their kids, I would say that if someone has a classic 9am/5pm job can cut at least an hour a day for itself to enjoy, I think this is also a way to take care of your mental health and be happy in life.

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Don’t like the insinuation in that bst post that Yoyo is a waste of time…you want to be a musician? Nice! Go for it… there is something special about Yoyo…it has the perfect blend of intellectualism and physical mechanics for me and I love it…to me, “being an adult” is about knowing what is important and what makes you happy and figuring out how to allocate your time to allow for you pursue those interests…if you want to focus on your music, awesome good luck…I just don’t like the idea that making music is more “adult” than Yoyo or something…

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I can understand where he is coming from. As you get older, you get less and less time for your hobbies so you have to focus more on the hobbies that you enjoy the most.

I’m 30 now so I’ve found that between chores and responsibilities and work that I have to choose what to spend my free time on carefully. And some of that free time gets spent on doing absolutely nothing because I need a little bit of chill between whatever else is going on in life. Now the benefit of getting older is I have more money to spend on my hobbies but in turn less time to spend on enjoying them. Probably why I buy so many yo-yos….

For me, yo-yoing was something I picked up as a little kid and it’s been my sort of fidget toy as I grew older. It will always be apart of my life because it’s easy to pick up and put down. I can play for 5 minutes or an hour and I can bring them with me anywhere.

I will say that I am blessed that my lifestyle gives me a lot of time to enjoy this hobby. My girlfriend and I are both night shift nurses. So I work 3 12 hour shifts and then I get 4 days off. And since I’m up most of the night and sleep through the day, there isn’t a whole lot to do other than play yoyo, watch movies or play video games and board games.

So while it fits perfectly as my hobby of choice, I can see where someone would give it up for something else they love more. Humans pick things up pretty quickly but it takes longer and longer to reach that next level of mastery. Maybe 20 hours to get good, but then 500 hours to be great and then 2000 hours to be amazing. If your goal is to become really really good at something, then you have to invest a LOT of time practicing that thing. And whatever thing makes you happy, is what I think you should focus on the most.

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As a balding, arthritic that went corporate and is nearing 40 with two kids a slew of pets and very little free time. Yoyo brings me joy…

I stopped yo-yoing when I went to college cause I thought I had to buckle down and “grow up”. I went into corporate life and I had to go to an office and talk to people I don’t like in a suit that’s itchy and suppress who I am to impress those around me. I think I wore goofy socks for a time as my form of expression… For a time I thought I had to live that life style to succeed but COVID hit and I got to work from home for a while. It was freeing I got to re discover hobbies and my interests.

Now I have to go back to an office and I have my EDC on me at all times. I openly yoyo while in meetings when I don’t need my camera on and don’t need to take notes. I yoyo on my lunch break or when I just need to decompress snd step outside. I’ve got a few odd looks and heard a few folks talk but I do it with confidence and I’ve learned people don’t care if you are doing something without care for what others are saying/doing around you.

I yoyo when at the park with my kids or after diner. It’s just a thing I do when I have idle time.

I have no aspirations of going pro or anything. It’s just a way to decompress and have a bit of fun for me but I don’t imagine I’m going to hit an age snd say nah I’m an adult now. Maybe my hands will stop working one day or my back will hurt too much to do long sessions but I don’t imagine I would never toss a yo-yo again even at that point…

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Yo, I’m almost 40. I have responsibilities, wife, kids, house, a job, all that ■■■■.

I play with yo-yos every single day and I play video games every single day. I laugh at fart jokes. Don’t tell me what to do.

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Becoming an adult doesn’t mean you have to stop throwing but if I’m honest, after high school I stopped a few hobbies, moved out on my own, got a job and later went to college and got married, so I understand where he is coming from, I suppose. I also came back to those hobbies a few years later. Also, when my first kid was born, I tried to keep up with several hobbies but eventually stopped those for a few years as well; only to come back to them later. Sometimes life gets too busy to keep up with everything and you have to let some things go for a bit. Now, as a “full” adult with two kids, I yoyo all the time (with my kids), at home, at work, and in public. I also play table tennis, ride dirtbikes, practice sleight of hand and like to play around with Rubick’s cubes lol so to each their own. Do what you enjoy and don’t worry about what others think.

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I’m over 70. I am now a fully retired adult. I had all of the full adult pressure with family, work, and everything else. I always had my hobbies. The amount of time I spent with each waxed and waned over time but I always had my hobbies.

READING and writing, bicycling, photography, guitar/banjo, electronic design and prototyping, computer programing, HAM radio, motorcycles, and FLYING. And those are just the big ones.

Now that I am retired, I still keep up with most of my hobbies. Health issues forced retirement and precludes some of the hobbies mostly motorcycles and flying.

If I didn’t have multiple hobbies, I would be bored out of my mind.

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Played as a kid in the days before the internet. Had maybe 3 tricks in my arsenal. Forgot about it as a teenager… Tried again when the 90’s boom hit and learned enough to know I liked it and have good associations with it, but it was “just something to do”… Martial arts, music, surfing, and skating took over all my non-professional time for years and didn’t rediscover yo-yo until I was like 27.

Have literally not gone a day without throwing in 18 years, because now that I’m a grown-up, I actually kind of understand time management and have better insight into the joy I take from certain things. Yo-yo is a really hard (and in my personal view, kinda foolish) thing to “quit” because it demands so little of you. Becoming an adult has more to do with knowing yourself than doing “adulty” things. I think it’s important to build in time to do things which keep you whimsical, curious, creative, and which aren’t built around some greater acquisitive objective. I’m 46, and I feel like the act of yo-yoing (which is not even to mention the amazing connections and friendships I’ve made through its community) brings me more joy and fulfillment than it ever did when I was young.

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I think this is one of the most beautiful sentences I have ever read, thanks for that, this is really a great advice and lesson

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I simply have no choice but to sell the majority of my collection.

Sounds like wraith is not selling his/her whole collection, just downsizing.

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I’ll turn 57 this summer and only throwing since 2015. I’m still intermediate and happy with what I know but always trying to smooth things out. Started begleri last December. No wife, kids. Yoyos and begleri are fidget toys for me. I’m trying to be an adult and make adult decisions about life and my financial future and yoyo and begleri are the toys I employ to relieve anxiety and stress and I can’t imagine leaving my house without these toys in my pocket.

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I think that yoyoing is a good way to make firends as an adult. Just because you have a job, a formal education, a committed relationship, whatever else have you that all kinda entails “adult life” doesn’t mean you have to give up being a kid at heart. Yoyoing is an awesome thing where I have yet to meet someone who isn’t impressed even by me showing them how to wind an unresponsive yo. I hope that the BST guy doesn’t lose his sense of joy (not saying that yo is 100% responsible for this but it sounded depressing).

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Definitely agree, since graduating college last year, I got back into it, and it’s been a great way to find friends and community.

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Figured I’d chime in on this topic too. My adult schedule is fairly grueling and I work in an industry where not a single person cares about yoyo. I think @edhaponik said it best in his Kill Your Yoyo interview, it’s like a tiny temple in your pocket. Often times my adult life gets way too real and stressful and having a yoyo helps balance me a bit, allowing me to get outside my own head. Of course I play yoyo in my free time just for fun and enjoyment, trying to advance my skill level, but sometimes I use it as a forced meditation of sorts. It helps center my focus and decompress. Adulting is hard sometimes.

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Yeah I agree with this one most. Being an adult is honestly learning balance. When your young you have time to obsess over small things or specific activities but as you get older you just have to live life with some moderation and balance and set time aside for what you like and what you have to do. There is no right way of living life it’s just finding what fits you and going with it. If throwing a yo-yo brings happiness then throw a yo-yo. Heck some on here probably don’t even use there yo-yos but they get great joy in collecting them and that’s cool too.

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I think maybe people are caught up on the wording of ‘growing up/ becoming an adult’.

If someone is just now getting out on their own there are lots of bills you don’t expect and yoyoing CAN be a pricey hobby depending on how you interact with it.

I am almost 28, married young (8 year anniversary coming up! :partying_face:), and 3 kids so between that and church events I also attend naturally I have a very full schedule.

I personally myself do limit myself to about 1-2 hobbies ish or so for my main time sink typically as well and I think that has served me well towards doing something with intentionality and mastery.

Especially if something you want to do will take up more time and money than yoyoing and you want to do that more there is nothing wrong with that.

Myself personally I got into yoyo because it wasn’t a screen and there are places at my work I could use it when I can’t have my phone with me as something to do while waiting for things.

I enjoy it a lot and it’s a main hobby - though I have sort of a ‘set collection’ that I am interested in and I don’t buy ones I don’t think I would like and I sell the ones I don’t throw often enough. which depending for some people could be just money sitting around.

easy example you have a $500 titanium you don’t throw/like that much and can sell for $400 why not use that $400 for ANYTHING ELSE? (doesn’t have to be boring that would be a dope tattoo potentially lol)

I personally found begleri/knuckle rollers from the same thing but I don’t collect them I just have the ones I think are cool and I like to do those to fidget instead of like a fidget cube/spinner and when I can’t yoyo (ie in a cubicle).

I have moved on from many hobbies myself and can talk well to that idea at least and why and if I would/have moved back.

Other hobbies I have done and largely moved on from:

  • speed cubing → I was happy with my times and I didn’t want to memorize 100 algs to get my 3x3 time from 25 sec to sub 10 sec → I can solve 2x2->7x7 and things like square one, ghost cube 3x3, megaminx, further ghost cubes are VERY expensive

  • magic the gathering (modern format competitive at game store tournaments) → Covid and family growth stopped this initially, when I had spare time and cash to prioritize trying to go wasn’t as fun as it used to be and resold it again

  • juggling → I learned how to juggle 3 consistent, 4 mostly, and clubs, didn’t want to sink more time to do 5

  • PC gaming → personal convictions on not looking at junk online, on time, and other things prompted selling the PCs and haven’t regretted it for my spiritual freedom as well as time available to me

  • Console gaming* → I still have my nintendo switch but I only play with my wife and can’t recall the last time we have in the last few months

Mainly my gaming has evolved on what I enjoy to enjoying mainly just Chess for competitive gaming aspect and board games since its with friends.

I don’t foresee being done with yoyo ing just because I really have enjoyed it as much as I have and the benefits I find of it as a hobby. I yoyo everyday. though I know for myself I am close to being ‘done’ with my collection as I only am looking at grabbing a few outstanding ones I think I would like and then just keeping an eye out on new ones at that point I may like. You definitely don’t need to throw it out just cause ‘you’re older now’

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I see yoyo as the cheapest hobby I have. Sure I can spend 50-300 on a new throw but I can also use what I have for years and the string and supplies I have right now will last me a decade.

Compare that to most other hobbies and the bar to entry (10 bucks in a cheap yoyo) and consumables and yoyo is dirt cheap.

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