The short answer is yes, most minimalists have hobbies. In fact, minimalism encourages hobbies and other things for your emotional well-being. Now many people see this as a contradiction. This is because there are many myths about minimalism, and they usually give a bad impression. The key to debunking these myths is to understand what minimalism is.
This is minimalism
Minimalism is a tool for simplifying your life. It is not a religion, a cult, or a moral code. It is no closer to being any of these things than a screwdriver is.
Minimalism works by removing useless things from your life and keeping them out. These useless things can be material things or intangible things. The focus on useless things is easy to understand:
Useless things take up resources while giving you nothing of value in return. So minimalism is about taking out the garbage and keeping it out. After all, if something is useless, then it's as good as garbage.
Also, minimalism does not try to remove useful things from your life. Getting rid of useful things is not minimalism. It is deprivation. Deprivation complicates your life and makes it more difficult. Minimalism does the opposite.
Examples of things that bring value to your life include hobbies among other things. Hobbies are valuable and useful because they add enjoyment and purpose to your life. This is enough to debunk the myth that minimalists are not supposed to have hobbies, and there is more.
Here is the purpose of minimalism
As I said, minimalism is a tool for you to use as it is a tool for an aerospace engineer to use. I say this because an aerospace engineer on the job must think like a minimalist. Anything useless on an aircraft design will only be dead weight. It will only degrade the aircraft's performance and efficiency while adding no value.
An aerospace engineer uses minimalism to maximize an aircraft's performance. But you can use it to simplify your life. The reason for simplifying life is to make it easier. Making your life easier is a good thing. It is also incompatible with cutting out things that you enjoy. Having nothing enjoyable in life would make life difficult. This also debunks the myth that minimalists are not supposed to have hobbies.
Here is the reason behind the purpose of minimalism
We know that minimalism simplifies your life to make it easier. The reason is to free up resources to meet your emotional needs. Here are things that meet your emotional needs:
Spending time with people who you enjoy being around
Spending time doing and experiencing things that you enjoy
Doing things that make you feel good about yourself
Moments of relaxation and inner peace
These are the things that bring joy and satisfaction to your life. These are the things that make you feel happy and fulfilled.
Minimalism advocates providing just enough for your physical needs. But it advocates doing as much as you can for your emotional needs. This is because once you meet your physical needs, extras won't make you more comfortable. Here are examples:
Example 1:
If your home is at the right temperature, making it warmer or cooler won't make you more comfortable.
Example 2:
If you sleep in comfort on a full-size bed, you don't need a king-size bed.
Example 3:
If your belly is full, eating more won't make you more comfortable.
This means that once you are comfortable, trying to add to it is useless. So not going to excess will free up more resources for your emotional needs. This is the point of minimalism. It is to free up resources for you to maximize your happiness.
Also, doing and experiencing things that you enjoy does help to meet emotional needs. These things include hobbies. This also debunks the myth that minimalists are not supposed to have hobbies. In fact, minimalism allows more resources for hobbies.
As you can see, meeting your emotional needs demands time. But some hobbies also demand material possessions. That's fine provided you use them when you are practicing your hobby. Otherwise, you would render them useless.
So if you are an audiophile, then enjoy your HiFi Stereo.
If you are an astronomer, keep your telescope.
If you love photography, keep your cameras and lenses.
The bottom line is that you are using them to bring joy and purpose into your life.
In summary, the answer to whether minimalists have hobbies or not is yes. Many minimalists have hobbies and minimalism frees up time for them. So if you are wondering if minimalism will allow you to keep your hobbies, the answer is yes. In fact, you will have more time and other resources for them.