The Rekindle journal
Founder letters and beginner-first guides from our Buddies. Written by people who remember day one.
The loudest hobby advice of 2026 is don't monetize your hobby. The research behind it is real, but narrower than the slogan: money hurts a hobby when it controls what you do. Here is when getting paid to share a hobby works, and when to skip it.
Only 9% of side hustlers now call theirs a passion, and the research on money and motivation explains why. It also points to a way of earning from your hobby that leaves the hobby alone.
Half of people treat September as a fresh start, and the research behind it is real. But a reset supplies motivation, and motivation is almost never why a hobby lapsed. Here is what actually survives past week three.
Friction-maxxing is the trend of 2026, and it gets hobbies half right. There are two kinds of friction: the kind inside a hobby that builds you, and the kind in front of it that only wastes the motivation you started with.
Vinyl passed $1 billion and half of the people buying it own no turntable. The analog revival is real, but it is a buying trend more than a doing trend. Here is what the research actually says, and what closes the gap.
Everyone is going analog this year. Film cameras, granny hobbies, chess clubs. Most people still will not start, and the reason has nothing to do with information.
The information was never the problem. What I was missing was a person a step ahead, and the feeling that I wasn't doing it alone. By Saji.
If you were like me, playing piano practically necessitated the existence of sheet music. By Jonathan Chen.
Picking up and playing chords for the first time. Everyone starts somewhere, so please be patient with yourself in this journey. By Jonathan Chen.
A beginner-friendly guide to the two types of indoor climbing, and everything you need for your first bouldering session. By Alex.