Your craft should transcend its medium. In Bukowski’s case, his craft was writing. He started out as a poet but turned into something deeper. Toward the end of his career, writing had nothing to do with writing anymore…it had transcended its medium. This is how I interpreted this quote- his poems aren’t ‘poems’…they are experiences that hold SO much power they can transform the reader. This is how he separated himself as an author. In my life, this has become evident in most of my hobbies. To list a few-

Running has become a ‘spiritual experience’.

Lifting has become a ‘therapy session’.

Surfing has become a ‘moving meditation’.

Writing has become a ‘conversation with God’.

Medicine has become a ‘opportunity to serve others’.

You know you are doing things right when your hobbies start to rise above their inherent constraints. This is growth. Your hobbies start to have less to do with the initial ‘hobby’ and more to do with serving a single purpose- bettering and molding yourself. Everything you do, no matter how different it seems from the outside, ultimately flows into one output. Multiply that over a few decades and you’ll be incredibly ahead of your peers. This the secret. This is how you win.