A Private Endeavor
I do believe learning in public is a wonderful thing, and we all could benefit from people sharing their struggles and failures more openly in a society that so often rewards only the end result. However, I also think that there is something precious about a private endeavor, done solely for one's personal enjoyment, and mainly not for the world to perceive.
The time we're currently in can feel awfully performative. No longer does a throwaway comment about starting pottery suffice. Pic, or it doesn't happen. If it doesn't get into your portfolio, what good does it serve? In this day and age where the push to record every single thing we do, collect every little thing we make, and tell every life event we go through is everywhere, carving a space for your self to just exist, even momentarily, is profound. (Privacy, what a quaint idea!)
A community is a wonderful thing. But you can definitely start gardening without having to gush about it, build a brand around it, or making it your whole identity. I've been in enough creative communities to concede that some people do need the level of accountability a public space could provide, but there's also a degree of harm when someone very new doesn't get enough time to engage with their activity on their own pace and term. Instead, they get exposed directly to established maxims and entrenched beliefs. What might start innocently simple may seem less satisfying, but the hollowness is induced by fear of missing out.
Normalize having something you don't show on social media. Normalize keeping a piece of yourself for yourself. Normalize doing something no one cares about. Make nonsense. Do nonsense. Be playful. Be curious. You may end up feeling like you have to share it to the world. Or not. Or you may end up sharing it for a while and decide that you prefer keeping it in. Normalize changing your mind about what you want the world knows about you, and normalize accepting people for their decision to do so.
I wish you luck in your private endeavor.