The way that I make sense of fursonas and fursuits is to just reflect on the various silly things I have done as part of my hobbies. I made a chainmail skirt/dress for a party a while back. It took many many hours and the result is great, but I mostly did it because I like having a project to work on, and the event I was making it for was a great opportunity for people to tell me about how awesome the new thing I made was.
I'm also friends with a bunch of LARPers (Live Action Roleplaying, for anyone who doesn't know — like Dungeons and Dragons, but with more hitting people with foam swords in fields). I'm not really into LARP myself, but I've been to a few because it's really cool when you know enough people that you feel a part of a community. A couple of times, I wasn't even playing, but helping out as crew, which meant putting up tents, ensuring everyone got food, helping put secrets into envelopes. LARP is one of those hobbies which is like, objectively weird (I say this with affection), but having existed in that sphere, the reason why most people do stuff is because they want to make cool shit that other people will appreciate, and they want an excuse to hang out with friends for a weekend in a field or a ballroom.