Thursday, September 10, 2015

Pick an Obession, Any Obsession

Okay, what next? I need something new to focus on so exclusively that I drive my family batty. Right now I’m unanchored, and I don’t like it.

I pick up and drop interests in a regular pattern. They last about a year before they suddenly deflate and drop back to earth. A few years back it was knitting, then crafts in general, followed by Sherlock and Doctor Who, which segued into anime, which dragged the Japanese language along with it. And now… I just don’t know. I’m a little jittery without something to occupy my mind 24/7.

It’s not like I’ve completely abandoned any of the above. I could suddenly dive back into knitting, or finally drag out the sewing machine. I even went to the dollar store and bought craft pumpkins, because Pinterest. I still want to go to 221B Con and Timegate, and buy manga. But the pure obsession is gone, and I’m much less likely to commit to any of them with the unbridled enthusiasm I once had.

I never know what might grab and harness my attention. It could be a new TV show, or a fictional character, or a literary genre, or a board game, or … or … glass blowing for all I know. But until I’ve discovered whatever it may be, I’m restless and uncomfortable and petulant.

15 comments:

  1. Similar boat, the computer games aren't holding my attention like they used to and I'm running out of money and house projects that don't require a paid professional. Pretty much all of my tv shows ended last year. I've still got the drinking and smoking but that's not very productive or healthy, I advise against those.

    I suppose we both have the writing thing, but I'm afraid the more of it I do the sooner I will burn out again.

    Keep us posted what you find, I'm open to suggestions. Probably not knitting though.

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    Replies
    1. I haven't tried gaming yet.... but probably too much of an outlay to get set up.

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  2. Competitive Scrabble. Start by reading "Word Freak" by Stefan Fatsis. It will put you in the mood to memorize every 2 and 3 letter word in the Scrabble dictionary.

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  3. volunteer....any place..even if it's one day a week or a month...first thing you know you'll be on the internet begging stranger for money so you can give old folks a nice christmas..

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    Replies
    1. I really do need to get myself in gear and do something not selfish for a change. My high schooler is required to do a certain amount of community service.

      Delete
  4. You could vacuum obsessively every day.....walk, take up yoga, take a cooking class and feed your family fabulous meals that take all day to prepare...or click next blog. That alone takes hours of your day or night if you can't sleep. Personally, I vote for vacuuming...there's the research, the going to the stores to test models, checking out the bag types, belts and brush speed, then the going online to find the best deal, wait for the delivery, mark the calendar on the first day you use it and finally seeing how many days it takes for the damn thing to break. Works for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just talking about testing vacuums today with someone at work. Research never ends once I start. I just starting limping near the end and decide I don't want/need whatever it is I was researching.

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  5. Yes! Relating. Because I have a draft started about this very thing, but ... yep. Abandoned. Years ago.

    Not a good thing, because as the years pass, my cycle of full-bore obsession to abandonment becomes more blatantly apparent, causing me to just ignore those urges. Like last week, I really, really got the urge to do the adult coloring book thing. But then I berate myself: What's the point in spending the money on the books and coloring pencils/crayons (because that involves an additional level of obsessive research and needing the best, shiniest, satisfyingly arranged and organized equipment), let alone finding a way to get it to where you live with no house number or street name, when you know you're just going to abandon it. How long since you've picked up your sketchbook? Thought so.

    I've noticed that now I tend toward obsessions with knowing about something. Like the sport of curling. Or the process for electing new popes. (I live in a tropical country and am not Catholic.) All those hours becoming an expert on something that has no practical application. Or even an impractical application.

    JP: that is exactly the reason my blog lay fallow for so long (Why start up again? So you do your lone post for the year? Like you did in 2010? And again in 2012?) and why I'm kind of warily watching myself right now.

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    Replies
    1. ah, yes, we have coloring books. somewhere. which has reminded me how much I like paperdolls...

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  6. holy cats - are we all drinking from the same spiked punch bowl? I've decided to re-claim my inner goth chic. I'm almost back down to the size that I can wear all of my favorite gothy clothes again. I've held on to these damn gothy clothes for 15 years. I've realized that it's my true nature to be dreary. I'm embracing dreary for a while, we'll see how far I get.

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  7. Just as there's only 2 positions
    for a light switch, UP or DOWN,
    the on position is pointing skyward...
    while the off position is pointing
    toward our demise, to the whorizontal.

    Many analogies we might surmise
    of that proposition... yet,
    only 1 belief in the King of Hearts
    who gives U.S. His Magnificent Light.

    If that's too difficult 4u2c,
    here's what I suggest:
    I suggest you getta pair of GodlySpex
    from the Divine Physician.

    God bless your indelible soul.
    Yes, earthling, I was an NDE...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just as there's only 2 positions
    for a light switch, UP or DOWN,
    the on position is pointing skyward...
    while the off position is pointing
    toward our demise, to the whorizontal.

    Many analogies we might surmise
    of that proposition... yet,
    only 1 belief in the King of Hearts
    who gives U.S. His Magnificent Light.

    If that's too difficult 4u2c,
    here's what I suggest:
    I suggest you getta pair of GodlySpex
    from the Divine Physician.

    God bless your indelible soul.
    Yes, earthling, I was an NDE...

    ReplyDelete