Published on 12, July, 2020
Anyone else have a series of obsessions that seem to come and go in rotation?
When I get into a hobby, I throw myself into it fully and pursue it with passion whilst I'm learning at a decent rate. Then when the learning slows down because of the plateau that inevitably comes, I lose interest and move on to something else, often an old hobby.
Because I value efficiency, I'll often sell all of the hobby equipment - sometimes regretting it shortly afterwards.
I've been through astronomy, photography, shortwave radio, ham radio, electronics, hifi, religion, piano playing, guitar playing, motorcycling, advanced motorcycling (to the point where I was qualified to teach this). On the odd occasion that I find myself without a passion I get into a hell of a mess with addictive behaviours too.
Yes. Likewise with piano-playing. I took it up forty years ago, in spite of having no real talent or aptitude. Even today, I can't play pieces through without making mistakes, and my technical ability is limited.
As a child and young teen, it was snooker and Sherlock Holmes. I still maintain interests in these things to this day. But then, they were all-absorbing. I had posters of Holmes on my bedroom wall. I had a pipe and deerstalker at 12. From that age until I was about 18, I played snooker almost every day - whether on a home-made table, or in a club. I was good, too. I had a good eye. But almost overnight, it seemed to fizzle out. And I haven't played since.
For a long time, my main spare time occupation was digital image editing, using PhotoShop or (mostly) Gimp. I was good at that, too. I used it to create memes and collages, as well as original artwork. I had one of my memes used as a backdrop to a news item on RTE. It was all self-taught, and I seemed to have a real talent for it. But then, about a year ago, I lost interest in that, too. Haven't done anything since.
My abiding interest, though - and one that I've had since I was around 7 - is writing. I've always done it. I've written loads of things over the years: poems, plays, film scripts, stories, a few novels, articles. Most of that stuff has never seen the light of day. Sometimes, it's felt like a burden around my neck because I don't find it easy - having to sit down and create substance from nothing. But it's the one thing I can never give up. It's the one thing that I can lose myself in - and when I'm lost in it, nothing else matters. It's my sanctuary, refuge, shelter from the storm.