Obsessions

66Mustang

Are you, or have you ever been, obsessed with a particular activity or subject? I don’t mean a casual hobby, I mean a proper deep interest in something that takes up all of your spare time?

It just occurred to me that as a child I used to get obsessed with certain things and would do little else except that one thing. For a few years it was anything to do with astronomy/space/the universe, researching etc.; then it was computers - not games, just the general system and how it all worked; then as a teenager it was a particular video game. However, now I struggle to focus on something for any length of time and frequently swap between activities or interests. I do have things I really like doing but I couldn’t do any of them for more than a few hours without getting bored.

Just some ramblings, thanks for reading, anyway what about you?

Cress

I've never really had an obsession, the only hobby if you can call it that was reading...I always had to have a book to read and loved getting a nice new stack to read.

My youngest son was always horrified at the way I treated books, bending over the page, cracking the spines and dripping tomatoe soup on them.
I liked a book to be a bit battered when I'd finished and you could always tell when I'd read and reread a book by how used and abused it looked.

Now, I don't know if it's my mental health or my medication but I can't read a book anymore and I really miss that.
I'll read a couple of paragraphs and then would read them over and over but nothing would sink in.

I don't think it's a concentration thing as I can concentrate on other things, more like my imagination has been turned off and I can no longer picture a story in my head.

leeCal

I used to be obsessed with writing computer programs using prolog, an artificial intelligence program. Still very interested but I don’t write anymore. That was a long obsession for me, perhaps five years or so. The good thing that came out of it was that two of my sons became very interested too, one is now a website developer and the other gained a masters in computer science and has gone on to computational neuroscience. ?

janer1967

Don't laugh at this one but I used to be obsessed with reading the reviews on hospitals and gp surgeries 

I had a very boring job at the time which I never had any work to do so reading the reviews filled the time 

66Mustang

@cress sorry to hear you lost your hobby, I can relate a bit in that I can’t concentrate on books that well these days either. I will read a paragraph but it just won’t go in and I will read it again and again and still nothing. I’ve found that it’s best not to keep rereading paragraphs if something doesn’t go in and just move on to the next one. Doesn’t work all the time i.e. if reading an important legal document but with casual reading it tends to work.

@leeCal that’s great that not one but two good things came of the obsession

@janer1967 that’s a good one, would never have thought of that to turn into an obsession ha ha thanks for sharing!

MissMarple

As a child I was obsessed with Agatha Christie’s crime novels. I was even reading while walking home from school, trying not to walk into other people on the pavement.
As a teenager I spent hours a day solving second grade equations. I liked Maths in general, but there was something in those equations that really got me hooked.

OverlyAnxious

Does MSN Messenger and PS2 count?  Not sure I did much else in my high school years. 

I did used to go through phases of interest in various things when I was much younger though, generally science or history based.

These days I'd say the internet is probably an obsession, if not an addiction! 

Grinchy

I would say growing up being interested in the movies was an obsession that has never left me, i still love watching movies, and the internet is a good one,
great idea for a post!

chiarieds

Perhaps we have all had a greater interest in certain subjects when younger. Having read everything of interest in the Junior library, I was fairly disgusted that I wasn't allowed to borrow anything in the adult section. Fortunately, altho my Mum was a great reader, my Dad was not, so my Dad borrowed one book, so I could then borrow 3, & my Mum borrowed one that she thought was  also suitable for me. My interests overwhelmingly then was anything about primates, elephants, & big cats. Must be something in the genes, as my son also became interested in big cats! We're both bookworms too, & collectors. @Cress makes me cringe with her mis-handling of books; you wouldn't know my son or I had read a book.

Perhaps my odd obsession is in reading small print. It's not even something I enjoy, but I have to do it. Our accountant said he'd never met anyone that read it all (when we became a limited company with a tax break; even he hadn't read it all). Not great as my daughter sends me solicitor's letters to check too.

Jadire

Most certainly has to be genealogy/family history.  I have been researching my family tree since I was 15 (for 45 years).  

If I could I would work on my tree 24/7 but there’s a little thing called sleep that gets in the way sometimes. ?

66Mustang

@MissMarple ha ha that’s funny walking with the book it reminds me of what people do now with their phones.

@OverlyAnxious I agree about the internet but it’s such a wide thing as you can do different activities within it I guess?

@Grinchy I know you are well into your films, nice to hear it started from childhood

@chiarieds thanks for sharing that you remind me with your disgust at not being allowed to borrow any adult books - when I used to go to restaurants as a child I always wanted an adult meal for some reason! I think I was often disappointed that children were resigned to a few simple meals whereas adults had lots of interesting dishes to choose from.

@Jadire that sounds like something really interesting to get into. How far back have you managed to trace your family?

Jadire

@66Mustang on two of my lines I have gone back to the 1500’s.  Most of my lines go back as far as the 1700’s. 

OverlyAnxious

66Mustang said:

@OverlyAnxious I agree about the internet but it’s such a wide thing as you can do different activities within it I guess?

Very true.  I just don't know what to do when the internet goes off anymore...yet I am old enough to remember life before the internet!

66Mustang

@Jadire wow that’s really impressive

@OverlyAnxious yes same here!! I even get so used to having it that when it goes off I’ll think something like “I’ll just check Scope while I’m waiting for it to come back” forgetting that it needs internet lol

Jadire

@66Mustang thank you.

Sandy_123

I love history, so I love to visit places associated  mainly but not totally 
with  the Tudor era, I've visited  the Abby in London  to see the tombs of old Kings and Queens, visited the birth place of Henry 7th in Wales. Lots of castles dotted about and the Tower of london. 
I've got lots on my wish list like Hampton Court, Versailles in France and the Palace of the ? King.
My last trip was to see the Tutankhamun Exhibition in London before covid. 

66Mustang

@Sandy_123 what a nice thing to be in to. I’ve been to Hampton Court and can definitely recommend that but I’m sure any of those places on your wish list would be lovely. Did you watch the BBC series called The Tudors? Maybe you thought it was rubbish and not historically accurate I thought it was good but I don’t have enough knowledge to know if it was accurate or not. 

Sandy_123

@66Mustang I watch All the historic documentary programmes and I have watched the Tudors.
I'm jealous of your trip to Hampton lol. 
I want to do Windsor Castle tour too I've done Buckingham Palace tour. 

Jadire

@66Mustang @Sandy_123 I am with you both on this.  I love the Tudor era and yes, watched “The Tudors” (the theme music was beautiful). I have the box set actually.  I would love to visit Hampton Court but find it difficult to travel now I’ve had to give up my motability car due to epilepsy.  ?

66Mustang

@Jadire sorry you had to give your car up will you ever be able to drive again or have you had to stop for good?

I agree the theme music from The Tudors is really nice.

MA30

Hi there my main interests where and still are American cars, T birds and Mustangs works of art, people where surprised at first mainly because I'm female but if you have an interest, I also like Elvis I collected allsorts of things from records to mugs