Ever see the movie Singles? I think that's the one with the scene I'm remembering. Back before Ben Stiller decided to be a clown for his movie career he did some more thoughtful movies like this one. In it, Ben Stiller's character has some trouble with his love life, and decides to just forget about that for a while. I think it's even a girl in the scene with him when he tells her he'd just like to concentrate on work for a year or so. I'm probably off in my memory, but the idea behind that scene always stuck with me. (Okay, not the real idea behind that scene, but what the character literally says.)
You see, I like my job. And why not? It's a really cool job. I wanted to work on spacecraft since I was in grade school when the Apollo moon landings were a recent memory (though, disappointingly, not one I can remember despite being old enough). That's exactly what I do now. Been doing it for 15 years, as a matter of fact, culminating (so far) in my current position--engineering supervisor for mechanisms at JPL. You know, the part of NASA that works on robotic missions. Like Voyager that's left the solar system, Cassini that just arrived at Saturn, and of course the Mars rovers that are still, well, roving around the planet. How cool is that? Pretty damn cool.
Just because the job is cool doesn't mean it isn't still work, though. And for every day filled with the excitement of landing a new spacecraft on another planet there are lots more arguing about budgets and staffing plans. But I never lose sight of how much I enjoy my work. I know everyone isn't so fortunate, and I'd better appreciate what I've got.
So what about this hobby of mine? How does that fit in? Pretty well, but there have been times when I wished I didn't enjoy it so much. I look at some friends that share the hobby, but they just show up on game night to play. They don't have a weblog, they don't follow discussion lists or websites, they don't go out of their way to read Essen previews, and they don't subscribe to Counter magazine. They just play games on Wednesday nights with us and that's it. Sometimes--pretty often, these days--I wish I was the same way. Anyone feel the same? I'm actually dialing back my "rabidness" in the hobby. Have been for a couple years, in fact. I guess I'm on the right track.
I know what you mean. My enthusiasm for reading discussion lists and reading session reports has waned recently and I'm definitely getting fussier about the games I play. These days I just skim the subject lines of Spielfrieks and rec.games.board. My blogroll is not growing, despite all the new blogs.
Having said that, I still love the experience of sitting around a table with a group of people I care about and having a good-natured mental battle. I missed that throughout my twenties and don't want to lose it again.
You spoiled brat! :-)
You say you have it all but now think that it's too much. If only the rest of us had that problem!
But seriously, sure, burnout can set in and passion fades, and you may indeed be on the 'right track,' but we all know your dirty little secret. We all know you have the ability to be obsessed with something. Not everyone has that ability. A lot of people, seemingly, just don't really care much about anything. But you, bub, are infected with that ability and we have our eye on you!
That's not to say that if you dial back I'll think of you as an unmotivated dullard. :) If you got rid of half of your game collection and glanced at a gamesite only once a month, you'd still be considered a 'game-nut' by most of the world. True, the honeymoon may be over, but you're still married to games.
You can't escape! You're one of us . . .
One of us . . .
One of us . . .