I’ve known Andrea MacFarlane since high school, where I ALLEGEDLY put the fear of imminent death into her from a chase that covered much of the school grounds… somehow we’re still friends.
As an aspiring author, she’s working on a book in her free time, which will hopefully see the light of day sooner or later.
She’s brought 5 posts to the table, covering everything from obsession to eBooks and even the ills of caffeine—I hope you enjoy the variety of posts she’s written for you!
You can check the full series out here:
- 1: Love vs. Obsession
- 2: Keeping Your Job Close and Your Happiness Closer
- 3: Caffeine’s a helluva drug!!!
- 4: eRead or Not eRead?
- 5: The Inner Child and the Outer Buffoon
–Casey E. Palmer
Think about the things that are most important to you. What did you think of? Family? Friends? A keepsake or a pet? If you’re a girl, maybe those really expensive pair of shoes you only wear on special occasions?
Now what is it that in comparison to something you are obsessed with?
Think about obsession for a second. By definition it’s something that dominates your thoughts. Something you can’t get enough of. In today’s world obsession is rampant. It’s also been glorified to the point of idiocy. Obsession as a word is singular in it’s ability to represent a myriad of possibility. Much like love, it can be good, bad, ugly, or beautiful.
Take for instance an obsession like reading. It’s one I find myself both having and being afflicted by. On one side it’s been of great use to me, brought me great joy, and has also been the cause of some consternation. I’ve expanded the parameters of my thinking and obtained a great wealth of knowledge by reading as much as I do and will most certainly continue to do so. Though with 1,600 books crowding into my one bedroom apartment, the burden of keeping them all and moving them when I move, it causes a great deal of stress. At one point in time my sister would tell me that if a fire were to threaten my books I’d go down like a Captain with his ship. Saving as many as I could at the risk of my own well being. I would argue that each book is a part of myself. Like a momentary child. I spend time with my books, careful to keep them protected and unblemished. At the thought of losing them I am reminded of an incident that occurred in my childhood.
When I was younger my sisters and I shared a windows 95 computer. It had dial up and we’d often fight over the amount of time we were allowed to spend on it. I was already obsessed with reading at the time. I didn’t have money and could only go to the library every so often, but as obsessions go, where there’s a will there’s a way. I happened upon Fanfiction on the internet and I would save all the stories I read on the computer to visit later and reread my favourite parts. That computer became my whole library. And when it broke, I was devastated. I was assured the information was still there. My mother promised we’d get it fixed. But at Christmas we got a new computer! Any child would be overjoyed! Not me. I was crushed for a second time. In the naivety of my mind and the blindness of my obsession I viewed the new computer as an act of betrayal. What about my stories? The words and characters I had worked so hard to keep ahold of? Gone again.
Now that I’m older, though not necessarily wiser, I think back to then and now. I lived through that loss, replaced it with other books, other stories. And that’s the thing, if it’s something you can replace, how important is it to begin with? As life moves on the things that you love are unwavering.
Think about what part of your obsession moves you forward and what holds you back. Why do you hold on to it? Is it worth it to let it go? Decluttering your life is one of the first steps of improvement. That means examining your life, and weeding out what is no longer beneficial. The things you love tend to be things that you can’t control anyways, so leave them as they are and focus on the things you can change. For me, that’s my obsession. It’s time for a little spring cleaning in that department. How about you?
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