Passion and Obsession

Don't worry, this isn't the lead-in to an erotica story. As the last 8 weeks have passed I have found myself with a lot of time to think. I am bored to tears. Between the sleeping/puking/etc. cycle, I haven't had the mental capacity to really "be into" anything.

One of my many issues is that I am a workaholic. Yes, that's a technical term. And yes, that means, in my case, that I am unable to tell the difference between working hard and killing myself with work. Most people, myself included, never really thought it was a bad thing. They just thought I had an amazing work ethic. I do, I just don't know when to stop. Then I met my husband, who realized quickly that I was working so much that there was a huge blur between my work and social life. And while I have met some amazing friends through work, he was right. While I was having fun with my friends, 80% of the time we were working, 90% of the time we were talking about work, and only 10% - 20% was actually socializing.

Now that I have more time than the average bear on my hands, I find myself mentally focusing enough to be bored. I REALLY want to take this time to heal and to develop some new passions. Sounds good, right? Well not to a person who doesn't see the line between passion and obsession. I am truly afraid that if I let myself get into something in the way that I enjoy, I'll become obsessed with it and shut everything else out, even other hobbies.







Some issues I'm really almost-passionate about are social and environmental justice, autoimmune diseases (not just lupus) awareness and research, immigration reform and the ACA. I could read for hours on any of those topics and still not be satisfied. I want the satisfaction of being an expert or at least be able to speak confidently on any of those topics.

So what is one to do? Does anyone else have this problem? If so, how do you manage it?

Cheers.







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