Interests and Obsessions

Having recently been very inspired by Carrie Bradshaw, I have an urge to write in that carefree yet meaningful fashion. For all those unfortunate ignorant souls, Ms.Bradshaw is the protagonist of an almost-cult, and rather addictive, television show, Sex and the City.

Since I dont live in New York, and since my experience in writing about sex...or ahem, the act itself, is rather...lets say...negligent, i'll choose my own expertise, my own city, and my own eccentricities. In a world where having hands filled with a variety of interests and time-fillers is the norm, it is rather tricky to pin-point that one thing that I can consider myself experienced enough to actually write about. For that matter, do any of us have any expertise on anything that we indulge in on a day to day basis? Leaving the humdrum proffessioble babble aside, what is it that we really like doing?

We all set about on a busy work day, going through mindless chores just the way they are meant to be done...mindlessly! In those rare moments when time seems to have broken away from its cold-hearted rigour and decides to pity us with a moment of peace, we turn to our interests...some of which are rather, well, interesting!

I believe that a person's interests tell a lot about the person himself ( oh heck, or herself!). For instance, there is a friend of mine who enjoys rating and organising his movies. His methodical lists of hundreds of movies take up a lot of his time and what's left of his energy! Not only does this intriguing way of spending his precious free hours tell me about his manic love for cinema, but it also alludes to the almost anal obsession with wanting to do things a certain way, in a certain organised fashion. Having said that, this is also the guy whose closet resembles a city-dump, and who cribs about coming to class, cuz god-forbid, he'll have to get out of bed for that!

Moral of that story, interests say a lot about the person, but do not necessarily point out the contradictions.

Not only do interests tell me about the people, they also reflect how much time that particular individual is willing to actually pursue that interest! For reasons still unknown to me, I once had a friend who loved to just groom her horse for hours..on ANY day. Not only that, she basically cancelled all our weekend plans to spend time with the horse. Of course, she entered competitions and won...but that's besides the point. The rather crooked point here is, when is it that an interest crosses that invisible line and becomes an obsession? That's a biggy...right up there with when will there be peace in the world?
A simple answer, as long as the interest doesn't become addictive or has visible changes on your lifestyle, and you dont feel mentally and emotionally dependent on it, its healthy. If not, danger looms ahead...and if that sounded lame and melodramatic, try asking those regretfully recovering internet addicts who've spent hours online, just to stay online, while modifying their lives in such a way that staying online becomes a priority! Having suffered from that already, I solemnly agree, that any activity which becomes is addictive ( even if its watching the lovely satc!) needs to be thought over.

Moral being, interests as interests are acceptable and rather necessary, obsessions and addictions on the contrary, are plain unhealthy. That friend of mine, dunno where she is now, but i'm sure her horse knows more about her than any other human, or human resembling, being.

Of course, there are some interests that not only benefit the person with the interest, but also others around. I personally, like people with such interests! Jokes aside, and yes if you haven't realised it yet here's a blatant hint that i've been adding humour here and there, there are hobbies and interests which are just fun to play along with. Another blessed soul, friend of mine, loves to try out new dishes and feed people. Now, free food and a welcome host is like a magnet, and when that is combined with actual talent for the chou, people go flocking towards him! Obviously, that also has to do with the fact that students as a race go anywhere they get food...

Moral...oh there's no moral for this, just stick close to people with such scumptuous talents!

Anyways, I actually had fun writing utterly brainless junk in a Carrie Bradshaw manner. For all those truly rare readers of my blog, or those unfortunate souls who happen to stumble upon this pink thought-chucking-bin, or those I emotionally black-mail to read this, I think I'm gonna follow this style for a while. The usual life-is-my-enemy poems and writings will continue, but SATC writing is my new thing, so don't blame me, point that finger at Ms.Bradshaw please!