Simplify Interests to Focus

I have a lot of interests. I think that it makes me a well rounded person, on a positive note. On the negative side, however, and to much of my frustration lately, my too many interests have resulted in me not getting very far on my important goals.

In the past, I have gotten carried away with my interests, such as becoming a little obsessed with minimalism for a few years (beyond my natural inclination for simple living), and stopped when I could not become as minimalist as many hard core minimalists.  Then, I got very into collecting books. Then, with collecting unique goth fashion and jewelry (even though I had been dressing in a romantic/minimalist goth way since I was in my teens, except for a brief experimental hiatus in my mid 20s). For many years, I also collected a great deal of music from obscure goth and punk bands. I also became obsessed with DIY projects that I now have a few large bins of fabric and trim that I have to sort through. I have pursued some of these interests in tandem, and some separately. These interests have led me to days of obsession that add up to loss of wages and studying time. All have occurred from my mid to late twenties and have become obstacles at some point in me furthering my life and even focusing on what I enjoy most, and is the fire in me that I spoke about in this post about what sets you alive and inspires you (mine being literature, languages learning and writing). I still enjoy all these interests, but one's energy is limited, so I must focus more now on just a few important things.

I am an extreme person in some ways, and I am trying to find balance now. I have always been intense in my focus, and I like myself enough to not change that, but I am trying to apply it to more healthy avenues because I am 32 now, and I need to get my life moving in the direction of a more stable career. For this reason, spending too much time on fascinating ideas, such as psychology, horoscope, art and music, is just not helping me fulfill my goals nor even helping me pay the bills. This week, I spent 3 entire days trying to de-clutter my digital music collection of the music from obscure bands I had collected as my hard drive is 99.9% full (no exaggeration). I was trying to listen to every song as I didn't want to loose a good song, but I wasted 3 days on this and still didn't hear them all. That is three days lost in work and in study time as well.

Interests have to be prioritized in order to not become overwhelmed and feeling as if you have not accomplished anything. I am also trying to simplify my interests and my life as well as minimize my possessions as that helps me focus more on my goals, so the two just don't go in tandem. I am sorry if I disappoint any readers, but I do hope you understand. There are many wonderful goth blogs on fashion and music that can aid you if you are new to the goth subculture or just like to fashion and music more than literature and psychology.

Posting about literature does not take away from my career path, and posting about productivity or psychological growth helps me to grow as a person and also helps me focus on my goals. I do hope that you can gain some insight and understanding from these posts as I find that many goths share similar psychological and life challenges as me.