okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
hobby <--------> obsession
I've been thinking about the difference between a normal hobby and an obsession. It seems like hobbies are normal, while obsessions are a bit crazy. I suppose people might say I'm obsessed with orienteering.
A couple of things came up in the last few weeks that have me thinking about obsessions...
1. I discovered that a significant number of people visiting Yellowstone in the winter came to see the wolves. They didn't come to explore the park or see the geysers. They came to stand beside the road with a spotting scope watching wolves.
2. I picked up a book called The Big Year about birdwatchers who spend most of a year (and a lot of money) trying to see as many different birds as they can.
3. I read Randy's report of his O' trip to Spain...and I thought "cool, that must have been a blast." It didn't occur to me that most people would probably consider Randy's trip as nutty as wolf watchers and bird counters.
I suppose watching the wolves or counting birds isn't really so crazy. Certainly these people aren't any crazier than some of the orienteers I know (I'd count myself, I guess). Certainly people involved in "hobbies" but on the obsessive end of the spectrum are interesting people.
Or maybe I'm nuts....the wolf watchers are nuts...the bird counters are nuts....and Randy is nuts...
posted by Michael |
9:29 PM
