The Dark Little Meanings of Life

I have some ongoing discussions with people about obsession. I guess this makes sense given that I was raised in the Bible Belt and know a lot of addicts. The common belief, of course, is that obsession is bad for you. It causes you to lose focus of the world around you and skews your priorities. Okay. Fair enough.

On the other hand, and this is where the post is going to get kind of dark, without obsessions, what do we have? Do we have focus or do we just aimless go about our daily tasks? Do we have our own, truly felt priorities or do we just parrot the priorities of those around us?

I wrote about Game of Thrones for 30 days and, as we all know, those weren't the first posts I'd written about it. I'm currently reading a multiple page analysis of some theories that concern about four or five chapters in the last book. I've been pouring over these theories for hours and having the best damned time while doing it! It's giving me so much pleasure.

Am I obsessed? Yeah, I would say so. I'm not extremely obsessed. When it comes to obsessions, I will dedicate thought and time to them but I won't like spend my last dime on them or kill anyone. I'm thinking once you commit money or violence to something, you're probably crossing the line into UNHEALTHY obsession.

Most people I know have been happier when they had something over which to obsess. A new love. A new favorite author. A new band. I've spent hours listening to people tell me about their favorite new song or showing me pictures of their favorite new character. I've listened to their hours of theories about super heroes or felt their anguish as they described the saddest part in a book. These things helped to give them joy, focus, and yes, meaning.

There are things I could never obsess about. I'm not into sports. I'm very disenchanted with politics. I don't actively participate in social movements . . . mostly due to the word movement. However, I recognize that these activities do bring a lot of sense of belonging, connection, and meaning to the lives of others. Some of them might get offended that I put them in the obsession category, but that is how I see them. Even some people's connection to their families can be seen as obsession. Certainly a lot of people's need for social standing can be viewed this way.

Honestly though, as long as you're not trying to harm others in the process, I really don't care what you're obsessing about. Have at it! Enjoy! Chances are, you'd be far more depressed without it.