Are They Projects or Just...Whatever?

I've always been the kind of person who has too many things on the go. Or at least that's what people often tell me, wondering how I can ever keep it all straight, or finish anything. The truth is that, for me, I need to have all those things happening so that I can keep myself entertained. I almost wrote focused instead of entertained, but even I'm not so self-deluded to think that I possess much in the way of focus when it comes to my hobbies. Obsessive perhaps, but not focused.

You see, I know I have too many hobbies and the reality is that I don't have time for all of them. Nowhere near really, but that's part of the appeal. For some reason, the way my brain is wired, I will zero in on some activity or concept for a length of time, produce some interesting or cool stuff (yep, aren't I modest), and then move on to something else. For the past 6~7 months I've been pretty firmly rooted in working on miniatures and terrain building. However, I regularly spend time each week doing some of the following things in addition to my miniatures: practicing and performing magic, writing music and performing with my band, traditional drawing or 3d modeling/animation, singing and playing drums or piano, practicing Japanese (used to live there), organizing gaming groups at local game shops, going to live events like plays or concerts and writing the odd piece of creative fiction.

I also work a full time job, spend time with my friends and family, serve on several boards, and organize weekly board game nights. So yeah, I'm a busy guy. But really, aren't we all busy these days? We all have a phone / computer in our pocket and are more reachable than ever, so I think that it's important to work on creative endeavours. Even if it keeps me interested for a week or two before I rotate on to something else, I think it's a worthwhile effort.

Now that I've provided some context, let me focus a little bit (at least for a few seconds). I would say that this 'bouncing around' shows itself even within a particular hobby for me...so let's take a look at miniature gaming as an example. I'm currently working on, or have recently finished the following:

- painted another tactical squad for my 40k space marine army (I haven't posted these on the blog yet)

- painted the hero and villain starter boxes for Pulp City

- painted a brand new Snake Worshipper cult for Strange Aeons and Kulten

- built 4 card stock modern city buildings, with another 3 or 4 to do for my planned city board

- primed and based the Werewolf and Vampire starter boxes for Empire of the Dead (they're next up on my painting table)

- ordered a pile of lead and wrote up a full 12-scenario campaign for some Stargate skirmish gaming

- pinning The Lost and Immortals starter boxes for Hell Dorado

- started working on a new (unofficial) scenario campaign for Strange Aeons

- created a 15pt Circle Orboros army list (already primed and based) for Hordes

- worked with manager of my local shop to plan out demos and schedule for two weekly DreadBall league nights

And honestly, that hardly scratches the surface if you consider all the other stuff that I already have waiting on my miniature shelf, have sketched out plans for, or have ordered in the last little while. Most of my other hobbies are similar (which reminds me that I need to sit down for an evening and finish mixing the last three songs of the EP we recorded last winter).

I hold no illusions about it, I know that I'll never finish every idea that pops into my head. That doesn't mean that I won't give it a shot though. So I'll continue being busy, bouncing around from project to project (because that's what I call them), and generally enjoying myself. I don't have deadlines, at least outside of work, so it's on my time, whenever the mood strikes me. Which is what hobbies should be all about.