Not too long ago, my daughter and I played a couple of games of Pokémon. We had a couple starter decks I got off Amazon a year or 2 ago. Then, it happened. My daughter asked if we could go to Target and get some Pokémon cards. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and thought, here we go again.
Before I knew it, we were at Target with a cart full of booster packs, trainer boxes, and decks. You see, I'm a serial hobbyist. I try lots of new things, dive real deep real fast and spend probably too much money. Then I lose interest after a few weeks or months. Rinse and repeat.
For a long time, this really bothered me. I wished I could just find one thing and stick with it for 20 years. I was jealous of people that seemingly found their passion and that's what they did every day.
But I think I've come to terms with it. Just because I hit pause on a hobby for a bit, doesn't mean I will never come back to it. I recognized that my interests come in waves and cycles and seasons. I have my core hobbies—LEGO, programming, reading, blogging. I might take a break from any one of those for a time, but that's okay. They are there when I'm ready again. I don't need to do everything every day. And then I sprinkle in new things like bookbinding, collecting Pokémon, and photography. Even if they don't permanently stick, they teach me something new. And for me, that's kinda the point. I like learning. I like diving in and exploring.
Anyway, my daughter and I are having a great time playing Pokémon and collecting cards. She calls it our "Daddy-daughter hobby" and that makes it all worth it.