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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ewomack, post: 4490717, member: 15588&quot;]Like everything, as much as endless progress-minded people don&#039;t want to admit, everything has it&#039;s limitations, including collecting. Most hobbies have a &quot;live, eat, sleep and dream&quot; phase where it culminates with an obsession bordering on frenzied mania and one wants to know every little aspect and nuance of the subject to the point of omniscience. Because human attention span, not to mention brain bandwidth and monetary accumulation, also has limitations, few reach that point and often take up other hobbies, or other aspects of the same hobby, for novelty and start the cycle all over again. Repeat <i>ad infinitum</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>With collecting, when I find that I don&#039;t even know what I possess, or worse, purchase something that I <i>already</i> own, I know it&#039;s time to ratchet back. Aimless hoarding, though at first as appealing as devouring everything at an open dessert bar, will almost always turn into a meaningless pursuit. Mere accumulation can become routine, mechanical and feel pointless.</p><p><br /></p><p>I reached that point with coins about two years ago when I realized that when I left a local coin show without purchasing something, I felt tangible pangs of disappointment. Why did I feel that way? So the show had nothing I wanted to buy (or, perhaps more likely, I couldn&#039;t - or didn&#039;t want to - afford what I <i>really </i>wanted to buy). So what? I realized that going to shows and buying had become more of an addiction than a true pleasure, more like &quot;having a hit&quot; than doing something meaningful. That&#039;s when I realized the extent of my problem and determined the source of the ennui that set in around the hobby for me. I backed off and starting thinking about why I even began collecting in the first place. It felt almost pathological.</p><p><br /></p><p>Instead of selling everything frantically, which I would have regretted, I sold some obvious impulse buys and kept most of my nicer items. Then I really slowed the buying down. Now I only only buy something if it&#039;s something that I&#039;ve wanted for a while and haven&#039;t seen before. Yesterday I found a graded Japanese coin online that I&#039;ve always wanted, so I bought it. It was my second purchase this year.</p><p><br /></p><p>So I think I&#039;ve reached some form of collector&#039;s homeostasis again. We&#039;ll see.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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