Obsessions

An obsession is a strange thing for me. It starts with an awakening of senses, matures through a period of relentless pursuit and exploration, and finally fades into the background to somewhere called memories or experiences.

There are some activities that I pursue in actively, such as Chinese Chess, badminton, tennis and golf. These are activities that I continue to enjoy periodically.

There are also some activities that I pursue in intensively. Intensively in the sense of a peak in commitment and interest. It was as if the experience/activity triggered something inside me, and caused me to have a spike in interest in the activity, akin to an adrenaline junkie. Then, for reasons known or unknown, the interest faded and it becomes a part of my history.

One of the early obsessions I had was Michael Crichton's books. I was introduced to his books by my English teacher in my secondary school. I remember reading his book for the first time, and feeling a great admiration of his knowledge of so many different areas in life. I still fondly recalled how I would visit the library everyday after school to look for his books. Each time I found a title which I have not read, the feeling is like a coin collector finding a rare find. Below are the books that I have read, and I was very proud when I was able to read every frictional book that he wrote (which wasn't really the case. He has actually written more books than the list). What's amazing is that almost every book that he has written has been made into a movie/TV drama. His non-friction book becomes the popular TV series, E.R.

The Andromeda Strain

The Terminal Man

The Great Train Robbery

Eaters of the Dead

Congo

Sphere

Jurassic Park

Rising Sun

Disclosure

The Lost World

After my secondary school:

Airframe

Timeline

Prey

State of Fear

Next

But as I mentioned about my obsessions, I started to have less interest in his books maybe because his style is always the same. As in, there will always be a twist at the end of the story. So often that it becomes no longer a surprise when I reached the ending. Nonetheless, Michael Crichton will always continue to be one of my favorite authors, and I will enjoy reading a book of his every now and then (though not with the kind of intensity that I had in the past).

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Another obsession/admiration that I had is for Jerry Seinfeld. The sitcom that he created, Seinfeld, is one which I can watch for hours at a time. It is funny, and scary, when I realized how much I am being affected/influenced by the show, that I decided to stop watching it. Seinfeld is a genius. The sitcom is hilarious, and very wits-fully written. The side effect of watching the show is that I feel depressed after watching it. The funny thing about the show is that the main characters are very 'stupid' or 'superficial', and watching the show, you will always laugh at them for being so stupid and superficial. The scary thing is that I realized that when you watch too much of it, you slowly become like them; you become the joke. In a way, there's something sinister about the kind of jokes that were employed, because you are laughing at how the characters laughed at their other friends' sillyness, without realizing that when you laughed at the characters, you have become them...

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The most recent obsession that I have is Haruki Murakami. Again, it started with an awakening of senses, when I realized that there are subtle, deeper meaning that is hidden in his novels. And slowly, I feel that it's too much of me in too short a time. I have read 7 of his books; with 6 of them this month! While I like the way he thinks and writes, some of the recurring themes in the book are a little bit too heavy / out-of-this-world / pessimistic for me to enjoy thoroughly.

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Definitions of obsession on the Web:

• compulsion: an irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive actions, even against your will; "her compulsion to wash her hands repeatedly"
• an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone

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Contrary to the definition of obsession, I am able to stop the compulsion, and not become a slave to it. Maybe it is because I don't like to be addicted to something, or maybe because they are not really obsessions, just temporary addictions to the dose of adrenaline.

Obsessions are funny things. And somehow, I enjoy them because they give me a short-term goal/direction. And when I'm over my current obsession (Murakami), it leaves a void that begs to be filled.

and thus the vicious/virtuous cycle continues...