Obsessions

We all have our little (and maybe not-so-little) obsessions, and I have quite a few. Shopping, shoes, flea markets, garage sales, and even garbage picking among them. One of my biggest obsessions is perfume. I cannot get enough of it. I am always on a quest for a new scent. I still have not found the perfect scent (which actually is ever-changing in my world) but I have come close. I love many different scents too, floral, spicy, woodsy, musky, powdery, soapy, fruity, you name it, I love it! Right now I am on a quest for a clean, fresh, just-stepped-out-of-the-shower scent for the spring and summer, but I haven’t found the perfect fit yet.
I do tend to fall back on all my old favorites, and they are not all designer fragrances either, I do not discriminate, I love my drug-store finds just as much as I love my boutique finds. My cheap dime-store colognes have a place of prominence sitting right next to my (far too) expensive designer fragrances. Some of my old stand-bys are Burberry (original scent), Estee Lauder Youth Dew, Estee Lauder Aliage, Jean Nate, Love’s Baby Soft, Heaven Scent, Lily Bermuda (various scents), Tabu, Cashmere Mist, Rive Gauche, Carolina Herrera, Bulgari, Tiffany, Organza, Incense Avignon (it actually smells like Catholic Church incense! I was on a quest for this scent for years and my husband surprised me this past Christmas with it! It’s a beautiful winter scent), and (a very rare find [as I have read that they don’t distribute it in the U.S. anymore] and one of my most favorites, I think because it was one of my Mom’s favorites) L’Origan by Coty. I also have my favorite Irish perfumes, Tara and Connemara are prominent on that list. I have many, many, many more scents too, drawers and cabinets full of fine perfumes, cheap knock-off scents, Bath and Body sprays, Crabtree and Evelyn scents, etc., but the ones mentioned as my old stand-bys are my most favorites, they are like old friends. I think my obsession with perfumes has to do with the fact that scents trigger memories (hence my love of Incense, and my Mom’s L’Origan, and my cheap favorites from my teen-age years). I used to get embarrassed when someone took notice of this odd obsession I have, but I don’t apologize anymore for my addiction to perfume. It’s out there now for all to see, perfume, it’s one of my many vices, and I won’t hide it anymore.



Another obsession I have right now is owls, especially very old, small collectible owls that I have scoured junk shops, yard sales, and antique stores for. There is just something about these cute little birds that I love. I have ceramic owls, and wooden owls, bronze owls, and plastic owls. I have dishtowels with owls on them and I even have a pocket book with owls on it. I just love owls.
For many years I had an obsession with collecting tiny lambs, and another obsession was with collecting tiny tea sets. Most of the tea sets have long been given away to little girls (and some little boys) in the Kindergarten classes I used to work in, but a few favorites were saved and I will give them to my granddaughter when she is a little older. The lambs I couldn’t bear to part with so they’ve been boxed and put away, to be taken out another day. I am trying to get away from collections though, as I am trying to get out from under the clutter in my life, so I am going to have to put blinders on now if ever another cute owl should appear. Another obsession I used to have was the nail salon, every week like clockwork a new manicure, every two weeks for fill-ins. That obsession lasted for about a year or two, then I started watching my grandson full time and there is no time now for once a week visits to nail salons. Now my nails are back to stubs.
I also have a shared obsession with my friend Barbara, well, actually we share many obsessions (she’s obsessed with perfumes too, and then there’s shoes, and bags, and shopping in general, and almost anything Irish [and Barbara doesn’t have a drop of Irish blood in her!]), but we both share the really strange obsession for Riverdance, I think we’ve been to see this show at least twenty times between us (nine of those times we saw it on Broadway together! And then separately with our family and other friends!), and then we went to a few Riverdance-like productions on and off Broadway (Pirate Queen, and then there was another production by Michael Flatly), and I’ve been to a few other Irish dance productions while traveling in other states, and both Barbara and I bought and watch the different Riverdance DVD’s and listen to the different Riverdance CD’s. It’s another fervent obsession.


It’s funny isn’t it, how you can never understand an obsession if you yourself do not share it? Such as I don’t understand an obsession to clean, I wish I had that obsession, but regrettably, I do not, and I cannot for the life of me understand somebody’s need to clean all the time! I clean when I absolutely have to clean. I’ve tried all kinds of tricks and tips to no avail. I’ve even set up schedules for myself, but I never keep them. I read on another blog a little hint about doing one chore a day, and I thought to myself, I can do this. So I decided that I would do only the task of vacuuming one day. And I had the idea that I would split it up into an hourly task, 9:00 AM vacuum the stairs, 10:00 AM vacuum the hall downstairs, 11:00 AM vacuum dining room, and so on. Well, 9:00 AM came and I got out the vacuum and my grandson asked me to make him toast, so of course I obliged, then I got a phone call, at 9:30 I went to tackle the stairs and my grandson asked me to play Star Wars figures with him (now that is something I do not enjoy at all, I usually try to distract him and get him interested in having us play something else or I convince him to play with these characters all by himself, but this time I weighed vacuuming against playing Star Wars and Obi Wan Kenobi won). About an hour or so later I got Jayden interested in coloring and I decided I would just check my emails and then I would tackle vacuuming the stairs and the hall. While reading my emails I decided I would just answer a few of the letters, and then I decided it was too close to lunchtime to get into any vacuuming, so I promised myself I’d vacuum the stairs, the hall, and the dining room after lunch. Well, after Jayden ate his lunch he wanted to go outside for a little while, it was a beautiful day, and the vacuuming could wait. I would vacuum every room after we got back inside!
When we came back in the house Jayden asked me to read to him, which I did, and then he fell asleep on me, and of course I didn’t want to disturb him by moving him, so I stayed right there on the couch next to him and took a little nap myself. By the time the two of us woke up I decided it was too close to the time that everyone would be coming home from work, no time to vacuum now! So two days later the vacuum was still sitting idle in the hall. It eventually got done as it always does, but I guess my house will never be obsessively clean.

Another obsession that amazes me is the obsession (pro and con) some people have for Reality TV show mom Kate Gosselin. I don’t get the hate and I don’t get the love. She’s not my cup of tea, but I don’t wish she’d burn in ‘you-know-where’ as some folks do. My sister-in-law and I always refrained from being too hard on Mrs. Gosselin’s parenting style because we are sure our kids have more than a few ‘mommie dearest’ stories tucked away about us! And the same goes for her treatment of her husband, we’re sure there are probably a few ‘wife-y dearest’ stories the husbands have too! No sense in calling the pot black when we’re not such shiny or bright kettles ourselves. But on the other end of the spectrum, I don’t get the avid fans either. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of some celebrities, but I don’t invite them into my personal space. I mean they have their place in my life, they supply me with entertainment, I just don’t allow them to invade my inner circle. I certainly don’t care what hairstyles they wear or what they shop for, nor do I care what clothes they wear on their backs or what type of foods they eat. And I don’t care if nobody else likes them, I don’t feel the need to defend them or explain their actions. I guess I don’t have what it takes to be an obsessive fan. Although I have been accused lately of being addicted to a Gosselin fan site. In my defense, the site does discuss things other than Reality TV. But the computer itself is another obsession lately that I am trying to break away from. Obsession is bordering on addiction and between writing, and blogging, and emailing, and looking things up, the computer has more than merely invaded my life, it is beginning to run my life. I’m trying to limit myself to only certain times of the day, and then wean myself down to an hour or two a day. Wish me luck!

So while I might not understand the ‘all things Gosselin’ obsession, and I’m left even more baffled by the compulsive house cleaning obsession, I’m sure there are those that would shake their heads in bewilderment at my obsessions. I for one will try to no longer sit in judgment of others as they pursue their obsessions, and I hope everyone will do the same for me.