A sad temporary farewell ~kicking the habit

[elysium64]

It with some sadness that I am writing this post, as from Sunday I will no longer visiting this forum due to needing to sort my life out.
In recent months I have let many people down with being almost snail like in my despatching of various parcels due to my constantly struggling with money (be coming to the reason a bit later) and a general depression stemming from this. To all those people I would like to apologise those few that are still waiting will have their parcels posted off on Friday/Saturday after payday.
The main reason for my being constantly skint is my addiction to little lead/plastic and resin men, this is how my hobby is currently operating, I become interested in a period/genre I spend lots of money on books/DVD's and of course the models, the models get based undercoated and if I'm lucky one completed figure but usually the either stay at the undercoated stage or get a couple of colours on, but then I see something new or inspiring and bingo I realise that the last lot I was collecting where not that great an idea. But this new one, how cool is this going to be, I can build all this amazing scenery, with great scenario/ campaign ideas, how to make it a convention game this is definitely the project I am going to finish.....I think you can see where this is going, consequently I then end up selling most of those breifly inspiring moments for less than half the money I paid for them. Basically I am just throwing money away.
As of Sunday I am packing away all my models apart from one set (which I will endeavour to complete), Signing off all forums, newsgroups, facebook links in an attempt to either complete a set of models or as I think is more likely put this hobby on complete hold for however long it takes to sort out what I need to do in my life.
I was originally planning to go to BLAM but when examined within my current situation I feel it is better that I not attend:
a) because I feel a little ashamed of letting some members down
b) I need to stay away from all temptations.
c) cannot realistically afford the cost.
I would like to say what an amazing community this is, a truely inspiring place to be (too inspiring for me, unfortunately) with great friendly advice and support, I will miss this place but feel that at least for some time I need to focus on other things.
I do hope to be back at some point in the future. See you soon.

[Cory]

Best of luck, hope to see you back here soon.

[grant]

Good luck! Feel free to join my support group - I've been where you are!

http://soldatetain.wordpress.com/2013/10/12/i-am-a-miniatures-addict-but-i-now-have-a-plan/

[joroas]

Sorry to see you leave.  I think most of us have walked those lonely streets, to some extent, at some point. |I have a shed-load of unfinished, but at the time, essential projects!

[LeadAsbestos]

Sad to see you go. I've been having this internal drama myself, and my resolution is an adamant "No minis til next year" pledge. I'm selling some old projects to power our Christmas fund, and I'm painting an old favorite line I just recently revisited. If I meet w/ some success, I'm down-sizing more, focusing on my favorite 2 or 3 projects, and maybe actually getting some real work done!

Stay away from eBay, and give any purchase a 2-week wait, and most of my problems w/ minis are gone!

[Blackwolf]

Sorry to hear Simon.Hope you work it all out and we see you back on the forum soon.

Guy

[Bergil]

Obviously sorry to hear your current situation..

If you still want to keep your toe in the obby, it's best to stick with skirmish games or 6mm. That way you're spending very little and you might just get it all painted up 

It's hard to stick to one project I know, one minute you fancy one thing and the next minute you want something entirely different. Sculpting is a bit like that. There must be 101 things I want to make, but you gotta stick to your guns.

[tomogui]

Well, I hope you manage to get on top of things and come back to the hobby refreshed and focused. I'm flogging off some old minis on eBay myself today, trying to regain some project focus. I think most of us can sympathise with how you're feeling.

You've built some fantastic projects over the years (your Stalker stuff is inspirational!) and been generous enough to show them to us here. Hope this hiatus lets you get some solid work done and recapture some positivity about the hobby!

 

[von Lucky]

Wishing you all the best, I can sympathise with you as this hoppy was shut down while I returned to university a few years ago. It made everything in my life better, including when I came back to the hobby with more focus and energy.

[syrinx0]

Good luck with the refocusing of your hobby time.  I would agree with the previous suggestion about skirmish games if you are looking to retool but stay painting & gaming. 

[wargamer1972]

Best wishes.

[Rabbitz]

Good luck, hope it works out for you.

[DoctorPete]

Best of luck, friend.  I think many of us are sitting of mounds of lead/plastic/resin that we wish we had never bought.  I know I would love to have the money back and concentrate on 2 or 3 things only.  Take care. 

[magokiron]

Farewell mate.

We're gonna be around here when you decide to come back.

Best wishes.

[maxxon]

I wish you well.

I can not say what's best for you, but I can tell about myself. This is a hobby for people with hoarding mentality, so I guess we're all a bit alike.

I have a large pile of "back stock", just like everyone else who is in this for the miniatures. Sometimes I sell off unpainted stuff but mostly it's just growing (I never sell painted stuff -- I might give it away but never sell). This year I decided to do something about the back stock. I made a New Year's resolution to paint a full unit every month using only figures I have purchased before this year.

Did this stop me buying new stuff? Well, no.
But I have ten batches done now,  over 300 figures, and just two more to go. At least I've made a dent in the lead mountain.

Personally, I found that the best cure for the butterfly effect is to commit to a project with a friend. The social pressure to keep working at a single thing is a marvelous motivator.

If that can't be done, the next best thing is to commit to a deadline, like promising to deliver a demo game to a convention.

Documenting your progress in a blog or website can be useful -- if you get comments. If it seems like no one cares, well, you stop caring too...

To close this off: I've had off times as well. Hobbies are supposed to be fun, if it stops being fun you should stop doing it. Some distance and time can help to refocus and remotivate. I've always come back to this hobby, but some others I have left behind.

Regardless of what you end up deciding, I wish you all the best.