Loss of Interest?

[BazMark]

I've always had an interest in the night sky. I bought my first scope when I was about 20. Trouble was it was faulty and as a result I returned it without having seen much. My time was then taken up with other hobbies for about 15 years. However, I again purchased a scope in the mid nineties and though it was OK it was not a decent scope and again my interest waned after a short while.

Then last year my wife came home and told me that one of our friends had purchased a scope for his wife. So we started talking telescopes as our friend needed help setting it up, and that was it. Out came my old Tasco 70mm which, after brief use was quickly sold. After doing some research I purchased a SW 1145pm. This scope was my introduction to some decent views of the night sky. It has since been sold to help finance my SW 127 Mak which is a superb scope for it's compact size and has kept me occupied in the back garden for many hours. I have now also discovered the enjoyment that can come form just scanning the night sky with a decent pair of 10x50 binos. I'd like in time to aquire an 8" f5 scope for viewing DSOs but that is aways off at the moment.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'd love to get back into archery at a club/competition level but for that i would need to buy a lot of new gear which i just dont really have the funds for right now. The gear i have is ok for shooting in the garden but to stand any chance of winning medals i need new gear.

[nitram100]

I've never lost interest in Astronomy and I live in London, which says enough about my passion for it.

Can people really lose interest in Astronomy? I can't imagine it myself as it is more than a hobby to me.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Personally i have never lost interest in astronomy. I have gone away from it for a while (when i discovered girls), but the last 3-4 yrs i have come back to it bigger and better then ever before.

Now i just get frustrated with it. Not with IT per say but rather with the clouds that stop me from observing. BUT all it takes is 1 clear night to relight the fire.

[Abernus]

Over the last few weeks my interest in astronomy has dwindled due to teh bad weather we have been having. I have managed to keep it afloat with some projects etc. However the other night I got home from work and it was a clear night. I got the scope out and was blown away!!!!!!!

I am still new to all this and all I have managed to see is the moon and jupiter but pointing the scaop at the milky way and just looking at all the stars I can say I am again hooked!

[BazMark]

Strange how we're all different. I find that it's the fact that we don't get clear nights every night that keeps my interest alive as I am always on the watch for them. It can be frustrating though when an event you've been waiting for is hidden by clouds like today. I wanted to try and capture the moon and Venus together in daylight but unfortunately the sky was not cooperating. But never mind, there'll be other events to watch for.

[great_bear]

Sometimes interest can go - permanently.

I was responsible for a fair few successful chart records in the 1980's and continued to have a strong interest in music production for many years both as a hobby but also as a contributor and equipment reviewer in leading music technology magazines.

In the last few years my interest however slowly waned. I tried the "work with other people" philosophy, and that didn't work (although I did get to marry the lady on guitar...) and then I tried the "buy some expensive and exciting kit" approach and that didn't work either. All of my lovely - and in some cases literally unused - music production kit then served as nothing more than a constant reminder of non-productivity and wasted money. If I did try using the equipment, I felt my increasingly feeble efforts weren't worthy of the sophisticated gear that I owned.

Then our baby girl was born and I decided on a another approach: To make it a policy not to use any of it - at all - until such a time I knew how I felt about it.

Well a few months later, and I knew exactly how I felt.

- I didn't give a monkey's about any of it. It's all going on eBay - all of it, piece-by-piece. I have no interest or attachment to any of it.

The biggest realisation was that it was only the guilt that left me shackled to it, and once I freed myself of that guilt I can let it all go. Furthermore, I know my interest will never return.

It defined my life for thirty years, and I'm so done with it.

The more clear blue water I put between myself and music production the more I see how much damage it did to my life on so many levels. Some of my old friends and colleagues were financially ruined by it, and my closest friend killed himself due to it - leaving our social circle shattered into pieces. When I see aging rock stars on TV (including some I worked with) I just cringe in embarrassment at how they've failed to grow up, and I just thank my lucky stars I emerged from the whole thing relatively unscathed.

Now I just peer through my telescope, ponder on my past and think: "What the heck was that all about?..."

[great_bear]

Forgot to add some conclusions:

1) Don't let the equipment take over a hobby

2) Allow yourself to define your hobbies, rather than letting the hobbies define you.