Something to consider? Would they compete or build on each other?

I?ve been playing around with an idea recently. I wonder if it?s really possible to have more than one hobby.

Most of us aren?t and probably never will be super rich. Our hobbies have to compete with the rest of our lives for our time, money, and energy. Two hobbies would invariably end up fighting with each other for the same limited set of resources. It seems reasonable that both would suffer as a result.

I?ve had several hobbies over time. When two of them overlapped, invariably one of two patterns developed. I usually gave the bulk of my attention to, and the other would be mostly neglected, receiving attention only when I had a lot of time and money or I was temporarily bored with the other. Other cases would mostly be a move between pastimes; a new interest would receive more and more of my time while an older one received gradually less.

Of course, the more expensive or the more demanding the hobby is, the bigger the conflicts get, sometimes even within the hobby. How many people have commented on the need to focus, or choose one set over another, even just within the scope of coin collecting? Our sets compete with each other. Then try to expand into comics or some totally unrelated area as some do?

Coin collecting isn?t really my only hobby even at the moment. I?ve had a few projects and goals that I?ve been putting off in order to run-amuck with my coins. Right now I?m finding myself wanting to go back and finish some projects after a long wait. While I haven?t lost interest in my sets, I also find I?m more than happy to be cooling my jets just a bit.

Does the ability to fall back on one hobby keep the other from getting too stale or frustrating? Probably. So in the end, do competing interests do more to help each other or hurt each other?

As always, few firm conclusions; I seem to ramble and hope that something coherent leaks out in the process?