I think such an obsession is actually the easiest kind to overcome, at least in the short run, because you can refine it into love, and when you love something, you can let it go.
*Nerd alert!* (Feel free to skip this if you just want to move on with the topic instead of reading several paragraphs testifying to my dorkitude,...but I hope you won't.
)For example, when I was younger, I used to obsess over a few of videogames I really liked. I'd spend hours trying to learn all their ins and outs so I could modify them and "make them my own," as the phrase goes. One of the easiest modifications was replacing the in-game music with items from my own music library. Another was using my own graphics to change the appearance of the user interface. I told myself. I did this because I didn't like the in-game music or the look of the UI or I was bored with it, but in truth, I now believe I did it out of a desire for control more than anything else.
The reason I'm sure of this is because, first of all, at the height of my obsession I put a lot more time and energy into analyzing the games than actually playing them. In other words, I wasn't having fun anymore. Second, after I encountered a problem with my computer that prevented me from playing the games (but not from listening to their sounds, viewing their graphics, reading their code/script if it was available, etc.), I continued to make modifications in anticipation of playing again when the problem was fixed,...but...
In time, I came to really miss playing them, and I would think about them—sometimes reading about the course of a game's development, the story of its inspiration, or the people who made it—while listening to the (original) in-game music. Why would I do this if I didn't like the music or thought it was boring? The conclusion was undeniable: the team was right to choose that music, by that composer and that performer, because nothing would better suit the spirit of the game. The interface was appropriate and user-friendly, too, and apart from a few bugs, it was a good game all around. I wouldn't change it into something else; I loved it for what it was.
I still play my favorite games occasionally, but though I'll always remember them fondly as a part of my youth, I no longer obsess over them. I love them enough to let them go.
If only that happened with all obsessions—am I right?
So what about you guys? Has it ever happened to you?
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