I have finally gone full circle. I knew it was coming, I could feel it.
I started out collecting stamps at 8 years old, when I was given a very large collection (in 16 albums) from the guy next door (my surrogate big brother) when he left to join the military. I actively collected them for about 7-8 years, until my teen angst got the best of me, and the collection was liquidated. As I grew older, the collecting bug never left me, and I eventually found my way into coins.
Recently, although I have been steadily buying, I have found myself "wanting." It seemed like I was just going through the motions, buying coins that I felt I needed, but not sure if I really wanted, my focus was drifting, I wasn't sure of what direction I wanted my collection to go, was getting frustrated not being able to fill any common holes, etc. I found some temporarily joy in shifting focus to buying banknotes, but once again, I am drifting into that "lull", of waiting and watching for items from my wantlist to become available (within my limited budget).
Today, on my somewhat regular visit to the local hobby/coin shop, I found myself mulling through a large box of stamps. I was just there killing time, waiting for my wife to get off work so that I could time it right to get home the same time as she does, with the Subway sandwiches for lunch (a ritual with us, we grab junk food and a movie every Sat afternoon.... "our time"). Before I realized it, I was late, and was standing at the register with a handful of stamps and a package of stock pages.
So, now I am a stamp collector, again. The circle is complete. What planted the seed of collecting in me will once again blossom into something good. I believe it is an addiction with me. If I was an animal, I would probably be a squirrel, and I swear I would have the largest stash of acorns in the forest. I have already hit the BIN button on 4 auctions at eBay this afternoon, besides my regular coin/note auctions I am bidding on.
I am determined that I will stay focused with the stamps. So far, I am only looking at Yugoslavian stamps. As I fill out the 3000+ issues, I will gradually start adding in the former republics.