Kenversations™
Page 3 of 3
Are You Seriously Obsessed?
Whether you are an Imagineering hopeful, a collector, trader, dealer, passholder, cast
member, employee, Disney alumna or alumnus, NFFC member, a shareholder, or a person who
falls into any of the categories I mentioned earlier in this edition of my column, it
makes sense to regularly visit LaughingPlace.com. You should come here more often
and stay longer than any other Disney-related, site. ;-)
I was a regular reader and poster on such BBSs as Mouse Ears, Mouse House, and Mickey's Kingdom. (BBSs were the for-runners to ISPs, to those of you who aren't familiar with personal computer usage before the rise of the Internet.) I was there on rec.arts.disney before the splits. And yes, I was here when LaughingPlace.com bloomed, and I try to visit as often as I can. What can I say? I'm an infojunkie and I'm interested in Disney. Heck, I'm a columnist here. I like LaughingPlace.com. I also like chocolate, but I know that too much of a good thing can be bad.
If you find yourself spending all day every day here, that might be an indication of a problem.
Enthusiasm can be a good thing. Hobbies can be a good thing. Collecting can be fun, educational, and even lucrative. Knowing your investment and having career goals are definitely good things. Balance, however, is needed. Disney is supposed to be entertainment. If it consumes every moment of your free time, and you neglect personal relationships, hygiene, and obligations, that is not healthy.
If you are online so much doing Disney-related stuff that you regularly pass up physical activity, social engagements, sleep, and healthy meals, that's not good.
What can you do?
Again, I'm not a formal sociologist. So, take this with as much salt as you need.
Recognizing an excessive fixation is the first step. If you have crossed that line from ordinary fandom into obsessed fandom, and you know it and admit it to yourself, that's a start.
Take a break. Get some perspective and figure out how to keep it. Make sure you have at least one hobby or interest that has nothing to do with Disney. Or, just pull yourself away from the computer for a while every couple of days and go outside for a walk - in some place that doesn’t have a five-foot-tall mouse posing for pictures.
Spend some of your time and money on some worthy cause, like a charity or in community activism.
Make some friends that look at you like you're nuts and goof on you whenever you mention Disney. Hey, maybe you can get them into it and addicted to LaughingPlace.com!
Now, be sure you discuss this column here on LaughingPlace.com for hours on end. See below ;-)
Discuss It
-- Ken Pellman
Ken Pellman has vacationed at Walt Disney World Resort more than anywhere else. He's been a fixture at Disneyland Park in one way or another since 1985, and a regular user of online Disney fan forums since 1989. He has a Disney memorabilia collection and a BA in Thematic Environmental Design. He can be reached directly at [email protected] or at http://www.Pellman.com, where you can learn about some of his other interests.
Kenversations is posted on the fourth Wednesday or Thursday of each month.
The views, opinions and comments of Ken Pellman, and all of our columnists, are not necessarily those of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
©2002 Ken Pellman, all rights reserved. Licensed to LaughingPlace.com.
-- Posted January 24, 2002