Really Getting Frustrated

Ok "Cousin" Jeff,

Take a very deep breath, slowly let it out; Inhale, Exhale. Inhale, Exhale. Now pour a stiff drink. Sit down and keep the glass away from the stamps.

Thank your lucky star ...you are ...where you are... (hmmm, wouldn't that be a great lyric)
and praises, be, this is the only serious issue in life.

You ARE truely blessed and the exploration is part of the fun. This isn't work with timelines. Now, finish the drink and relax and enjoy.

If it helps,without buying too much more in the process,MY current goal is to finish scanning and organizing so I can make an informed decision on what I really want to keep.(I don't know How I decided to follow Rod's path and scan stuff.) The hard part there is being determined to learn more than you purchase until you know what you've got.

But if you find any embossed or postal stationary, cut corners... I'll be more than happy to help you out in the same manner LBus1 will with the flags.

When I think about all I could have learned from mom if we'd but started my little exercise in stamp organizing much earlier, ... well, I missed a lot. She would have enjoyed the SCF community very much. Is there someone you can share the experience with? Even just a few times a year?

Meanwhile, Just keep saying... "Tomorrow's another day." heheh

Best Regards, "cousin" B

i am envious Jeff has some thread started here

Thank you Barb and it really is not despondency but truly just the frustration and the humanness of knowing there is too much to know and not really wanting to give in to that inevitable fact. The bits and pieces therapy will have to do and I will always be happy "doing my stamps" as my kids say.

I know you're not despondent, if so, you really, wouldn't be here.
That's just the point.
While we're here, we're alive and vital and yes, as you said several times, learning something! It's about keeping the neural pathways going and what keeps us all not just sharp, but young(er) than many of our counterparts.

So... whatever made us think we'd learn it all anyway? As soon as we think we do, something comes along to challenge it.

Not to put any of us in our respective places... but did you read about the kid who is actually challenging Einstein's theory of Relativity....
Humbling... as is most of SCF to me.
http://video.aol.com/video/boy-geni...y/1884572122

cool link Barb

Try as I might, I can't help myself becoming interested in new things. My latest plunge is into the AMG occupied territory issues in WWII times and just after in Europe. I have started a collection and it seems "harmless" enough. I know that it will blow up into a complicated mess. But I keep on in ignorant bliss.

I find that different areas of collecting wax and wane. It can become overwhelming if you just look at the whole. But a small area at a time is manageable.

Fight on, Jeff.

jhlovell
I don't know about you but me I have 4 topicals collections and 4 countries by now. Classical stamps are about 5 to 10 percent of all my stamps. I remember sometime having trouble to put a name on the color of a stamps. Stamps after 1940 it's less troubles. If to much classical stamps get you desperate then start a nice topical collection to take a break once in a while.A hobby is to relax not worrying.

I often feel overwhelmed with my hobbies. My problem is I don't think I am good enough at them, or don't have the knowledge I want to have. I like to learn as much as I can about things, but rarely get to. I find the Internet is actually not much of a help with some of my specialized likes. I'm not into "group" activities, so I can't learn much that way, either.

So sometimes I get stuck in a rut.

I sometimes feel that I am getting a little too "into" a hobby at times. Perhaps you are getting into the same "rut". Maybe you should take a week off from stamps. Try something different. That way when you go back, it isn't a chore, but something enjoyable.

Just a thought...

I guess it's just a fact of life that we have limited time and resources.
KirkS

I WORK ON MY STAMP COLLECTION ALMOST EVERY NIGHT.
I almost worked on it Monday night,
I almost worked on it Tuesday night, ...

Sometimes I wonder about mine, if it misses me, if it is still there . . .

Suggestion, with all the countries and all the varieties! I won't even try to collect them all at the same time. I picked 1 country, the U.S.A., got it organized the way I wanted. I picked the next country on my list. Hawaii, now things get to be a little easier. Less than a hundred different issues, plus some varieties then some reprints and some specimens and, $%&$@! I'm back to being over stretched again! pausepausepause. I took a deep breath. I'm OK now.

is it wrong that I list my collection as a dependant on my taxes?

yeah, it is...
Jeff, you need to put it all in a big old box and send it to me.

I sometimes get overwhelmed to the point of locking up mentally on stamps. I find making a list of all the stamp "projects" I want to do, large and small, lets me pick one thing out to finish in the time I have available and I feel more relaxed about stamp collecting.

You can't send it all to SV, you have to share with family first! hhehe