I think I can relate to your Blahs-story. For me the Covid period was one of frantic activity in and around the home. Working from home 100% of the time and hardly any social activities / obligations, for the first time in years I had time to do all sorts of things I didn't have the time for before the pandemic.
We completely stripped and rebuilt the interior of our caravan, I learned Danish and play guitar (it turned out I had more talent for Danish than guitarplaying), finally do some neglected work in the garden and of course work on my stamps in the evening.
It was a strange time, one was anxious about the virus but at the same time I found the sudden simplicity of life very nice. I must have been a hermit in a previous life.
As far as the stamps are concerned, for some time I was only preoccupied with the business side, buying to resell, but lately I have started to focus more on my own collections again. What hasn't changed is that interests change over time. I don't spend much time on Australia and Japan anymore and have been far more interested in the more exotic things, like Egypt, Nepal and Nordic christmas seals. The latest addition has been Colombia, but I am still a bit in doubt whether or not I should really go full steam with that new country. There are already so many areas and countries I collect...
The stamps did get some serious competition from new hobbies, I have been trying to develop my creative side more and more lately and have started painting and most recently also pottery. I suppose it is good not to have a hyper focus on just one thing.
Yup!
I can relate to the way rrraphy feels.
I suppose the stamps were a release valve during covid and now that things are better the normal human reaction is to do all the things we missed doing during covid.
Enjoy your trip Ralph.
Dear Guys,
The self improvement you achieved during the covid crisis is noteworthy and impressive. I am saddened that there was no mention of increased stamppal friends and reaching out in friendships newly minted. Perhaps that all goes without saying, and you do that automatically- if so wonderful. If not, perhaps that as a goal ought to be noted more often.
Just saying!
Best,
Dan C.
I think some of us "hobbied out" during Covid. I was home and not working professionally for 3/4 of each year 2020 and 2021. I spent time working on the house, and tons of time on my hobbies.
I found that hobby time became less of a treat as time went on because I could do it any time. I overdosed on my model car building. Where I'd complete 2-3 a year and each completion was a triumph, during Covid working at it every day I completed 20 and they no longer held the same meaning. They came too easy! And as such, I haven't worked in the model room since!
We lost about half our model car club. Guys that got out of the habit of attending meetings, and it's even a chore to do that. I did drop out of a local stamp club as well.
With stamps, I haven't worked on my own collection much, I do spend a considerable amount of time pushing covers on eBay. That still holds my interest, because I like to see where things go and why. There is also a social aspect to it.
I do need to work on my collection, and the 300 2 pocket pages I ordered arrived today! So maybe I'll straighten out some albums that have overgrown! And maybe expand another year or two.
COVID and retirement accelerated my involvement in stamp collecting but now that I am back part time as a consultant (50% in office, 50% home) and not purchasing stamps, I am less interested to work on actual collecting. The extra time had allowed me to go through SOR and ebay more but that has changed. The net is if I can keep up purchasing it will spur my collecting. I think the blahs now is more the weather and just need to get out.. (maybe is my natural gas cooking stove causing it, grin).
We are post covid right now...usually i have one area of my collecting interests to pursue ...but lately i can not pin one down. I list some stamps on Stamporama to pass the time...i look for U.S. "events" covers from the 1930s and thats about it right now.
Sorry guys, but as much as you would like to believe otherwise, COVID is not over. XBB
Right - same as the flu is not over, and pneumonia and colds and on and on....
They are here to stay until they can be eradicated from the planet, which probably won't happen.
We will just learn to cope with it as we have with other illnesses past and present.
It's a funny thing. When we were all locked down because of Covid it was said that both colds and flu were way down too. Makes sense. I had a thought at the time that maybe the benefit of this all would be wiping out the common cold and flu, but no such luck I see!
It seems COVID will be around in one form or another like the flu for some time.
Stamp collecting sustained me during the Covid isolation years, and my collection made major headways. Plus I began collecting a few areas I had accumulated stamps in boxes or envelopes, but had refrained in the past from actively collecting. I also posted hundreds of approval books as I was organizing my duplicates.
As of late though, this has changed. Wonder if others are going through the same sense of withdrawals.
I stopped activating approval Books last year, and although I have several in various stages of preparation, I don't plan for now to activate the.
My purchases of stamps has gone down significantly, to virtually none at all. And when I order an occasional stamp or two, and receive the stamps. they tend to linger on my desk for weeks...even months before I add them to my collection.
I have started to travel again, and this is now my excuse for being less active with my collection. But traveling has never been a cause for hiatus in the past...so I see my using traveling just as an excuse.
I am increasingly thinking that it may be time to cut back and dispose of major past collection interests. But I am not sure how to go about it.
In brief, I am having an acute case of the blahs.
Anyone else noticing a change in their collection habits? Positive or negative?
rrr...
PS: I will be traveling and out of reach from January 12 to January 26.
re: Post Covid...an acute case of the Blahs....
I think I can relate to your Blahs-story. For me the Covid period was one of frantic activity in and around the home. Working from home 100% of the time and hardly any social activities / obligations, for the first time in years I had time to do all sorts of things I didn't have the time for before the pandemic.
We completely stripped and rebuilt the interior of our caravan, I learned Danish and play guitar (it turned out I had more talent for Danish than guitarplaying), finally do some neglected work in the garden and of course work on my stamps in the evening.
It was a strange time, one was anxious about the virus but at the same time I found the sudden simplicity of life very nice. I must have been a hermit in a previous life.
As far as the stamps are concerned, for some time I was only preoccupied with the business side, buying to resell, but lately I have started to focus more on my own collections again. What hasn't changed is that interests change over time. I don't spend much time on Australia and Japan anymore and have been far more interested in the more exotic things, like Egypt, Nepal and Nordic christmas seals. The latest addition has been Colombia, but I am still a bit in doubt whether or not I should really go full steam with that new country. There are already so many areas and countries I collect...
The stamps did get some serious competition from new hobbies, I have been trying to develop my creative side more and more lately and have started painting and most recently also pottery. I suppose it is good not to have a hyper focus on just one thing.
re: Post Covid...an acute case of the Blahs....
Yup!
I can relate to the way rrraphy feels.
I suppose the stamps were a release valve during covid and now that things are better the normal human reaction is to do all the things we missed doing during covid.
Enjoy your trip Ralph.
re: Post Covid...an acute case of the Blahs....
Dear Guys,
The self improvement you achieved during the covid crisis is noteworthy and impressive. I am saddened that there was no mention of increased stamppal friends and reaching out in friendships newly minted. Perhaps that all goes without saying, and you do that automatically- if so wonderful. If not, perhaps that as a goal ought to be noted more often.
Just saying!
Best,
Dan C.
re: Post Covid...an acute case of the Blahs....
I think some of us "hobbied out" during Covid. I was home and not working professionally for 3/4 of each year 2020 and 2021. I spent time working on the house, and tons of time on my hobbies.
I found that hobby time became less of a treat as time went on because I could do it any time. I overdosed on my model car building. Where I'd complete 2-3 a year and each completion was a triumph, during Covid working at it every day I completed 20 and they no longer held the same meaning. They came too easy! And as such, I haven't worked in the model room since!
We lost about half our model car club. Guys that got out of the habit of attending meetings, and it's even a chore to do that. I did drop out of a local stamp club as well.
With stamps, I haven't worked on my own collection much, I do spend a considerable amount of time pushing covers on eBay. That still holds my interest, because I like to see where things go and why. There is also a social aspect to it.
I do need to work on my collection, and the 300 2 pocket pages I ordered arrived today! So maybe I'll straighten out some albums that have overgrown! And maybe expand another year or two.
re: Post Covid...an acute case of the Blahs....
COVID and retirement accelerated my involvement in stamp collecting but now that I am back part time as a consultant (50% in office, 50% home) and not purchasing stamps, I am less interested to work on actual collecting. The extra time had allowed me to go through SOR and ebay more but that has changed. The net is if I can keep up purchasing it will spur my collecting. I think the blahs now is more the weather and just need to get out.. (maybe is my natural gas cooking stove causing it, grin).
re: Post Covid...an acute case of the Blahs....
We are post covid right now...usually i have one area of my collecting interests to pursue ...but lately i can not pin one down. I list some stamps on Stamporama to pass the time...i look for U.S. "events" covers from the 1930s and thats about it right now.
re: Post Covid...an acute case of the Blahs....
Sorry guys, but as much as you would like to believe otherwise, COVID is not over. XBB
re: Post Covid...an acute case of the Blahs....
Right - same as the flu is not over, and pneumonia and colds and on and on....
They are here to stay until they can be eradicated from the planet, which probably won't happen.
We will just learn to cope with it as we have with other illnesses past and present.
re: Post Covid...an acute case of the Blahs....
It's a funny thing. When we were all locked down because of Covid it was said that both colds and flu were way down too. Makes sense. I had a thought at the time that maybe the benefit of this all would be wiping out the common cold and flu, but no such luck I see!
re: Post Covid...an acute case of the Blahs....
It seems COVID will be around in one form or another like the flu for some time.