A couple weeks ago I posted something on Google+, about dichotomous interests and I realized as I was writing my thoughts out that each interest took over while one hibernated.  My maternal grandfather introduced me to my photography obsession when I turned ten years old.  He bought me my first camera for my tenth birthday, a Kodak Instamatic camera.  From the moment the camera was in my hands I was hooked.  To see more information about my photography obsession, feel free to view my photographer’s statement on CJP Photos.

I was already heart and soul into writing, when the camera was placed in my hand.  However, writing soon became less important to me as photography took its place.  I went everywhere with that little Kodak Instamatic camera:

I loved that camera as it introduced me to photography.  i owned it for six years until I graduated to my first Canon camera and my first SLR.  The Canon T50:

I also was given that camera for my sixteenth birthday.  Now here was a camera I could grow into.  And man did I use it.  I owned that camera until 2002, over twenty years.  The T50 was retired when I went digital.
In between those twenty years of owning the T50, I found my way back to my first obsession:
Writing.  And photography went into hibernation again.  It seems to me that I can’t focus on two arts at the same time.  One tends to take precedence.  Another odd happenstance that has just occurred to me is there seems to be a ten year gap between each hibernation.

It was 1980 to around 1990 that photography was a major habit.
It was 1990 to 2000 that writing really took over and it was during this time that I found my greatest success, being published sporadically in the SF/F small press.

Then, the 2000s rolled around and I lost all interest in what I wrote.  Photography came roaring back into my life and again it was during this time, the second go round that I found my greatest success with that endeavor.

It was in 2002 that I opened my photography site:
CJP Photos and began showing my photography at local galleries.  I sold almost immediately upon putting my photography online and showing in galleries.  Ten years went by and my brand became so recognizable that people knew me more as a photographer than anything else.

Marketing!  Marketing!  Marketing!

During this entire ten year period, I never sat in front of my computer to type a single word that lead to any type of fiction.  I didn’t even miss it.  Another ten year period.

2000 to 2010.

I wonder what it is with the number ten that is so relevant to me.  That number not only holds significance for my obsessions, the number ten is also significant in the fact that the first two jobs I held were for ten years:
Hammonasset Beach State Park:
1985-1995

Stop and Shop:
1990-2000

And yes I worked in both places at the same time for a while.

2010 rolled around, and I found my voice returning to me again.  Writing, once more became habitual.  It was something I had to do to stay centered.  I shared a post called: The Itch that explained how my flame was rekindled.

Anyone else have similar stories?

Be Well!  Be Happy!  Be Positive!
Blessings to you.
—
Chris