David Shingler's Stream of Consciousness

I am part of the problem! I’ve already spoken about the one million variants of The Beatles “Now And Then” saying, and I quote, “Personally, I’ll be picking up a black 7 inch vinyl. Am I happy to pay £17.99 for it? Not really. But I will; and there lies the problem. So will every other Beatles fan in the world. Let’s face it, they could charge what they want and we would still buy it.” Well I did pick up the black vinyl… and the 12″… and the cassette… and the CD… WHY AM I LIKE THIS?!?

This was kind of a little nudge over the edge that I needed. For some time I’ve believed that I have some form of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and/or obsessive compulsive disorder. Now, this is completely undiagnosed and I’m not jumping on any kind of fashion wagon here but the symptoms are there, albeit mildly (I think). I’ve never seen these to be any kind of problem in my life but recently I’ve started to wonder whether to head to the doctors or not. I can’t seem to work out whether I’m overreacting, overthinking etc. and if it’s just a case of in the moment I have a massive fear of missing out! The fact is, the more I think about it, the more it adds up.

As of late I’ve been starting new jobs before finishing old ones, had an inability to focus or prioritise, felt restless and impatient and have been constantly ordering and rearranging things. Also, do I have a music collection or am I a hoarder?

I did have a bit of a lightbulb moment last week when I was sat looking at the huge collection of music that I’ve amassed in various physical forms. I realised, I don’t need it. There are things that have sat on the shelf for years that simply do not get played. I’m the kind of person that if I don’t act straight away it won’t get done so I went to town listing a bunch of cassettes for sale, ones that I never thought that I would sell. Eight went straight away and I had no feeling of regret or loss. So, I listed some records. Only a few, but ones that I just don’t need. This led me to ask myself do I really need five turntables?! Three of them will be going up for sale by the weekend.

Maybe a declutter and a slimming down of the collection will help to declutter my brain and give me focus. Or maybe now my new obsession is selling things.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash