For me it’s driving while under the influence. If you couldn’t tell, I like me some ganja. However I have long since held the belief that it is utterly insane to drive while under the influence of most substances, with maybe nicotine and caffeine being the exception. All too often I see other stoners smoking and driving, which I simply can’t fathom. I’ve only operated a vehicle once under the influence and it was just to move a U-Haul around the block to a different parking spot, which was such a scary experience while high that I refuse to even consider getting behind the wheel again while high.
Gear Acquisition Syndrome is most common problem in most of the hobbies I have had. Folks need to calm down and work with what they have before diving further down the rabbit hole.
Regarding your driving under the influence thing, I am amazed I didn’t die or kill someone when driving all over the USA while on LSD after Grateful Dead shows back in the 80’s and 90’s.
thank you for having the hindsight to realize that that was probably a mistake to do. plenty of people here have been defending driving under the influence
Oh yeah, it was completely nuts. More than a few poor choices back then. Now I won’t drive after more than one beer.
I paint and draw, purely as a hobby. You wouldn’t believe the amount of crap some people have. Brushes they use only once in a lifetime, for one specific element. Special colours they also get to use only once. Pencils they don’t even open. Get a basic set, familiarise yourself with it, stretch it to the full extent of its capabilities (that’s mastery), and then upgrade to a higher quality version of what you have. No single-use novelty tools and materials.
GAS is absolutely something I’ve done. Is it a problem? Depends on perspective. Sometimes the nicer equipment makes the hobby so much more enjoyable at the early stages that I’m more likely to stick with it. Sometimes I spent a lot more money than was required because there’s a lot of gatekeeping in hobbyist circles. How many times have you heard arguments like “the Manoblaster XYZ 22.9 is trash and if you’re serious, you really should look at the Ploydester 7, it’s got 9 more omicron settings and it really hits the low tags like nothing else can.”
It also trickles down for cheap to a real enthusiast if you don’t fall in love. Win win