"Paging Dr. Freud..."

So.... Cassandra and I saw this the other day:

We both laughed. Then I said something like, "That's a blog post waiting to happen!" - at which point we turned the car around and took photos.

We're always looking for material.

But what, exactly, can I say about this? It is, at once, creative and fun as well as silly and non-conformist. My inner child loves it but my outer grown-up thinks it's ridiculous. I'm also not-so-secretly jealous of this person's ability to freely express their "art" without fear of judgment. You don't drive around in a rubber ducky car doing errands unless you have a pretty healthy sense of self - or an extreme desire to be the center of attention.

So, who needs the therapy here? Me, with my repressed desire to express my creativity or the duck-car owner with their "obsession."  I'm pretty sure that the answer is "me."

Regardless, the duck car definitely makes for interesting conversation fodder like "at what point does an interest or hobby become an obsession?"

I believe that, while some creatives are truly obsessed, most are just super-comfortable with their choices. Obsession by definition requires a certain amount of pain - either in the uncontrollable desires that create the obsession or in the aftermath of the obsession (drained bank account, an inability to take care of oneself, alienation of others, etc.) I'm guessing that duck-car owner is probably just fine with the choice to create this particular piece of art. I doubt that he or she is obsessively scouring every possible outlet for new and different ducks. I can't imagine that he or she has spent too much money on the creation of the duck car. And, I can pretty much guarantee, that there's little to no pain being generated by flaunting the duck car in public. Except for maybe the embarrassment that duck-car owner's mom probably feels. As a matter of fact, I imagine that duck car brings a lot of joy wherever it goes. 

Cassandra and I certainly enjoyed it. 

So...let your freak flag fly. Wear purple every day. Collect cow figurines until your house is littered with them. Knit yourself a Dr Who scarf (only 12 ft long!) In the end, our obsessions aren't obsessions as long as they're bringing us, or those around us, happiness. Just remember to turn it off if it starts getting in the way of your real life or someone might sic Dr Freud on you.

- Alex