Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man? – Zhuangzi

It's no secret that I'm a hobby butterfly - and overall that's no bad thing.  Even when I only ever did one game or one force I was still an incredibly slow painter so it's not slowing me down - but it does have a negative that I wanted to talk a little about, if only to hammer out my own feelings on the matter.

Red Admiral (my favourite butterfly) courtesy of @mikebirdy on Pexels

I love having dozens of projects on the go; some ready to paint, some ready to assemble and others still in a planning stage. The idea of only doing one project actually instils a little dread in me - life is too short to play one era/setting/ruleset/scale/etc after all! When one project ends, or needs a little break, being a hobby butterfly means there's always something else to try and keep things fresh, right?

Well... in theory...

As anyone that follows me on Instagram is probably aware, I'm also a boardgamer - and it is through that particular hobby that I first came across the term Analysis Paralysis. To sum it up quickly for anyone who might be puzzled - 'overanalysing or overthinking a situation can cause forward motion or decision-making to become "paralyzed", meaning that no solution or course of action is decided upon'.

And that's the problem, for me, of being a hobby butterfly - sometimes when I reach a natural break point in a project I am just incapable of deciding what to move on to next.  I've recently finished another batch of Mordheim Hirelings for the weekly posts here - but now I'm at a loss. I know I want a change from that setting - but what to? I have no idea.

I have Dracula's America, Rebels and Patriots, Mortal Gods, Tiny Crusades and Infinity stuff to prep - all of it awesome - but with a dwindling black spray supply my energy and will to tackle those has faded to almost nothing right now.

I have plenty of miniatures primed and ready to paint of course (thank you previous years of Operation Winter in Coming!) - but then that presents its own problem; what game is speaking to me right now? Which era or setting is energising my hobby-mind? Which minis are calling my name from their pile of future glory?

(Worse still... is there anything that is enthusing me? Right now, I'm not sure...)