Getting back special interest?

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For the longest time, Japan was my special interest, now it isn't the same. I used to talk about Japan for hours. I still like it, but it doesn't feel as strong. How can I get back into it?

I had no trouble getting my current special interest back. I've picked off where I left off in the April of 1997.

Could you tell me how you started getting it back?

So, you were interested in Japan, but now you're not, and you want to be interested in it again because...?

Interests come and go. They may change, resurface, get more intense or fade away. A lot can influence that process.

Maybe you'll get interested in something else, or someday you'll want to know more about Japan again. Forcing it, even desiring to force it, seems pretty odd.

Special interests can't be forced, they have a rythm all their own. They intensify and decline, come and go, can be affected by depression and anxiety, can be stable or quickly change.

You can't force yourself to be interested in anything. If I could, I wouldn't have such a hard time trying to make myself care about English and American history. That crap is boring.

I can make myself get back into special interests or drag one out. I still haven't finished collecting Stargate figures and Doctor Who will be back on TV soon so I now have two interests. It's hard to juggle them but I'm doing pretty well.

I can make myself get back into interests. When I've wanted to get back into astronomy or photography I can. Things you aren't interested in are hard to do like boring classes but old interests aren't the same. You can make yourself get back into them, just as long as there is no other interest in place.

I say take a break from Japan. You might one day get back into it.

While I don't have an answer for you, I do understand exactly how you feel. My special interests generally change every 1 - 3 years. I hate transitioning into a new interest because I always feel badly for leaving my old ones behind.

Starting in mid January of last year, Tim Burton and his movies were my special interest. It was all I talked about, and I watched my favorites so many times that I memorized the dialogue line for line. I became highly emotionally attached to specific characters in his movies and adopted them as imaginary friends. They became an invisible "security blanket" for me.

But as of the past couple of months, my interest in them has faded. It is nowhere near as strong as it was during this time last year. I still like Tim Burton movies, but I am no longer obsessed with them. I have been trying in vain to rekindle my passion for them, but it just isn't working.

Before my discovery of Tim Burton's movies, I was an anime geek. Now that my passion for those movies is gone, I am trying to get back into my old anime hobby. So far I feel like I am having some success; I have watched 13 episodes of Black Butler and I really enjoy it. I have also seen 10 episodes of Shugo Chara and 5 episodes of Hayate the Combat Butler, and I really like those as well. However, I haven't allowed myself to become fully obsessed with them yet, because I am still clinging onto the hope that one day my passion for Tim Burton movies will return.