Too Busy for Magic? Or is there more to it?

I know I'm too busy.  How do I know I'm too busy?

I'm too busy for Magic: the Gathering.

Evidence:

The latest set for MtG is called Journey into Nyx.  It was released on May 2.  When did I pick it up?  On May 19!  Oh, I pre-ordered my boxes a month prior to release, so at least I wasn't so busy that I missed the good prices of pre-order, but it took me more than two weeks to get the boxes.

And where are those boxes now, on May 22?

In the storage container of my car, where I put them when I picked them up, on my way to the airport!

But really, folks, the evidence gets even more damning.

I also haven't even opened any of the previous three sets:




Except for a small tournament I ran with family and friends last October, I have not played with any of the cards which have been released in the past year.

So, I guess, what's really true is this:  given how busy I am, I have chosen to do other things with my spare time.  In general, those "other things" have allowed me to spend more time with Sherry, now that she is in town after her three years getting her degree in Apparel Design.  It's certainly true that I have had less spare time, but I also have to face the fact that I am not as driven to do MtG as I have been in the past.  I still really enjoy the game, but I must realize that I play so rarely now, and the process of opening new cards and building decks with them is so time-consuming, that the prospect of getting to new sets seems more like a chore, and less like the exciting process of discovery and inspiration than it was is the past.

I need to change my approach.  I want to find my love of this game again.

And I want to open those cards!