When is something considered an obsession?

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Janice1223

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After a recent trip to Walt Disney World, my family has come to love the parks, the merchandise, and just about anything Disney. It is a very, very frequent topic of conversation. They enjoy watching vloggers- people who live stream themselves walking around the park and going on rides. They watch these types of videos almost every day, some days it may be for a few hours. They like buying shirts and accessories and going to the Disney store. They like playing Disney music a lot as well. My sister even admitted the other day that she is obsessed. At what point does this break the commandment of worshipping other gods? Is this behavior sinful?
 
When Disney is more important then anything else… more important then God, eating, sleeping, going to work… like a drug addict. Then they have a problem.
 
I don’t personally have any interest in the parks or park experience, but it seems worth positive note that this is something that brings your family together.
 
Has it detracted from your family’s life of prayer and devotion to God, or other nessecary things such as work or school?
 
Janice1223 said:
My sister even admitted the other day that she is obsessed.
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How old is your sister?

It makes a bit of difference if she is pre-teen or a young teenager. Both groups have a tendency to emphatic speech, and neither are speaking most generally of what a true obsession is.
 
How recent was your trip?
WDW is a real fun place and the staff goes to great lengths to make a vacation there wonderful.
And then…you have to go back to the real world. Of work and school and your everyday problems and stresses and a pandemic and nobody catering to you anymore.
So of course they want to relive it for a while. Who wouldn’t?
But, if it’s leading them into sin, either by omission or commission, then they need to move on with their lives
 
My sister is 16, but I believe she was just over exaggerating.
 
Then I would say it’s fine. If it begins to get in the way of your family’s prayer / Mass attendance, or the duties of their state in life (Parents working / being homemakers, you and your siblings being students and obedient children) then there may be an issue – but there does not seem to be one at present time 🙂
 
Fair enough, and in normal circumstances I would say this has gone on long enough.

But these are not normal circumstances, we’ve been through a collective trauma (or more than one if you count the civil unrest), and people are grasping for simpler, gentler things for escapism…
 
Janice1223 said:
My sister is 16
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Teenagers often fixate on things. When they’re able to go do something else, like get really involved in some other activity, start a new hobby or job, the fixation wears off.

The pandemic and shutdown have prevented a lot of people from taking more recent vacations or engaging in other fun activities. It’s natural to relive a really good time you had just before everything went blooey.

Also, there are people who just plain love Disney just like there are people who spend a lot of time following their favorite TV shows or sports team.

Unless it’s getting in the way of people attending Mass, working at their jobs, budgeting the family money, taking care of children or elderly who need help etc then it’s not a problem.
 
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