Money piddled away like water

The decision is made. I'm selling all of my camera gear and replacing it with stuff that I'll actually use. The brutal truth is that I simply have so much that it has to be stored in several places. I don't like this and never have.

As I said, what I have cost me stupid amounts of money and the amount I'll get back, selling it, is negligible. The selling decision is more about psychological welfare than anything else. The equipment is irrevocably linked with a very bad experience from the past. I think my mental health is worth more than those God-forsaken memories. In fact, I would liken keeping equipment with those memories as very similar to a rape-victim keeping and reusing the panties she wore when she was raped. God knows, I have tried to put those memories behind me and to this day won't mention what the memories are. Each time I look at my camera gear, the memories are jogged and resentment resurfaces.

Anyway, looking forward, I will continue with photography. I'm very much thinking in terms of going for an Olympus camera (or Panasonic) with just two lenses. Any money left over is probably going to go toward taxes or rent or something similar. As an amateur, I have zero use for more than one body and surplus lenses. The difference between myself and most photographers is that I know I am an amateur and I know there's no living to be made from photography by anybody without real connections.

I'm pretty much set on getting an Olympus micro four thirds camera and two lenses - probably a 12-60 and a 70-200 which gives me effectively 24mm to 400mm coverage. That's pretty much what I have now though 99% of the time I use solely my 17-85 (27- 136). Heck, I might even get by with just the 12-60 (24-120). The key thing is I'm returning to my original goal.

In the beginning, before my hobby was usurped, I had intended to get solely a Canon XT with two lenses - 18-55 and 70-200. That was all I wanted. I didn't want all the extra garbage that I was pushed into. I would have been happy making the occasional bit of money (or not) on the side from photography. I did not want a photography business. I wanted to be left alone to enjoy my hobby.

Sadly though I love my XT dearly, it is irrevocably connected to my misery and it has to go. As I've said before, my personal welfare is more important than money. This is something many people fail to understand. I hope that with the women's panties reference, people will understand the gravity of the situation. I have been through Hell and back.