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Has anyone else encountered an odd psychological resistance to working on your Unfinished projects?

I’ve made progress, I have, really. But some days it just feels like I’m flogging a dead horse to finish some of these things that I started years ago.

I’m not talking about “I bought yard for this project, but I don’t feel like doing it anymore” – As long as the project isn’t too far along, screw it, it no longer lives in the UFO box. It has been thrown away or the pieces recycled for other purposes or what not.

I’m talking about the projects that I’ve gotten a significant way through, then boxed up with instructions on what to do next to finish it. It’s like my brain is actively rebelling against the idea of finishing. It would rather start something brand new and add to my personal Area 51 than try to whittle the UFO pile down by even a little bit. And these aren’t terribly difficult tasks – these are finishing the eight bags that I cut out and pinned together and got fabric for liner, or repair this bit of jewelry/arrows/a knitted something that doesn’t quite fit right and only need an hour or two of adjustment,  but never got any further. Assemble this, paint that, repair this thing over here that’s been languishing for 6 months and only needs a teensy bit of work.

What is with that? Why do I start projects but then not want to see them completed? I know they’ll be awesome (to me) once done. I know it will remove some subconscious psychological weight if I finish them, even more so than if I trash them, and yet…

I still don’t want to do it. It isn’t like writer’s block where I stare at something and wonder where the hell I’m supposed to go from here. I know if I fiddle with it long enough, I’ll figure something out and the sense of accomplishment I get when I do that is AMAZING!

It’s almost painful to do finish other projects – sewing, crochet, knitting, jewelry. That’s not a simile – I’m catching myself grinding my teeth and tensing my shoulders so hard they’re touching my ears as I work on this stuff.

I’m not filled with an intense desire to write – if I was, I could at least  blame something. I’m actually in quite the snag with the writing right now. That was actually a big reason for tackling my Area 51 stash – I thought if I relieved myself of the UFO’s by finishing them, I’d be able to clear the mental cobwebs and get back to the writing.

But right now, it’s almost like I’m trying to find any excuse to NOT do it.

Am I crazy? Is this a thing other people experience too?