Danny Darko, What you’ve described IS an obsession rather than simply a passion. Understand People can become obsessed with anything, work, golf, gambling, drinking, cooking, CLEANING, or even creative outlets like 3d work. Why I say this seems obsession rather than a creative outlet is your reflection towards family. That was a cue. Your time with Blender is stealing time from your family. Irreplaceable time by the way.
Work should never steal time from one’s priorities. And Hobbies can become the worst time suckers. I’ve experienced a similar problem with Blender. In fact, I just deleted a 6 GB sized file of a project I’d been working on for several years just because of the same issues. I did it because you’ll survive without it. And in the end if its meant to be, you’ll return to the work. Moreover, when and if you do return, you’ll surprisingly discover your efforts will likely have improved, tangibly. Don’t ask me why, but there is usually a noted increase in ability after a dedicated lapse - kind of an artistic given.
In the 1650’s St Mary of Agreda worked ten years writing the Mystical city of God. She had wrote thousands of pages of parchment and it was nearly complete when a fire broke out in the convent and consumed her work. But undeterred, after a lapse, she returned to re-writing the work and this time finding her writing was better written, more readable. And not long after it was published and is still in copy today.
I read an article once by an author who had a similar problem. He loved to write. He was always writing, writing, writing. But nothing was being published. His family harped over his lack of interaction. Finally he listened to their concerns and resolved to devote more time to his family. Yet He continued to write, however, only at night after everyone was asleep. He attended to chores and family activities during waking hours.
Sure he was tired the next day, but he didn't neglect his family anymore. And the result was that his writing actually became better, his life more disciplined. And stuff got published.
But aside from the obsession, are you an artist? I think you might be. Consider this quote from STeven Pressfield … “If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?” chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Another quote from Pressfield also attests to what it takes to “go pro”
“The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Last is a good synopsis of how a pro tackles his daily work. This is Pressfield’s schedule. Who is also divorced, by the way. And has no children to contend with. Yet he still works within disciplined time constraints.
1. W H A T I D O (Pressfield)
I get up, take a shower, have breakfast. I read the paper, brush my teeth. If I have phone calls to make, I make them. I’ve got my coffee now. I put on my lucky work boots and stitch up the lucky laces that my niece Meredith gave me. I head back to my office, crank up the computer. My lucky hooded sweatshirt is draped over the chair, On my thesaurus is my lucky cannon that my friend Bob Versandi gave me from Morro Castle, Cuba. I point it toward my chair, so it can fire inspiration into me. I say my prayer, which is the Invocation of the Muse from Homer’s Odyssey, translation by T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, that my deal mate Paul Rink gave me and which sits near my shelf with the cuff links that belonged to my father and my lucky acorn from the battlefield at Thermopylae. It’s about ten-thirty now. I sit down and plunge in. When I start making typos, I know I’m getting tired. That’s four hours or so. I’ve hit the point of diminishing returns. I wrap for the day. Copy whatever I’ve done to disk and stash the disk in the glove compartment of my truck in case there’s a fire and I have to run for it. I power down. It’s three,three-thirty. The office is closed. How many pages have I produced? I don’t care. Are they any good? I don’t even think about it. All that matters is I’ve put in my time and hit it with all I’ve got. All that counts is that, for this day, for this session, I have overcome Resistance.
So that's my advice. There seems to be an undisciplined artistic drive present, yet an artistic sense nonetheless. So I've presented some stuff from Pressfield as food for motivational thought as well as how to approach things. These are similar issues to mine.
You still need a break from your work. So Listen to your conscience and step away from the table. To establish distance from your project/work in order to regain proper perspective. This is not about more or less detail. This about over attachment and disordered priorities, at the moment. Just my two cents since you posted.
Wish you the best.