Remembering me
Photos of dogs on trains in Japan, Peaches sold on the street.
Photos of Japanese cowboy and security guys.
More photos of Harajyuku shop window.
Photos of people in Japan.
More photos of people in Japan.
I Met with K, a photographer / ex-pro mountain biker / ex-pro kayaker / ex-ski patrol guy. Learned some things about my camera, like the fact that despite the message that appears on the screen telling me to turn on the flash when I use "night" mode, I actually don't need the flash to take a photo. All this time my one big complaint about this camera was that I couldn't keep the shutter open for longer exposer times... Ooooh what kind of blurry masterpieces await us now!
More than that though, it was nice to hear from someone who had overcome the fears that most of us have about a life without stability, and not knowing what will happen in a year or even three months. It was nice to hear from someone who first picked up a camera a little over a year ago, and is now looking forward to a job in Africa, paid by the employer. It was nice to hear that being 30, and having no extraordinary skill, which has been honed by years of practice since I was a child, there is still a chance that I can make something interesting of my life.
Although I have known all these things all along, there are so few examples in the world of people really taking chances and doing what they love, that it's so easy to believe that the people who sell out to a job they don't like, just for the sake of stability, are in the right. It's amazing how few people I know, read about, or see on TV, that I can look at and say "Yeah, he/she's got a life I would like to have". Without those examples, I tend to forget my own dreams and my entire approach to life. It's nice to meet someone that helps me to remember who I was, and hopefully still am.
Comments
yes my friend... anything is possible. live by my motto;
"Try not. Do or do not, there is no try..."
Posted by: damon | August 22, 2003 12:14 PM
I wonder how come so many of us long for stability in linfe... is that something to do with aging? or our mind too polluted by traditions, conventions, common sense, etc. to seize the real size of reality? Stability doesn't make us satisfied... we know that.
Posted by: Tomoe | August 22, 2003 07:46 PM
Hi Kevin ... since you haven't left a comment within the last month, i.e., G-Man's Mom's blog, I decided to check out your blog and try to find something out about you. You responded to my Retirement Realilties, but did let me know you were not nearly ready, like in 28 years old.
I have found that you enjoy being a photographer. Here is a thought for you: "There is just one life for each of us: our own. --Euripides If this is your passion, "Don't Die with Your Music Still in You." This is Secret #2 in the following book.
I just finished a book through a Mind/Body book group at Barnes & Noble and these thoughts were in the book. The book is, 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace by Dr. Wayne Dyer. Just in case you might want to check it out.
Food for thought ... good luck!
Posted by: Carole | August 23, 2003 10:38 AM
Thanks all for the encouraging words.
It's amazing though how supportive people I don't know are of such an idea. People I *do* know aer as afraid as me :-) They tell me it's not a good idea, and unemployement is high and what will you do when you are done.. blah blah blah...
In the same way that I tell somone I don't know, or have no stake in "Yeah! Live your life, you may die soon!" etc... but for myself... I may *not* die soon. That's what makes it scarry. If I knew I was going to die soon, heck yeah I quit and do what I want... there are no consiquences...
Anyway, hopefully I'm not as scared as I sound ;-) But also I wonder how irresponsible were you and your husband Carole? You are retired now and have freedom. but what if you chose to use all that freedom up when you were younger. Would you still be slaving away to live? Is it a choice of working hard for the first 40 years and taking it easy after that, or of having relative freedom your whole life, but never being able to enjoy true freedom from worries about money and job.
I'm not saying you have no worry about money, but I'm sure you have done the math, and decided that you can afford to live comfortable on what you already have. If I do the math now, I know that I can't screw up too badly, unless I want to get stuck in a string of jobs I really hate more for the rest of my life just to make ends meet.
That's why meeting K was encouraging. I meet a lot of people who tell me "Go for it!" just like I would thell them to go for it. But I never meet anyone who has actually gone for it themselves. I never meet anyone who has strayed from the "safe" path. Unless I see people who have strayed, and are supoprting themselves by doing some job I *really* don't want to be stuck doing. So it's nice to see someone who does something I can picture myself doing, and is actually succeeding at it.
Thanks for the encouragement :-)
Posted by: kevin | August 23, 2003 07:37 PM