Good morning readers. Hope that everyone is well and safe. For those of you following along at home, you may have noticed that I have not written on my blog for a few weeks. Whilst I would love to be able say that I have been on a mountain in Japan, the truth is I have been unable to find or build the energy to be creative. This has extended beyond my blog to my photography and all other pursuits.

I photographed a friend’s wedding a couple of weeks ago and that was fantastic but other than that I have taken no serious or even mediocre shots. I haven’t even been carrying a camera around with me. So that flatness I have felt ever since returning from Tokyo in August, has never really subsided. If anything it has grown much stronger and awoken my depression. Something which I have been very open about throughout my blogging journey.

Granted, the last five weeks I have had my 6 year old home on school holidays as well as having builders in and out of the family home doing some essential building upgrades. So I have been very housebound. And the cost of the renovations has been considerable. So much so that I cannot see myself being able to make my annual trip to Japan in 2018. I am a little devastated about this. My annual trips have been so important to me. I will have to look for some other opportunity there.

Regardless, I feel the need to take a break from the norm as otherwise I am just forcing myself to come up with content here rather than feeling the true desire to share my experiences. I also need to take stock of what I am going to do with my life. Strange to hear from a 44 year old but I have not been employed in work other than photographic jobs for almost five years. That’s a long time. Long enough to make the prospect of finding a new job a little scary. I have no regrets about that absence from the workforce. I needed that time to be with my wife when she was so ill, time to support my children after her death and time to heal myself. I am glad that I was always here for the children during such a horrible experience and lingering process of grief.

So I have some things to work through. Need some time to reflect and look ahead. I plan to be back on here in the not too distant future so please don’t go away. Take care everyone. G