Restless 22 - Looking Ahead to 2024
Happy New Year, everyone.
Unfortunately, Japan hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts. Wajima was hit hard. The whole of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa is one of my favourite places in Japan - my wife and I have camped there before, I’ve cycled around the whole peninsula, and when we were blessed with a daughter it was to Wajima that we took our first domestic vacation. We'll have to go back to show support when things calm down. Before the earthquake hit we were thinking of vacationing there in spring. Japan is one of the most resilient nations I know, and despite the challenges it regularly faces from natural disasters, is a place I’m proud to call home.
Furthermore, the airplane accident the following day turned out to be a miracle. I still can’t believe so many people survived. My eyes well with tears when I think about how courageous and professional the JAL crew must have been in such a horrendous moment but it’s sad that members of the coastguard crew had to lose their lives.
With that said, let’s move on to 2024. What plans do I have for this year? Well to begin with I’ve abandoned the notion of making resolutions. I don’t find them useful. Instead I prefer a checklist of things I hope to achieve. Here’s my current list (most of which is probably the same as most previous years). It is subject to change.
Provide more value for my students: This is important. I suspect the greatest happiness in life is from feeling valued by other people. Sure, most teenage kids probably couldn’t care less about how I teach them but a few do and if I can continue support them in their ambitions it’ll make my life more enjoyable. How? Improve our classes, provide the best Australia homestay possible, and get as many kids outdoors experiencing nature with our hiking club as possible.
Shoot a roll of film (36) every month: This hasn’t started well as the rewind lever on my Leica M6 fell off and I’m currently searching for a replacement. Luckily I picked up a cheap Nikon FE and 28mm lens just before Christmas so that I could shoot two different rolls of film at the same time.
Go to the Noto Peninsula: This was planned before the earthquake struck. We might have to delay it but we still plan on visiting.
Make more personal photo books and journals: I never do this enough and I always regret it. Forget new gear, it’s books and journals that I (we) should be investing in.
Walk: Walk. Walk. Walk.
Travel throughout Japan more: It’s been a while since I’ve travelled regularly around Japan. This was partly due to time constraints regarding my father’s illness and family commitments in the U.K. Now that he has passed away, as harsh as it sounds, we now have more free time to return a normal life.
Post more photographs here: I’ve been posting diptychs almost daily to Glass but I’d like to post more here. I think it was Alec Soth that stated that by looking at a large body of work a narrative will reveal itself. I’ve been photographing for so long now and have so many images that there must be a narrative amongst all those images somewhere. There’s no rush but I’d like to find it one day.
More cds and vinyl, less streaming: Music feels better when an album is listened to in full.
Improve my strength: I’ve always concentrated more on cardio than strength because I’ve never liked the idea of a gym and weights. But this year I’ll be 50 so I need to be realistic.
Support my wife and daughter: This goes without saying.
This list will be printed and pasted into my journal and a number of other places so that I can look at it often.
What about you? What are your goals for 2024?
★ From now on I think I'm going to combine blog posts and Restless. So when I post to my website I'll also send a Restless email. It should only be once or twice a month but if you're subscribed to both feel free to unsubscribe from one or the other. ★
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