Taking a big leap in to the unknown

Lake Päijänne - a great place for thinking space

Dear blog & blog readers (if any of you are left),

Sorry I have neglected you for so long, but things have been tough and decisions had to be made. The other morning my daughter asked me to give her a word. I wasn't sure what she wanted the word for, to try and spell it maybe? I don't know why but I chose the word constable and then she wrote it down and started to write down other words she could form using the letters in constable. It's an old game I know, but soon the list was quite long.

stable table ten no on tone cost ant able stance son toe so tale sale scale scab scan scone con cob cone bale sole nose cast cons cant tab stab bone stone stole stolen stale snot nat net not note notes notable noble blot boat bloat cent scent blast bat baton salon talon bet coble best beast boast coast loan loans clot cleat baste cat tone sat at tan

It got me thinking; there's so much that's possible to make from one other thing, but in this word game the problem starts with a solution, all the other words are in there you just need to explore a bit in your mind or on paper. That's where I am right now, exploring a bit…

Let me explain;  last week I resigned from my paying job of fifteen years to try a new world of opportunity and uncertainty. The big thing is that I have said farewell to the old workplace so that I can get the time to work out what I want to do with the rest of my life. Actually I have no real idea as to what the future holds, but I know that this is one of those moments that I am fortunate to have the chance for a complete fresh evaluation of my world and what I want to do with it.

I still love taking pictures and exploring the features and functions of cameras, lenses and flash, but I don't know if I will be a professional photographer any more than I might be a balloon pilot. All I know is that I will take the time to find out.

Keep reading, this might be a fun and long ride as I try to work out my direction. Also if you have other words that can be made using only the letters in constable add them in the comments please.

- p4pictures -

Resolve to change for the better in 2010

Many people have made and probably broken New Year resolutions already, but I've been a bit thin on the ground for ideas that I can share right away. However my first and most important resolution is to shift the work-life balance to a life-work balance in 2010. Given that I went seriously in to the danger zone last year it's probably long overdue anyway.

Here's my resolutions so far:

1. Shift balance to life-work and away from work-life
2. No more random photo gear purchases, but explore all the photo kit I've already got
3. Let other people help me do what I want, by giving me more access to my time - this can mean use online grocery shopping to give me time back in the evening or weekend.
4. Go up in a hot air balloon over the Chiltern Hills in Oxfordshire where I live
5. Print & display more of my pictures - the power of ⌘ P
6. Take more pictures of people
7. Read all the great books I got for Christmas. Visionmongers you are up first
   

So it's not the 10 for 2010 I'd originally considered, but I think this will be sufficient to start with.

- p4pictures -