Funk

Sadly this is not a post about dance music.

Today I’ve been packing my bags and getting ready to hit the road. In the morning, I’ll be on a plane to India (via Hong Kong) and I’ll be out and about creating photos for a couple of weeks. It’s been a while since I’ve done this kind of trip and, to be honest, I have very mixed feelings about it.

I am excited to be travelling again and I am looking forward to making some photographs. The problem isn’t there.

Rather, I’ve noticed, since I left Singapore, a kind of tiredness around my work. It’s not a lack of passion or motivation as such it’s just, well, kind of a funk.

It’s clear now I underestimated how run down I was last year. The last six months in Singapore felt like a daily fight, against the heat, the haze, the noise pollution and the bureaucracy. I love being in Tokyo, but this place takes some adjusting and I wasn’t starting from zero – I was starting from less than zero.

Of course, most people in my situation feel the same. In fact, I’m sure all of us go through this when we face major life changes and upheavals.

What’s clear to me though is many of the typical motivational tropes don’t help much. Be more passionate, authentic, connect with your vision; whatever it might be, it isn’t quite what we need at these times.

The photo above was made last weekend in Hakuba. I was there for a few days of ski-ing. It was a great trip and a pure joy to be back into a former passion of mine. I spent a lot more time facing down the mountain while ski-ing and enough time soaking up the mountain air when I wasn’t to be reminded how good life can be.

And, maybe that’s we need a little more of at times like this – a chance to be captivated by beauty, to have our focus narrowed till what we have to do is clear and perhaps even simple.

I don’t know really. I’m just guessing. Whatever it is, I know for a few days in Hakuba I didn’t feel like I was in a funk. I hope to have more of that in India and of course, a lot more when I return to Tokyo.