Hello all!

So what happened?  Last you heard from me, I was about to embark on a little trek to an old ghost town near Whistler, BC.   And embark I did.  That was the last week of August, ie, forever ago.  I would like to report that while the “ghost town” is no longer standing, a single shack still is, so it’s more of a “ghost shack” than a ghost town.  Although I did share a post about this on my instagram, I would have reported about this investigative disappointment, and the consequentially more interesting abandoned train wreck (see images above) much sooner, except that upon return from this sojourn I fell to an intense bout of covid.   Which, while certainly bringing my life’s momentum to a grinding halt, was a rather interesting experience.   Let me explain.

I am very fortunate to be able to say that my entanglement with the virus was not as dire as many others, and nowhere near life-threatening, but also wasn’t anything to sneeze at either (yes, pun).  I was bedridden, unable to do anything, for a few days.  And I do mean ANYTHING.   I couldn’t even read or watch videos, which is what I or any modern person would normally do.  Focusing on my breathing became essential.   I’ve heard a lot about meditation and mindfulness, which always sounded nice, but “who has the time?” I would ask myself.  Well, eventually the time found me.  It was inescapable.  And it wasn’t easy, but being forced to simply focus on one’s own existence has its rewards as well.  Once I accepted the loss of momentum to all I had planned, I began to be able to see more clearly what was most important.  My initial frustrations had so much to do with the pressures I had put on myself to maintain deadlines for projects mostly meant to justify my time.   Focusing on simply being alive can shuffle one’s priorities.   And I want it to change how I live going forward.

Very often, the things we’re not at all passionate about can take away so much energy from the things that we are actually excited to do.   Of course some of these things are unavoidable, but for me, so many things are done in the name of seeming busy because that is what I am pressuring myself to do, or is the advice I’m being given by the world around me.   I’m going to be evaluating this more closely- and I want to think that this doesn’t mean doing less, per se, but just less of what I feel pressured to work towards and more of what I’m genuinely excited to share.   So you can expect less of me saying, “you can expect more of me, or such and such coming up!” and maybe I’ll feel more free to send along something impromptu that makes me feel happy or excited in the moment, planned ahead or not all at all!

I had a long list of goals last time I wrote.  And although I had fun shooting the Whistler Train Wreck that I mentioned, I won’t be adding any new prints to my Abandoned images gallery for the time being.  The only project currently on the books is Part Two of my Ghosts of Forest Future series, which I am truly excited to continue once this post-covid fatigue has lessened.  But I’m giving myself as much grace as I need for that.

Thanks so much for reading my long ramble and for being a part of Life is Art,

-James