Motivation
I havent posted for like... Forever. I was jarred into gear the other day when I had an issue with my web host shutting down their servers. Freaked me out. Thought I had lost everything... Its amazing when I think about the amount of time and effort that has gone into this short little blog here and thats exactly what I thought about as soon as it looked like it was gone. It was like losing a thesis, and it wouldnt have been something that I would have been able to replace. Needless to say, my backup plan for this little beast is now a lot more prudent. I cant imagine what someone with a much larger web presence would have done in my situation... I guess I could likely find 3 or 4 post way back when this whole thing started about 2 years ago about finding balance and the motivation thats required to keep doing something. Its interesting. I dont have a massive readership. Hell, sometimes I wouldnt be surprised if I could count the number of people who read one of my posts on one hand. I dont really care about that. I dont spend hours and hours trying to improve my SEO scores and leaving tags on things to try and up my web presence through social media. Thats just not me.
This thing that I do is more about me getting my thoughts down. Its like a diary of sorts. My book reviews are a way of my appreciating the great books that I have sitting on my shelves. My ramblings like this one are more due to the fact that at this point in time for whatever reason, I feel like writing. Unfortunately of late I cant say the same thing about taking photos. It will come back though.
I note that I havent even written about my trip to Nepal since I returned, and I have only shared a single image from the whole trip thus far, There are more, I just havent had the time to get into the darkroom and print.
Thats a lie, its more likely the motivation. When youre motivated to do something you make time.
I have started running again. I have dropped some of the kilos that I put on after stopping exercise for so long. I am feeling healthier. I have even entered a race.
People ask sometimes why I feel the need to print in the darkroom. I have a perfectly good scanner. For me scanning a neg and then manipulating the image on the computer is close to digital. There is nothing wrong with shooting digital, but if youre going to shoot film, and you have the resources and knowledge of darkroom equipment and process then why not use it.
The image above is a scan. The image of the Yak is a darkroom print... Ironically to get the print on this page it clearly needed to be scanned as well.
On the weekend I spent a really long night helping out a really good friend. He is the guy in the image above. Along with 4 other guys they attempted to ride 784km in 24 hours. Nutters I know, but its something that I do understand a little about.
I went along to take some photos. Ended up crewing for them as they needed my help. Either way, no matter what my role, just being there to help try and take their minds off the task at hand for a brief few seconds was an enjoyable experience. I talk about motivation. Something they clearly have in spades.
Back on the bike Tristan!
Along the way I saw them go through the same sort of motivational ebs and flows that you go through in life. The difference here was that it was concentrated into a single time span of 24 hours. This experience of just being there to help and watch these guys is something that I will be able to draw on for motivation when I start to dip. Its amazing as well that like people seem to attract each other in this world we live in.
When I turned up on the doorstep of the house we were staying in before starting the ride I found that Glen had met a new friend. Just started talking to a guy in a coffee shop.
Douglas...
Turns out Douglas had a bit of a story to tell as well. One that fits really well on the whole motivation front. If you check out this link from a few years back you will see him when he was just a young lad.
What Glen found out is that Douglas was a 79 year old that was riding round Australia. Big enough effort in its own right really. Slight change in the line of questioning revealed that Douglas was in fact on his 5th lap of our great big island nation.
784km they say.... Pfft, do it with my eyes closed says Douglas.
Anyway, long and short of it is this. In all our endeavors, whether they are short sprints (when viewed with a little perspective of course) of 24 hours duration, or 10 year long epic circular journeys, motivation is something that we will have in spades at times, and something that we will struggle to locate at others. Keep this in mind when you are searching for it in the times its gone missing. It will be very unlikely that a previously motivated individual will remain unmotivated forever. It just takes the right environment and turn of events to jolt them back into action.