The light at the end of the tunnel is a strobe. Not the persistently pulsating variety you might find flashing in a smoky dance club, but a Swedish photographic flash mounted on a light stand, illuminating a carefully arranged still-life subject in a small studio in Japan.

When you realize that a dream, one that once compelled you into focused action, has all but totally withered away over many years of difficulty, you have a decision to make.

Option one: let it die. We change over time, as do our circumstances and desires. Sometimes old dreams are best let to pass on. We can replace them with something new that better fits where we are and where we want to go.

Option two: make some adjustments and bring that dream back to life.

Twenty years ago, back when I was in university, I intended to become a commercial photographer. And while I have never stopped making photographs in that time, I did let life get me down, and I let that dream nearly die.

Nearly.

Last Saturday, I invested in a set of lights, and I will use them to make good on the life and career I came to Japan to build.

These lights are not new, nor are they fancy. But they are very good, and they are mine. I am excited about putting them to use.

This will not be easy, and that’s fine. Ease is not of importance here. What is important is being true to myself and to the dream, in which I still believe.

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If you’d like to keep up with me on this journey to transition from being a full-time English teacher to being a full-time photographer and writer in Japan, I will document everything and providing behind-the-scenes access to what I’m up to on The Official Somewhere in Japan Patreon, where you can become a supporting member for just $3/month. Please consider becoming a patron!

In 2022, I will also put more work and writing up on my long-term personal blogging project A New Life in Japan.

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