Less Maybe…

The recent hiatus in my blog posting was partly due to playing with my new Hotas X Joystick as some of you will have guessed. There were other things too though – I felt stale. It was affecting more than just my blogging and almost resulted in me resigning my position as photographer at the football club. I have had a mobility issue since last August when I tore a thigh muscle – Subsequent X-Rays showed that I have early signs of hip degeneration. Getting out and about for a day’s photography became a chore and I often found myself putting off a trip I wanted to do. When life decides to give us a moment of pause for reflection we should take it.

The impact of my mobility issues is now clear to me and is a problem that needs to be addressed as I believe it lies at the root of the more general malaise of lost interests. I now have a range of Pilates based exercises from the Physiotherapist designed to strengthen the muscles around my pelvis. The aim is to delay the process of hip degeneration and improve my mobility in general. Of course, I didn’t recognise them as Pilates exercises until I went looking for a ball like the one used in an exercise designed to strengthen my abductor muscles. Then the penny dropped! After talking things through with the Physio I have decided that doing some light Pilates exercises at home, including the specific ones needed to help my mobility, would be a good thing. So I now have a book, a soft mat, bricks and balls. 3 months down the road and I am starting to see the benefits of the exercises now – I’m able to stand longer without my lower back muscles hurting. Now that’s an incentive to continue 🙂

Photography – one of the loves of my life. I really enjoy getting out and about to photograph transport, places and people. It’s something that I want to be doing long into the future. But, the jury is out on whether I continue to do the football photography next season. I came very close to resigning my post in early April. I love going to the matches, meeting the many friends I have at Wingate & Finchley FC but I have found myself struggling to find the enthusiasm to process the photos after matches recently. It could be due to a bad run of form at the club but I don’t think so – We’ve been through that lots of times in the past and it doesn’t usually affect me. This was one example of feeling stale, of going through the motions. I will have to see how I feel in July when the pre-season games kick off. I’m not a normal fan, Football itself has no real hold on me – if I feel the need to walk away I will. That said, if my current plans come to fruition, next season will be the last when I have to fit my interests around work – I’m planning to retire in 2017 which will give more time for my many interests to coexist.

Computing… It pervades all our lives doesn’t it! It’s eating away at your time right now if you’ve read this far down my post 😉 My computing activities include blogging, processing images and gaming. I don’t see that changing. Image Processing is a key part of modern photography, so that has to stay. I think that blogging is a great thing to do. The creative process encourages the mind to remain active which is beneficial as we get older. Games also have a part to play in engaging the mind. Whilst first-person shooters are largely about reaction times, many games require careful tactical or strategic thinking and thus engage the brain in healthy thought. I can certainly see me playing Elite for the next few years and getting into creating scenarios on Railworks. I shall take a good look at some of the more strategy orientated titles out there too.

Music – apart from listening to it, I have my digital Piano to play. Currently I haven’t got into the rhythm of regular practise though it certainly hasn’t fallen by the wayside entirely. That is an area where I must redouble my efforts in the current closed season for football. Build the habit of 30 minutes playing each evening.

So there you go, a state of the nation which hopefully explains where my mind has been for the past month.