Life Lessons
The Challenges Of A New Way Of Life And Work I Faced
Be a chameleon like me and adapt to changes
Here I want to talk a little about the challenges I have faced in having to forge a whole new life not only in the way in which I choose to live, but also the manner in which I choose to work.
Due to the pandemic, some dramatic changes have wrought havoc on all of us in just about every aspect of our lives and here I want to explain how I have dealt with the problem from sat behind a desk in a country and culture as alien as moon candy.
Every day here on the internet it never fails to surprise me how many new friends I have found over the past year, and I mean genuine friends with whom I have bonded and feel a deep emotional connection. Far removed from my previous country of residence (Spain) and locked down my new one (Japan) the internet has been a blessing in so many ways.
In Spain I lived a very open social life and was hardly ever at home. The main reason for that was the highly agreeable climate of southern Spain. The vast majority of people go home only to eat the occasional meal and sleep. And unlike in countries like the UK, home based DIY and hobbies are almost none existent. In Spain the people love their cafe life and dining al fresco as they sit and watch the world go by.
On any morning trip to do some shopping at the local fresh fish and fruit and veg market, the journey on foot can take an age simply due to stopping to greet the vast number of friends and neighbours as you go. And although I was out pretty much every single night with friends, I very rarely had to make a date to meet them. A leisurely walk down into town came with the guarantee that you would chance upon just about everybody you knew.
Forced to relocate to Japan by the pandemic and the pressing need for attention to a few health problems I find myself in an entirely different world. Here we have a very similar climate to the south of Spain, but without the culture with the same level of social contact.
My close neighbours here I hardly know and simply exchange a polite friendly nod should I see them going out or arriving home. And due to the lockdown and the fact that my Japanese is not yet of a good enough level of spoken Japanese, I do not have any meaningful contact with anybody but my lovely wife. When my wife is out at work all day I feel like a prisoner in a gilded cage. My only escape is sat right here at my desk.
The internet is my gateway to the world during the daylight hours. And even despite the timezone in which we live, I still manage to have lots of lovely contact with so many friends from all around the world. Spain, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, Norway, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Canada, North America, the South American countries.......and the number of different races and nationalities across those countries is mind boggling.
Again, I am not talking about what you would call simply Facebook Friends, I mean the sort of friends I could easily spend some quality time with in the real world. I mean people who I exchange personal news and views with on a one to one basis via private mails and Skype. I suppose these people are what we used to call pen friends from when people actually used to write letters with a pen and paper and send it by snail mail.
This then is the bright new world into which we have all been thrust, in some cases dragged into kicking and screaming, to discover to our delight that it is a world full of wonderful people and amazing opportunities. For me personally it has been a revelation to discover so many people so much smarter than me from whom I can learn and grow as a writer as well as a person. Even better, I have re-found a long lost calling as a professional editor, writer and author that I last practiced some twenty five years ago back in the UK.
In Spain, where I lived from 2003 to 2020, I earned my living as a teacher of languages and professional musician. I adored both of those two occupations and considered myself very lucky indeed to be able to do something I loved and at the same time pay the bills. Of course, that was all lost, possibly forever, with the arrival of the pandemic.
I am fortunate that I was able to bring a previous very successful writing career back to life online in Japan. It hasn't been easy and has taken me a full year to get where I am at the moment, but at long last I feel like I am on the right road as I begin to enjoy the fruits of economic success.
In some ways what I do for a living is not that different than before back in the deep south of Spain. There I used to press keys on a music keyboard to produce creative content, such as a song. Here I press keys on a computer keyboard to produce creative content such as a short story, article or poem.
The two are also even less far removed as they might appear due to the fact that I am producing something not just for my own pleasure, but also for a receptive audience. And the fact that I can earn a living doing either is the icing on the cake. The one most important lesson I have learned is that life is good if you can be adaptable and embrace rather than bemoan the changes which come your way.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz Aldric Chen Rebecca Stevens A. Stuart Englander Esther George
