My friend, the Sufi is the friend of the present moment. To say tomorrow is not our way.
Rumi

You see, all art has now become completely a game by which man distracts himself; and you may say it has always been like that, but now it's entirely a game. And I think that is the way things have changed, and what is fascinating now is that it's going to become much more difficult for the artist, because he really must deepen the game to be any good at all.

Francis Bacon in conversation with David Sylvester

Yes, I know it's been a long time, but I've been having some health problems. I want to thank all of you for your kind comments, and those who have emailed to ask if I'm ok. It's strange how I've missed blogging and being in contact with fellow bloggers, although I have occasionally checked to see how you're all doing.

For a while I kept thinking 'there's something I haven't done', and then I would remember that I hadn't made a blog post. One thing I've become aware of is that blogging - even in a modest way - is a creative process, and when you're not well you just don't have the necessary creative energy. This surprises me because I never thought of 'this moment' as being especially 'creative' (unlike many of the blogs I read and enjoy), but rather a collection of borrowings mixed in with a few random thoughts, experiences and the occasional rant. Even the photographs are created independently of the blog and just placed here later. Nothing very arduous, yet it now seems to me that even to select a haiku to post requires some sort of creative effort. Or maybe I've just been too preoccupied.

Anyway, I'm going to try to get the wheels moving again, although I haven't been taking many photographs or doing much except convalescing, listening to music and reading. We'll see how it goes. One thing's for sure, if I hadn't met so many wonderful people, and formed so many friendships through this blog, I wouldn't be writing this right now. So thank you all again.