Yes, Takuin is still alive. ;-)
I have not posted anything since the first week of August, but I am still here. Even though I have not been seen at Takuin.com, I have been very active on Twitter and at the Life Beyond the Image Facebook page.
But fairly soon you'll have all of me you can stand, as I am going to hold another November Project this year. And for those of you unfamiliar, you can find out the basics of how it works on this post from 2010. I have not started taking questions yet, but you can expect to see a separate post on that soon.
**********
Recently, I poured through my library, looking for any notebooks I have filled since the 'accident' of December 1st, 2006. I think I have found them all, and my intention is to burn them. This might sound odd or even crazy to some of you, but it is completely right to me.
There has been some interest in those writings over the last year or so, and after I pulled them all together and had a look, I realized they were a wordy amalgam of no significance. I quite like to compare those writings to a two year old scribbling on the wall with a crayon; cute for sure, but something even the child will forget in a day or two. And this child has long since forgotten those old words.
I won't make a big to-do about disposing of those notebooks, but I may take a few photos of the event. ;-)
(NOTE: This does not mean I will purge the website. All the writings since December of 2006, and all future writings, will remain.)
**********
I am still taking Skype calls from people all over the world. It seems to go in 'waves', for whatever reason. That activity is sometimes busy and frantic, and at other times sparse. But I enjoy it either way.
I have learned a great deal from the people I have spoken with over the last 3 or so years, and I look forward to more of that. Thank you all very much! (If you are interested in having a call on Skype, there is no charge. Check the Contact Page for details.)
**********
That is all for now, but I look forward to interacting with all of you when the November Project 2011 begins. And I will write a post with details soon.
Be good. :-)
8 comments, since Octo
Look forward to question November Takuin. Thanks for the update :). Best wishes to you and your family.
Looking forward to the project
Interesting on the notebooks, Takuin. I did a somewhat similar thing a few years ago. Had some vague idea I'd one day browse them to map what unfolded in more detail. Then one day I became aware of what a weight they were, a burden of the past.
The way such things leave does not matter so much. That we let them go is the more important.
Thank you, Brooks. I look forward to everything you have to offer in November. :-)
Thanks, Evan. Good to see you again!
Quite right, Davidya.
Try to remember (if you can, haha) what it was like when we practiced writing cursive as children. All of those pages of failed S's and F's. Reams of practice. Then, one day, it looks good, and we have some degree of fluency. At that point, we just use it, and referring to our earlier attempts won't necessarily make us any better.
Why would anyone think that looking at Takuin's failed S's and F's might make them better at writing? ;-)
(laughs) Oh - not a fond memory. I'm not sure I could ever say "it looks good". But yes, a good example. I discovered a year or so later that I'd learned to write my D's backwards. Given the name, it made for a unique signature at least... Occasional cheques are about the only thing that even sees cursive now.
Haha, I know what you mean. I thought of going into the medical field just so I would have a career that matched my terrible writing, haha.