As the drama continues to unfold for all my friends and colleagues, my mind turns away from the last 1% of my Canon life to the first 1% of the rest of my life. As I expect to live for 100 years more, that means the time between May 2009 and May 2010...
So what are the plans? It comes down to writing, running and travelling.
Some time ago, I wrote that if I knew it was all about to end now, the only thing I would regret is not taking six months off. Now it becomes a reality - it really is possible to take that time off, something I could only dream of when I wrote that. Dreams coming true brings responsibility, and I realise there are a few other things I really want to do, and must take the opportunity to make real.
Firstly, there is writing, something that has been on my mind for many years. I remember a conversation at University with my friend Jo Abson, who was taking a course in Creative Writing. She felt at the age of 20 and with limited experience, she had little to say. I remember thinking the same thing - I was interested in writing but felt I had done nothing worth writing about, had seen so little that I couldn't pass on any truth or creativity.
Now, 20 years on, it feels different. This international life and all the people I met from so many countries have had a massive influence on me and the way I see things. My opinions changed and broadened especially since leaving England 11 years ago. It feels there is something to talk about, to write about. And I found a great subject to focus on - the city I love, Amsterdam.
So the first 1% will be spent writing a book about Amsterdam, probably a combination of fact, fiction and recent history of the city.
Together with this is running. I previously have written about one of my heroes, Haruki Murakami and his combination of long distance running and writing. He inspired the next dream of mine which is to get fit while writing. I mean, really fit - run a marathon, weigh 20 kilos less, exercise every day, get my mind and body sharp and ready as I take on the days ahead.
Then the title of my blog alludes to the final part of the dream. It is called "CanontoCanberra" for a good reason, and that is because I want to go to Australia. I have heard so many positive things about the country, and it is a place I would never visit for a holiday considering how far it is to go. So I plan to go to Australia, stay in Sydney, work in a bar or a restaurant for some basic income, and just enjoy the life there for a few months.
(There is another sneaking part of me that wants to take the Trans-Siberian express from Moscow to Peking, which may also happen. I will explain about that another time.)
When I started writing this blog, my intention was to document the end of my time with Canon, the travels to Australia and the steps inbetween. The journey so far has been so dramatic, and I haven't moved a step away from Amsterdam. It's been full of unwanted but needed surprises, new and old friends and experiences, unexpected emotions and turmoil, and a feeling of general chaos and storm mixed with a feeling purpose and moving on and a knowledge that it is all leading somewhere great.
But there is so far to go. The last 1% is not even over, The first 1% is going to be amazing. Life is so surprising for me, an English boy who landed on his feet in the unbelievable world of Canon, gave everything and got so much back, and who takes all the experiences of 16 years with him to go on and write, run and travel.
"I look around at a beautiful life
I've been the upper side of down, I've been the inside of out
But we breathe,
We breathe." (Sterephonics, "Maybe Tomorrow")
