Hey!
It is my first ever post so please accept my apologies if my wording or tags are not on point.
Context:
During my uni days, I have always liked taking a walk, wander around somewhere while taking pictures with my phone. Never really studied photography or anything, but I somehow entered this relaxed flow state and some of the pictures I took were well received even by photographers and I was encouraged by many people around me to continue shooting. That made me want to pursuit this hobby a bit more seriously in the future.
After graduating four years ago, I have moved to Japan to start my life and job here, and with that, I bought myself a proper camera too. I was very happy and optimistic thinking I will learn the craft and take many photos that I can finally be truly proud of.
Main:
My problem started shortly after starting my first job here in Japan. My company turned out to be rather exploitative, even with Japanese standards. The work was soul crushing, with -very- long hours and a 6 day work week. I am not here to complain about work, but my camera ended up somewhere in my room collecting dust as even on my off days the most I could do is sleep to make up for the lack of it during workdays. Even on the rare occasions where I went out trying to shoot I noticed I can no longer enter the same "zone" I was in before and I could no longer notice what I want to take a picture of anymore. I feel like I lost that part of me somewhere along the way, so I decided to give up on it for the time being.
I ended up enduring my circumstances for around three years (石の上にも三年) and changed jobs a few months ago. Now my life allows for more personal freedom, so I want to try taking pictures again. Then again, even with months passed, I can't seem to be able to truly relax and walk around like before. I am sure burnout and accumulated trauma won't disappear easily, but I would be really grateful if I could get some tips on how to overcome this kind of a creative block.
tldr;
Feel a bit burnt out and that I lost a lot of my soul and essence while working here and need tips to overcome a creative block regarding that.
Thanks for listening!
by Civil-Try8553