Beth Kempton's Blog - Posts Tagged "self-help"

I have been asked to give book endorsements for five books in as many weeks, most of them about Japan. This makes me happy for many reasons. Firstly, some fantastic new books about Japan are about to be released, and I will be sure to share them with you as they are published. Secondly, it seems that interest in the country I consider my second home is still on the rise, despite the borders having been closed for more than a year. And thirdly, somehow I find myself in the position that getting sent books I love in the post has become my job. If I think back to when I was a teenager, spending many nights when I probably should have been getting drunk with my friends instead poring over kanji dictionaries in the college library, wavering between awe and despair at the thousands of characters I didn't yet know how to read or write, this is truly an astonishing thing. The publisher that approached me for an endorsement today, for the translated version of a well-known book written by a Japanese Zen monk, is one of the most respected publishers in the world. I am saying this because although I worked incredibly hard for my two degrees in Japanese , I still pinch myself at the doors opened by committed study and the writing of books. It's my long term dream to re-write career guidance in this country, so we don't have to wait until we are in our mid-forties, having stumbled upon a career, to understand the value in going against the grain and just studying what you are interested in.

Tell me, if you could go back to university now and study anything, what would it be? (And what's stopping you??)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Photo by byhollybobbins