Another Day Not Wasted

My book, Another Day Not Wasted, is now available in both print end PDF editions.

The print edition is hardbound. If purchased directly from me, your copy will be personally autographed. If you have already purchased and read the book, thank you! I’ll also be grateful if you consider reviewing the book on Amazon or other sites.

Curious about the book’s title? This is from the book’s introduction:

Charles Bukowski spent most of his life working blue collar jobs he often referred to as forms of slavery until, shortly before his 50th birthday, he was offered a small monthly stipend by publisher John Martin. This allowed Bukowski to quit his job and to dedicate his remaining years to writing. Seventeen years later, after having become an accomplished poet, Bukowski wrote a letter of gratitude to Martin, thanking him for his generosity. He ended the letter with these words: “To not have entirely wasted one’s life seems to be a worthy accomplishment, if only for myself.”

To me, a life not wasted is a life lived in direct and explicit acknowledgment of its singular, finite, and ever-changing nature.

I was conscripted into the Israeli military shortly after I turned 18—an experience I never wish to repeat. For nearly two decades after my discharge I have worked in various jobs. I have paved roads and worked night shifts while in school. I was a teacher, then a technologist during the internet boom. In all those years, I have always been dissatisfied, often questioned the value and meaning of my work, even the morality of my employers. I often felt desperate and unfulfilled. I knew well the feeling that my life was wasting away, that I had no purpose, that my creative and adventurous spirit was being crushed, a little bit at a time—that I was doomed to be a “wage slave” for the rest of my days. It became clear to me that, if I was to make the Introduction most of my life, I had to take some risks, to educate myself, and to try to make a living in more rewarding ways, even if less lucrative. With photography and writing, I was finally able to set myself free from the workaday life.

Many times since beginning my journey as a creative artist and outdoor explorer, especially in the evening hours of satisfying days, the thought naturally emerged in my mind: another day not wasted.

Another Day Not Wasted by Guy Tal

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