And so I Jumped....

Hi.

I'm Stuart.

Yesterday I finally made the Earth-altering decision to jump.

Now just to clarify, not physically jump, you know, off something high up (first thing you should know is I am scared of heights).

But I jumped into the unknown. Last week I was working in a solid job, working for a communications company, specializing in VoIP and cloud-based voice architecture (sounds exactly as boring as it is). I was good at my job; I knew my industry inside-out. However, when I wasn't donning a suit and working on the road or behind my desk, I was an artist, a musician, a writer and a videographer (that's me on tour last year in Peterborough). And something had to give.

I have been driving myself into a dark place both emotionally and physically. I am exhausted, working at something that wasn't me so I could drag myself up at night to be who I really am. The world has put me in a place where I had to either poop or get off the pot.

The rat race is a crazy thing, something I have wanted to and have been terrified to leave in equal measure all my life. I am sure there are many of you reading this that can relate to this sentiment. I guess that is why "self-help" books and speakers and keyrings and whatever else is on sale is at an all-time high. People are unhappy in this day in age. Sure, if I fail, I can always go back to it, but I am not going to fail because I am going to do the one thing in this world I love to do: create. Create music, tell stories for the world to hear.

In June this year, I released my latest album to the world, Recycle Your Regrets (and yes, there is a story behind that title, but we will get there in time), so I decided I could now have the confidence and rash stupidity to take that step off the cliff, and to live for me. Not do what I was supposed to do, but to see if all those speeches about making the leap were right.

Over time, I am going to create a body of writing on here that I think you will love. I will muse on everything from music, to current affairs, to anecdotal lessons I have learned on the road, and throughout my life. The thing about growing up in Belfast in the 1980s and 90s and traveling to a great many countries on this wee planet is that you get an interesting perspective on a lot of things. Not to say I can fix the world—far from it—but it is my hope that you, as you read this, can have a laugh, or shed a tear, or find comfort in what I have created, and will continue to create, in the weird and wonderful and sometimes terrible things that have led me to this point, and on where the path goes from this point forward.

And, of course, as my journey into the unknown unfolds, I will update you every step of the way. The way I figure it, every single motivational speech you listened to is by someone who is already incredibly successful. I am not. I am taking that first step, and rather than listen to someone who has already succeeded, why not join me, and if you want to, support me, on this journey? The good, the bad, the inevitable ugly days.

I am not a 'special' person, to paraphrase a lyric in an older song of mine, 'I'm just a man setting off in the world, to learn to be free'. Freedom for me is different than freedom for you, my own personal freedom is what I set off on now, here's to hoping!

And this will for sure be the start of an adventure.