Lockport in London

I have been in the UK - London - for five years . Originally from Lockport Manitoba, then Vancouver, BC I one day made the decision in my early 30's to leave a $50, 000 CAN per annum job and make my attempt at being an artist. The choice was to be in London, Paris or New York. New York would have been illegal as I do not have the the right papers to live there, Paris was the language, and so London, with my dual citizenship, was the most appropriate. So I got on a plane and began my new life.

I blame the book "Your Money or Your Life" for this. I read it in my mid 20's and never looked back. When I was 25(i'm 39 now) I asked myself the question - how would I approach life if I was retired? I thought - I would live it like I wanted to live it. I would give myself permission to try and do the things I wanted to do. Realising that this was something I was waiting for - and retirement was some time away - it seemed foolish to waste away so many years waiting for the age of permission. 65 or 25? What is the difference? I made the deal with myself then and there - in my apartment at 25 years old, that retirement began then. I would economise, and do everything possible to pursue what I wished to do. TIme was my new value, not money, and that I would trust life would have all the answers for me. I have been "retired" now for 15 years almost and loving every day of it.

This blog is long overdue. I hope it can be a window for anyone wanting to follow a passion but afraid to do so. Its my attempt at writing a book from the trenches. The victory has not yet been made and books are usually written when an end has occured. Either victory or defeat, it matters not, but an end nonetheless. A report from the trenches is where blogging serves its purpose. So here it will be that I speak from.