No this isn't anything related to the other thing going on today across the UK...

So what is this blog article all about I hear you cry? Well, it's an article appreciating just how fantastic people can be. This journey starts over a year ago when I plunged into the world of freelance graphic design. I knew I wanted to do it, my hand was kind of forced, but I ran with it anyway. Faced with the fact that the following Monday morning (and all following mornings) I would be getting a superb lie in for a change rather than diving head first into my horrendous commute, rather than plug away at job applications, no responses and general hair tearing out moments of depression, I decided to take that lie in and once the first cup of tea of the day had been consumed, update my job status on LinkedIn as freelance graphic designer. Within minutes (literally minutes if not seconds) I had likes and comments and general interest in my change of mode. I felt enlightened. It felt like what I did actually meant something. Those likes and comments have turned into a consistent amount of graphic design work, from former bosses, colleagues, friends, associates, friends of friends and new friends I didn't know were out there. I have folks I can turn to in a design related crisis, I am the person that some turn to in a design related crisis. It would seem I have a network, a network I never knew I had. Folks I wouldn't even call a network because I would call them friends. Power to the people.

If you give it a go, whatever "it" may be, I bet you'll be surprised just who supports you.

So what is this article all about really? Well, the other day somebody was asking me about taking the plunge into the freelance world. He wasn't a designer, but a photographer, and all I had to say was you never know unless you try. If you try and you fail who cares, but if you don't try you're never going to know if you would succeed or fail. In some respects this is kind of similar to the other thing going on this Thursday across Britain. Putting your ideas forward is important, getting the support is important too, but just giving it a go is equally valuable. If you give it a go, whatever "it" may be, I bet you'll be surprised just who supports you. I am forever thankful for those folks who saw my potential, and continue to see my potential and more importantly are letting me achieve my potential on a daily basis, and if you've got something you want to give a go - do it, jump in feet first in your bathing costume with a cosmo in your hand, because no one can jump in for you. I should've jumped earlier, instead I was pushed, but I like to think I may've turned it into a superb Tom Daley-esque dive before hitting the water.