Welcome to the first of my blogs and also to my website miketrippitt.com. Today, Friday 1st July 2016, is a significant day for me. It is the first day since 15th February 1988 that I am Mike Trippitt. Do not misunderstand me. I have not changed my name. Nor have a changed my gender. I am however just Mike Trippitt.
Back in the early 1980s the importance of getting a qualification was instilled into me and it was rightly seen as a goal. After four years at college and two further years training I gained my qualification in 1988. However, did I achieve me goal?
The true answer, of course, is that by then I had a different goal. I had merely become Mike Trippitt, Solicitor. For 28 years I have been Mike Trippitt, Solicitor. Mike Trippitt, Solicitor to many hundreds of clients, Mike Trippitt, Solicitor to dozens of colleagues, Mike Trippitt, Solicitor to a handful of Partners and Mike Trippitt, Solicitor to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.
Today however, I am just Mike Trippitt. So, welcome to the first of day of the rest of my life. During the coming months and years I hope to write much on this website about my travels and experiences as a freelance writer. Armed only with a laptop, an internet connection, a camera and the English language I will be exploring what is out there in this great country of ours and writing about it in the hope of inspiring others to go find it for themselves.
In recent months I have often been asked what has inspired me to leave the comfort and safety of a profession I have been involved in for over thirty years to head for the uncertainties and dangers of freelance writing. To be honest, the inspiration is all around. But where?
It is easy these days to find inspiration without getting out of one’s chair. Go on-line and you will find website after website offering you inspirational quotations, inspirational poems and inspirational presentations. For the uninspired seeking inspiration the task is getting easier and easier. Or, so it would seem.
My inspiration does not however come from the pages of a motivational manual nor from the images on-line. It comes from the people around me. Like my friend, who broke his neck fifteen years ago. With movement in only one arm and a determination that defies belief he has achieved more since then than some able-bodied souls will do in a lifetime. Like my colleague, who, out of concern and interest, listens to me, remembers what I say and cares about me and my family. Like my parents, who despite life’s challenges have always had time to help others. Above all, like my wife, who excels at her work yet finds the time to run our home and pick up the pieces of my humble existence. These are the people who inspire me.
If you are looking for inspiration you may not find it in this website. Do, however, look in the right place. It might be so much closer than you think.
I enjoyed your first page Mike and look forward to reading more. Wishing you success and happiness.
Kind words Mike, but I’m just trying to get on with life in my own little way. However, it’s friends like you that have been through the tough times with me, stuck by me and supported me that have helped to ease the path; it’s a two way street!
So, good luck with YOUR new journey and it will be a pleasure to share parts of it with you, wherever it may lead.
Richard