When I was younger, I bought into the idea that the world worked in black and white. You were one thing or the other, and those things were always mutually exclusive.
That has now been proven to me to be a rather silly outlook.
Silly as it was, it led to a lot of problems for me in my teens and twenties. I was a "numbers guy" so therefore I wasn't a "creative guy". Because I was good at maths, I couldn't be good at arts or music (things I enjoyed, but would never let myself consider viable options to follow). So I became an accountant. They work with numbers, I was good at numbers, so it made sense. It was logical. It was also boring as all hell.
I, like many people, was dealing with a depression made many times worse by trying to force myself to live a way that I thought was the "right" way. The problem was that what I thought was the way I should live was my perception of other people's expectations. It had no basis on what I wanted or enjoyed. I was living how I thought other people expected me to.
I had fallen into the trap of thinking other people knew the truth to how to live a life, a truth that had escaped me.
Far too slowly, I realised I was wrong. I didn't have a clue how I should live my life, but neither did anyone else. Everyone was doing what they thought was right, but no one had an absolute truth. No one had the correct answer.
Realising this one day, I made the happiest choice of my life and stopped being an accountant. I had no idea what I was going to do (still working on that bit to be honest) but I absolutely knew what I wasn't going to do.
I replaced decades of repressive uncertainty with a burning, thrilling uncertainty. I didn't know where I was going next, but I knew it would be where I wanted to go. I'd come to a new choice, a new decision, and I'd make that choice not based on what I thought I should do, but simply based on what I'd like to do. I was in search of happiness, and found a great deal simply by deciding to start looking.
So now we come to the present, and I'm continuing on the path of trying things I want by rediscovering things I enjoyed but never thought about, because it's not what I should do. I'm an adult male, and therefore should not spend my weekends doing cross-stitch. Now I do.
I discovered the (mostly) simple joy of a needle and thread while making a teddy bear for my niece. After some frankenstein-esque trials, I created a rather passable bear with the family tartan which, while nothing near the beauty of my sisters newborn daughter, I was pretty chuffed with.
From there, I opened up to rediscovering more arts and crafts, and once I came across cross stitching I was hooked. I tried a simple design which I really enjoyed, but when I looked for more kits I couldn't find any designs that I really wanted to do (although I will say Etsy does have an amazing range of kits on here, and you absolutely should check out some of the other shops selling a wonderful range of a arts and crafts kits for any taste).
So I started to create my own designs, based on what I wanted to stitch. Geeky things mostly to begin with, and then some more experimental designs and some just to vent some anger. I now make designs based on whatever takes my fancy, and what I want to make.
I've decided to make kits from my designs to let others have a bit of fun, and hopefully to do my small part in breaking down some barriers and putting a bit of joy back into the world.
I don't know where my path is leading next, and for now I am perfectly happy with that.
I also want to say, in closing, that I will never stop being thankful for my family and friends who have helped me out. Not only in setting up Son of a Cross Stitch by giving me support and advice (and that "your doing what?!" look when I tell them about my business idea that makes me know I'm onto something good) but also with my journey from accountant to happy.
I am under little illusion how lucky and privileged I am to be able to walk away from a career I hate, and know that while I've never been rich, I've had so many chances that many people all over the world never get. I've had a chance to try and find happiness while countless people are struggling to find food, shelter and safety.
Finally, my biggest thanks go to my partner, who continues to be the most amazing source of support and patience, and just general awesomeness. I couldn't have done it without you!