Northern Ireland... back to the future.

As a nervous 18 year old, flying toward Belfast city airport, I remember leaning my head on the side of the plane looking out of the window through the dancing sprites of light at the land below. I had no idea what would await me in Belfast with a girl I had only met once before in a city hundreds of miles away.

What I did know is that I had a fluttering stomach, and was filled with the most optimism I had ever had. I’d also never felt such a longing to be with anyone more than I did that day. More than I could have ever imagined before we had originally met and she had become a part of my life. Several years later, those memories and feelings from that day and many others are as clear and as strong as ever.

Now settled with her in N.I with the wedding planned for later this year I feel I have probably overcome the biggest first hurdle in life and one that I didn't realise was such a big thing until it happened - finding a sense of belonging with another and fulfilling the desire to love and be loved.

That may all sound a little sickly (bokey as they say around these parts) especially if you don't have a significant other at the moment but as with anything in life, I believe it is our experiences that make us who we are and what makes life... well, life.

And that brings me to why I've decided now to blog of my future experiences. The reason is threefold:

1. Living in a society that is still so strongly influenced by Religion, National Identity and a sense of ‘them and us’, as a humanist and agnostic I would like to record my experience whatever there is in store.
   
   
2. For anything that might be seen as a rant – I agree with Stephen Fry and because he puts across his views so much more eloquently than I could ever dream to type, I would recommend listening to the following of his podgrams:
   
   Stephen Fry’s Podgram Compliance Defiance
   
   If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, suffice to say the gist is “When something bubbles inside you, you have to get it out” and I would for sure like to bring it back to reason when I feel that way, so I figure giving 'typing it out and sharing a little' a go might be a good form of therapeutic release.
   
   
3. I read a lot of blogs and I wouldn’t mind hopefully adding something worthwhile to the mix or at least giving it a good try.

So that’s why I'm going to put pixels on the page. On that note, it’s probably time to get back to the future... let’s hope it’s a good one!